Bears shut out Senators 4-0 on Teddy Bear Toss night

Maxime Lacroix’s goal triggers the attack of flying stuffed animals. Photo by Kyle M.

Tonight was annual Teddy Bear Toss. After the first Hershey goal, fans were instructed to throw their teddy bears onto the ice where they would then be collected and donated to Children’s Miracle Network. The Bears were playing like a team possessed for the beginning of the first period. No one wants to get shut out on Teddy Bear Toss night.

I guess technically the credit for unleashing the waterfall of teddy bears will go to Maxime Lacroix. A closer look may show that it bounced off of a Binghamton Senators player and past Robin Lehner. May I just say, fantastic job with the teddy bears, Hershey fans. It was announced that 7,199 teddy bears were thrown and they are all going to a good home.

But, back to the game! Francois Bouchard scored the first goal actually last touched by a Bear to put the team up 2-0 by the end of the first period.

Steve Pinizzotto had a spectacular pass for Jay Beagle to score a shorthanded goal. Credit to John Walton for this stat: the Bears have scored three shorthanded goals to date. The first goal was Keith Aucoin‘s and the other two belong to Beagle. Money.

At the end of the period, Pinizzotto would drop the gloves against Andre Benoit. Benoit may have started the fight but I don’t think he was ready for the impact of Pinizzotto’s fists. However, the highlight fight would probably go to Lawrence Nycholat taking on Bobby Butler in the third period. Strange pairing but Nycholat gets the win and the knockout punch. The joy of the fight was downgraded by the sight of Nycholat going down the tunnel. He never returned to the game. Get well soon!

To wrap up the game, Ashton Rome made it 4-0 Hershey after beating Lehner low. That would be the final goal of the game as Braden Holtby pitched a 26-save shutout. That’s two Saturdays in a row that Holtby has shut out the opposing team. And so, Hershey earns a perfect record for the weekend as they chalk up their 13th and 14th wins of the season. Woo!

Tonight’s Notes:

• Besides the two fights mentioned above, Kyle Greentree and Patrick Wellar both had fights of their own in the third period.
• Hershey held off the Senators power play unit five times to keep their lead. They also went 0-for-3 on the power play.
• The Senators scored at the beginning of the second period but it was washed out after it was determined to be kicked in. Maybe we should just count ourselves lucky and not look at replays of that one…
• Check out all of Kyle’s photos, including many more Teddy Bear Toss photos, on our Facebook page!

Video Highlights:

Lines and Pairings:

Bouchard – Perreault – Gordon
Greentree – Willsie – Kugryshev
Kane – Joudrey – Pinizzotto
Lacroix – Beagle – Rome

Souray – Fahey
Nycholat – Miskovic
Wellar – Collins

Actual three stars of the game:

1. Braden Holtby (HER)
2. Maxime Lacroix (HER)
3. Lawrence Nycholat (HER)

Sweetest Hockey On Earth’s three stars of the game:

1. Holtby: shutout
2. Lacroix: game-winning goal and assist
3. Pinizzotto: primary assist on Beagle’s SHG

More Photos by Kyle M.:

RMNB & SHOE creator Ian Oland was at the game tonight with his parents.

Lacroix scores his first goal of the season and his second career Teddy Bear Toss Goal! (Thanks to Andrew Gordon for that gem stat.)

So. Many. Teddy Bears.

John Walton launches his teddy bear all the way from the radio booth…

…where it reaches Jim Jones down on the ice. Impressive.

Teddy bear clean up continues.

This is just one of Bouchard’s celebration faces.

Patrick Wellar swings at Tim Spencer.

Holtby gets in a little post-whistle mayhem.

But after the dust settles, he gets his congratulations from his teammates.

Check out the rest of Kyle’s photos from the night on our Facebook Fan Page >>