Bears Drop Fourth Straight, Lose 3-2 (SO)

Jean-Francois Jacques scores in the shootout to give the Crunch the extra point in the standing (Photo by Kyle Mace)

The Hershey Bears are supposed to feed players to the parent club Washington Capitals, but on Saturday night it was the Bears fans who got to taste the “Cheese” again. Former Bears goaltender Daren Machesney returned to Hershey from South Carolina, playing his first game as a Bear since the 08-9 season. Dany Sabourin was called up to Washington, to back up the other Bears goaltender Braden Holtby, as the Caps finished the regular season against the Rangers. Machesney played well, but the Bears only picked up one point against Syracuse in a 3-2 shootout loss.

Hershey took advantage of a four minute Syracuse penalty in the first period, when Chris Bourque deflected a Boyd Kane pass to give Hershey a 1-0 lead. The Crunch scored two quick goals and less than ten minutes into the game, Syracuse had a 2-1 lead.

Hershey looked sharp on a second period power play and Patrick McNeill tied the game at two. The game went to an overtime shootout and when Jean-Francois Jacques scored, Garrett Mitchell was forced to score, but couldn’t convert and Hershey lost the game 3-2.

Bears defenseman Kevin Marshall left the game in what appeared to be a disagreement on the bench. Coach Mark French called it a “team-related matter.”

Unless there is a drastic change in standings the final four games, it appears the Bears are on their way to facing Wilkes-Barre Scranton in the first round, with the Penguins getting home ice advantage.

The Bears final home game of the regular season takes place Sunday at 5pm against the Connecticut Whale at Giant Center