Coming off a bit of a rough month in December, the Hershey Bears rebounded in January by losing only twice in regulation and earning points in 10 of their 12 games during the month. The Chocolate and White posted a record of Six of those wins came in the first seven games of January. This was followed by a stretch where the Bears lost three of four games, but were able to get two of those losses to overtime to capture points.
The penalty kill started the month well. The unit killed off 23 of the 25 power plays it faced in the first eight games of January. The last four contests of the month were a different story, as the opponents scored five times in 17 attempts. Hershey rediscovered their home form in January. The Bears won four of their five contests at the Giant Center to move above. Limoges led the way with 12 points.
Bear followed with 10 points, all assists. Vecchione posted nine points and scored a team-high six goals in January. Sgarbossa added eight points in nine games. The Bears have things to clean up on the defensive end of the ice.
The team gives up far too many odd-man rushes that put their goalies in tough spots. Also, there zone exits and clearances need to improve. There are too many passes that go to nobody imparticular and that leads to unnecessary turnovers.
Another issue is soft clearance passes where the Hershey player tries to finesse the puck out instead of making sure that it exits the zone. Dube posted points in five of the seven games he played in January. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, he missed five games due to a suspension after bumping a referee on his way to the penalty box in Charlotte on January Prior to the suspension, the speedy winger began the month on a four-game point streak.
