Bears Battle to beat Charlotte Checkers, 4-2

Brian Willsie celebrates his game-winning goal against the Checkers. Photo by Kyle Mace

There’s not much to say about tonight’s game. Everyone involved knew that it was a big one. It would have been scary going down to Charlotte down two games. But thankfully it didn’t go that way.

The Bears spent the entire first period playing sloppy hockey leading to tons of incomplete passes. Perhaps trying to keep up Charlotte’s speed, the players seemed to be constantly rushing with the puck instead of slowing down and making plays. The Bears’ power play failed to impress tonight, especially during the first period. They had trouble keeping the puck in the zone and couldn’t muster many shots on goal until later in the game.

But sometimes even sloppy hockey pays off. A little over halfway through the period, the Bears collapsed on Justin Pogge and Patrick McNeill scored.

When they came out for the second period, the team seemed calmer and maybe a touch more confident. Dmitry Orlov made a great play to keep the puck in the zone and passed to Andrew Kozek who extended the Bears’ lead with a shot from between the face-off dots.

The Checkers answered quickly though and scored less than a minute later. The Checkers gained a bit of momentum from this goal and the Bears had to adjust quickly. Thankfully, Brian Willsie was there to give some insurance. After a sliding Checker blocked the inital shot, he took a second whack at it and scored. It would end up being the game-winning goal.

The Checkers were able to make it a one goal difference later on the power play. A bear was in the box for yet another Charlotte power play. Zac Dalpe scored his second goal of the night on a shot that I don’t think Braden Holtby saw. He was definitely screened, possible by his own teammate.

The Bears had a big penalty kill a few minutes later while Boyd Kane was in the box for slashing. The penalty kill unit got control of the puck and moved back towards Pogge. The players seemed a bit tired, passing to each other but it finally ended up on Sheldon Souray‘s stick. Souray wound up and unleashed that signature shot that flew past Pogge and into the net

The third period saw no score change but there were some close calls. Things got a little scary with a minute left in the game. Pogge was on the bench and Charlotte had their last chance at making a comeback. Two Checkers jabbed at the puck and Holtby couldn’t stop them. The goal was waved off though because of two matching penalties that were assessed to Souray and Dalpe.

After successfully stopping any final attempts by the Checkers, the Bears won 4-2 and tied the series at one game each. Now the battle moves south to North Carolina.

Tonight’s Notes:

• It didn’t long to pick the “Crunch of the Game.” Steve Pinizzotto nailed Bryan Rodney to the boards a little over a minute into the game. I can still hear the sound of Rodney getting plastered to the glass.
• The only fight of the game came during the first period. Kozek took out Casey Borer and Brett Sutter came to Borer’s defense. The fight was over as fast as it started, ending in a draw.
• Andrew Gordon was injured during the third period. He raced to the other end of ice to get the puck. He ran into Justin Pogge behind the goal and they fell awkwardly on each other. Gordon immediately grabbed his leg, writhing and grimacing in pain. After going down the tunnel for a few minutes, he returned and skated one shift but was stapled to the bench after that.
• From Tim Leone’s game recap: “Defenseman Dylan Yeo left the team and went home due to a lack of playing time and a desire to resume firefighter training.”

Video Highlights:

Post-Game Interviews (Thanks to ABC27):

Actual three stars of the game:

1. Dmitry Orlov (HER)
2. Zac Dalpe (CHA)
3. Brian Willsie (HER)

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

1. Willsie: great game, game-winning goal
2. Orlov: on ice for all Hershey goals and no Charlotte goals
3. Aucoin: two assists

More Photos from Kyle Mace
Kozek and Sutter drop the gloves.

Pogge clears his net after a Hershey goal.

Gordon and Pogge go down after a collision behind the net.

Gordon hobbles to the bench.

The Checkers goal that was waved off.

One win down…