Third Period Comeback Propels Bears Past Senators

Ryan Potulny and Jacob Micflikier celebrate a comeback. All Photos by Kyle Mace.

You know it will be an interesting night when Darth Vader drops the puck for the ceremonial face-off. Indeed it was Star Wars night as the Bears took on the Senators in Binghamton.

Things started off strong for the Bears. Graham Mink earned the first goal of the game only 29 seconds into the game. Later in the period, the Senators tied it up with a shot from the face-off circle that eluded Dany Sabourin.

The Bears responded quickly, however. Matt Ford was right in front of the net to shoot a rebound past a sprawling Robin Lehner. That lead lasted until the Senators got a late power play. Binghamton not only scored on that power play, but also scored two more times in the remaining minute of the period. It had quickly gone from a Bears lead to all Binghamton momentum.

As you might expect, Sabourin was replaced and Braden Holtby took over at the start of the second period. The Bears were able to amp up their play but the score stayed the same. Things started getting better when Christian Hanson scored just about halfway through the third period. The puck took a funny bounce in front of the net and Hanson was there to slam the puck home.

Ryan Potulny followed that up by scoring with a one-timer. With all the momentum back on their side, the Bears regained the lead when Hanson potted his second goal of the night. Mink dished a perfect no-look pass on that goal. Much like the Senators had done, the Bears scored three goals in less than two minutes.

Potulny topped it off with his second goal of the game and the Bears left Binghamton very happy. Hershey wins 6-4!

Let the record show that Patrick Wellar called it:

Hoping for a great 3rd period comeback for the boys! Don’t ever count out the Bears!

— Patrick Wellar (@pwellar33) January 15, 2012

Tonight’s Notes:

• Cody Eakin was recalled to Washington on Friday. He played in the 4-3 Caps win last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
• The veteran scratch for this game was Keith Aucoin. He will have to wait for the next game to work on his point streak.
• Maybe it was Aucoin’s absense, but Hershey’s power play just wasn’t clicking like usual. They weren’t even able to convert during an extended power play after Binghamton was whistled for a high-sticking double minor. By the end of the game, they were 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
• During the first period, Boyd Kane was hit up high by a puck shot by Danny Richmond. He was a little shaken up by it but was back to play the rest of the game.

Lines and Pairings:

Greentree – Potulny – Bourque
Micflikier – Hanson – Mink
Kane – Carroll – Ford
Pope – Mitchell – Rechlicz

McNeill – Collins
Brouillette – Oreskovic
Richmond – Miskovic

Three stars of the game:

1. Christian Hanson (HER)
2. Graham Mink (HER)
3. Ryan Potulny (HER)

More Photos from Tonight:

Graham Mink doesn’t take long to beat Robin Lehner.

Boyd Kane has to be helped after taking a puck to the face.

Dany Sabourin watches a puck float past him

Ford won’t miss the practically empty net.

Another puck gets past Sabourin.

It wasn’t the best night for him.

Don’t worry, this is the last sad photo.

Hanson winds up to score his first goal of the night.

The Bears are thrilled but Binghamton’s back-up goaltender, Mike McKenna doesn’t look too pleased.

Potulny finds the back of the net and the water bottle flies.

The good times keep coming.

It got a little scary but you can always rely on the Bears to work hard.