Depleted Hershey line-up loses 5-3 to Charlotte

Patrick Wellar pushes Jacob Micflikier to the ice. Photo by Checkers SmugMug.

After Friday’s game against the Charlotte Checkers, we were happy for the win but still hoping to see some players return to bolster the line-up. Instead, we lost Phil Oreskovic and, more importantly, leading scorer Andrew Gordon. Oreskovic didn’t play after getting injured in the last game. Gordon was called up to Washington before the game and joined the Capitals in New York for their game aginst the Rangers tonight. Returning from his one game suspension, Steve Pinizzotto took over Gordon’s spot on the top line.

The Charlotte Checkers put the Bears in an early hole today. Three quick goals within the first nine minutes made it 3-0 in favor of the Checkers before you could blink. The only shining moment of the first period was Jay Beagle‘s short-handed goal that finally put Hershey on the board. That goal was Beagle’s fourth short-handed goal of the season. I can’t talk about this enough. He now has more short-handed goals than even strength goals.

During the second period, the Bears were able to cut Charlotte’s lead down to one on the power play. Sheldon Souray scored his first ever goal as a Bear on a blistering one-timer. I’m sure you’d expect nothing less from Souray.

Mark French decided to stick with Braden Holtby in goal. After letting in three goals on six shots, Holtby was able to steady himself and shut the door for…almost the rest of the game. It started to really go downhill when the Checkers scored on a 5-on-3 during the third period. They got another goal when Holtby decided to play with the puck outside of his crease with a lot of traffic around him. One of the reasons we love Holtby is his aggressive style and his puck handling. But today he was making a lot of questionable decisions outside of his crease and eventually it caught up with him. He went to play the puck and turned it over to the Checkers who scored on the practically empty net.

That was pretty much the dagger for the Bears. The game did end on a high note though as Lawrence Nycholat scored his fourth goal of season in the final minutes of the game. But Hershey seemed to accept their 5-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers. Hey, Keith Aucoin, how is your knee feeling?

Tonight’s Notes:

• Tonight was another game with two referees, Jeff Smith and Ghislain Hebert. However, the penalty calls were pretty one-sided as Hebert was noticeably the one making the calls.
• It was a black-and-blue weekend for Zach Miskovic. After appearing to injure his wrist during Friday’s game, he blocked a shot with his leg today and had to stumble off the ice. He continued playing both games but he might need some ice packs over the next few days.
• Due to Oreskovic’s injury, Dylan Yeo was recalled from South Carolina to fill his spot in the line-up.
• The Checkers started Mike Murphy against the Bears tonight. I know how well Justin Pogge played last night but Murphy is pretty freaking good against the Bears.

Lines and Pairings:

Bouchard – Willsie – Pinizzotto
Lacroix – Beagle – Rome
Kane – Joudrey – Kugryshev
McNeill – Bruess – Kashirsky

Collins – Nycholat
Souray – Miskovic
Wellar – Yeo

Actual three stars of the game:

1. Jacob Micflikier (CHA)
2. Zach Boychuk (CHA)
3. Zac Dalpe (CHA)

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

1. Beagle: scored his 4th short-handed goal of the season
2. Nycholat: goal and assist
3. Souray: scored his first goal of the season