Hershey Bears defeat the Norfolk Admirals 2-0

The AHL gave Hershey Bears winger Liam O'Brien a three-game suspension. Paul Chaplin | pchaplin@pennlive.com

(PAUL CHAPLIN)

Suspended Hershey Bears winger Liam O'Brien sat out Sunday night's game against the Providence Bruins at Giant Center.

The rookie has only served a third of his time.

After reviewing Saturday night's second-period fracas between Hershey and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the AHL handed down a three-game suspension to O'Brien on Monday.

O'Brien was given game misconducts for leaving the bench and being a third man in an altercation, though he didn't engage in a fight after leaving the bench.

"

We thought it would maybe stick to one, too, because he didn't get involved," Bears head coach Troy Mann said. "But the rulebook does say up to six. Anything less than that you've got to be happy with.

"

We'll take the three. That makes him eligible for Sunday."

O'Brien still has to serve two more games. He won't be eligible to play Friday night against Binghamton or Saturday night against Albany, but he will be able to return to the lineup Sunday against Lehigh Valley.

Bridgeport's Scott Mayfield, who left the penalty box to fight Hershey's Chris Brown, was given a six-game suspension. The defenseman has five more games to serve.

"

When you see the video replay of everything that happened on the ice," Mann said, "I think that was certainly warranted."

Though O'Brien's suspension is more than one game, the team has decided not to recall a forward from South Carolina (ECHL), Mann said.

Caleb Herbert, who would have been the recall, is sidelined with an ankle injury. Mann said Chandler Stephenson (upper body) is making progress and might be able to play Saturday night.

The plan for Friday night is to again use Michal Cajkovsky at forward. The defenseman played forward against Providence.

"

We're just going to stay status quo here for the weekend and we should be fine," Mann said.

NOTEBOOK

Washington Capitals defenseman Nate Schmidt (broken shoulder blade) has been cleared for contact practice this week, Mann said, and is on track to play for Hershey this weekend.

"

As long as he progresses throughout the week, then he'll be eligible to play this weekend," Mann said.

"

I'm going to sit and talk to him and see how he wants to handle the weekend. Does he want to play Friday-Sunday? Does he want to play Saturday-Sunday? Or does he want to play all three?"