Philipp Grubauer, Bears Bite Sharks in Shootout

Philipp Grubauer looks on during a game earlier this season (Tim Stough – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

After an astonishing three goal performance by the Hershey Bears’ power play unit against the Connecticut Whale, they looked to continue their recent special teams success on the road in Worcester, Massachusetts. Boyd Kane opened up the scoring early and helped the Bears to a 3-2 shootout win over the Worcester Sharks.

The Bears received the early start they had hoped for, and it was captain providing the opening tally against the Sharks on the power play. Kane tallied his 199th career point as a Hershey Bears only eight seconds into his team’s first power play chance of the contest at 7:41. Ryan Potulny and Tomas Kundratek received the helpers on the Bears only goal of the frame, as they lead 1-0 after 20 minutes.

Only 15 seconds into the middle stanza, former Reading Royals Denny Urban hit twine against his former teammate, Philipp Grubauer. He entered his offensive end of the ice and blasted an accurate slap shot that would hit both goal posts. After a lengthy review, it was confirmed to be a good goal and tied the game at 1-1.

With 17:21 remaining in the frame, T.J. Syner was sent to the sin-bin for a holding call to give the Sharks their second man advantage of the night. After an excellent penalty kill by the Hershey special teams unit, Syner exited the penalty box and found a breakaway opportunity on Worcester’s Alex Stalock. The speedy Syner pulled away from the defense and scored on a breakaway to give Hershey their second lead of the night at 2-1.

The Chocolate and White carried the advantage in shots after 40 minutes, leading 22-16.

Hershey looked to close out a 2-1 victory, but could not cleanly shut the door in regulation of Worcester. In the final minute of regulation, with the score still 2-1 in favor of the Bears, the Sharks pulled their goalie to acquire the brief 6-on-5 man advantage.

With 10.7 seconds remaining on the game clock, Denny Urban sent the puck into traffic from the point. After the biscuit pin-balled around Grubauer’s kitchen, it landed right on the tape of Daniil Tarasov who potted his first goal of the season. The late goal forced overtime once more for Hershey. 65 minutes would not be enough despite a 4-1 shot advantage for the Bears in sudden death overtime.

Grubauer again stopped four of five shooters in the skills competition, as both Garrett Mitchell and Ryan Potulny tallied in the shootout to secure a 3-2 win for Hershey. The Bears now improve their shootout record on the season to 3-1. This was their second shootout on the road this season, with their previous dating back to November 2nd in Springfield.