Bears Accomplish Rare Win against Penguins, 2-1

Andrew Kozek and his linemates shine in a game against the in-state rivals.

Looking at the standings, tonight’s game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins did not appear to hold a lot of value. Neither team would lose or gain anything in the rankings. However, for the Bears, this was a big game for them mentally. They don’t have a good record against the dreaded Penguins and a road win against them right before playoffs could go a long way.

Overall, the Bears had a fantastic first period effort against the Penguins. However, it seemed like the Penguins were giving them some help. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took a couple of unnecessary penalties and seemed to be getting frustrated. The Bears didn’t score on any power plays but it did help to maintain control of the game.

Hershey did score an even-strength goal though thanks to Andrew Kozek. I could watch this goal all day. WBS’s Andrew Hutchinson was skating with the puck and not paying too much attention to Kozek. As soon as he lifted his stick, Kozek swiped the puck from under him and snapped the puck past Brad Thiessen.

But we’re not done talking about Kozek yet! During the second period, he scored his second goal of the night with another beauty. He pushed the puck through and danced past the defense. Ashton Rome helped to provide a slight screen and suddenly Hershey had a two goal lead.

The Penguins finally broke the shutout during a power play about halfway through the period. Mathieu Perreault was in the box for hooking. After a few failed attempts, Brett Sterling took a rebound and shot it past Braden Holtby. To give some credit to Holtby, it looked like there was a lot of action in front of him.

Some drama came late in the period when Dmitry Orlov hooked Brett Sterling and Sterling was awarded a penalty shot. Holtby successfully stopped it but then Keith Aucoin was given a ten minute misconduct, probably for arguing with the referee.

As expected, physicality dominated this game. Sheldon Souray and Ryan Craig were the first to drop the gloves. Souray stood his ground and delivered a huge punch to Craig, knocking him to the ice. It was over as fast as it started. Steve Pinizzotto decided to follow his example and took on Joey Mormina. Technically, it was listed as roughing but it was still pretty vicious. Pinizzotto took down a bloodied Mormina, but he received an extra roughing penalty for starting the incident.

But those two incidents would pale in comparison to the third period drama. Pinizzotto fell to the ice after a run in with Keven Veilleux. Veilleux paused long enough to recognize that Pinizzotto was flat on the ice and still pulled back and took a full swing at Pinner. Holtby, who was the closest to the play, bolted out of his crease to come to Pinizzotto’s defense.

Veilleux received a match penalty for slashing. I’m a little confused as to why it was a slashing call but nevertheless, the match penalty part works for me. John Walton said that a match penalty carries an automatic one game suspension so Veilleux will not play tomorrow against the Bears in Hershey. I’m hopeful we’ll see some more supplementary discipline for that absolutely classless move by Veilleux. Pinizzotto appeared to be okay as he skated during the ensuing power play.

There wouldn’t be any more scoring and not too much excitement after that incident. The Bears hang on and win 2-1!

Tonight’s Notes:

• With players getting healthy again comes players being sent down. This time it was Dylan Yeo and David de Kastrozza who returned to South Carolina.
• Andrew Gordon did not travel with the team because he received a one game suspension resulting from his high-stick against the Norfolk Admirals last weekend. Norfolk filed for supplementary disciplined and the league saw fit to suspend him.
• The bad news is that Brian Willsie will not be playing this weekend. John Walton tells us that he was originally going to miss the final regular season home games due to the death in the family. However, he ended up missing tonight’s game too because of an upper body injury that is probably not serious.
• Garrett Mitchell made his season debut after practicing with the Bears for a few weeks. He skated on the third line.
• Things you hate to see: an injured player in a game that really doesn’t matter much. Unfortunately, it happened. Mathieu Perreault was hit along the boards and he fell awkwardly on his left leg. He had to be helped off the ice and wasn’t putting any weight on his injured leg. Hope for the best, Bears fans.
• The Charlotte Checkers won tonight and therefore we will be seeing a Hershey/Charlotte match-up during the first round of playoffs. Game 1 will be Thursday, April 14th in Hershey.

Lines and Pairings:

Kane – Aucoin – Pinizzotto
Greentree – Perreault – Bouchard
Carroll – Joudrey – Mitchell
Kozek – Lacroix – Rome

McNeill – Fahey
Souray – Orlov
Oreskovic – Wellar

Actual three stars of the game:

1. Andrew Kozek (HER)
2. Brett Sterling (WBS)
3. Maxime Lacroix (HER)

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

1. Kozek: scored both goals
2. Rome: strong game, one assist, +2 rating
3. Holtby: big game, stopped 24 of 25 shots.