Monday’s Eastern Conference Playoff Picture 3/18/13

Another week of Hershey Bears hockey is in the record books as we are now only 35 days away from the finish line. Following last weekend’s disaster, it is no surprise the Bears entered Saturday and Sunday in desperation mode. The most valuable player over the weekend for Hershey is hands-down Philipp Grubauer.

Grubauer was 15 minutes away from making franchise history on Sunday as being the first Hershey goaltender to ever post two shutouts in two nights. Adirondack’s Marcel Noebels tallied his team’s first goal of the contest’s 4:26 mark in the third period to spoil Gru’s stab at history.

Nonetheless Grubauer improved his record to 10-5-1 in a 5-2 Bears offensive onslaught against the Phantoms. The Bears opened the weekend one day prior against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In Saturday’s showcase between Hershey and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, neither team hit pay-dirt until the 2:49 mark of overtime.

Garrett Mitchell played the role of hero for the Chocolate and White, scoring the game’s only goal in a 1-0 overtime win. It was Hershey’s first 1-0 shutout win of the 2012-13 campaign.

A perfect four point weekend lifted the Bears back into the Eastern Conference top eight, following a brief departure during the week.

Here’s a look at the Eastern Conference Top 10:

Although the Hershey Bears and Connecticut Whale remain tied in points, the Bears have one less game played leading to an advantage in point-percentage. Both Albany and Manchester lost over the weekend to provide three points of separation between them and Hershey.

East Division Recap:

The top seed Syracuse Crunch kicked of their weekend with a hard-fought duel against the Norfolk Admirals. Although the defending Calder Cup Champions sit at the bottom of the East Division, the Admirals defeated the Crunch, 4-3 in a shootout. Syracuse is currently working with Tyler Johnson on call up in Tampa Bay. The Crunch answered and finished their weekend early with a butt-kicking 6-2 win over Albany.

Only two summers ago, the Binghamton Senators won the first professional hockey championship in city history. With the B-Sens again soaring towards the top of the standings, they are now in a dog fight for home ice advantage. But on Friday, the Adirondack Phantoms played the role of spoilers with a surprising, late 3-2 win over Binghamton. The Sens answered with a 5-1 victory over Norfolk the next night to cap a two point weekend out of a possible four.

Aside from Syracuse, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are the only East Division team yet to win a league championship. The Pens also gained four points on the weekend with back-to-back “W’s” against the Worcester Sharks and Portland Pirates. The “Cardiac Penguins” made yet another appearance on Saturday with two, third period strikes to down Portland, 3-2. Trevor Smith scored the game-winning goal with 9:37 remaining in regulation.

Lastly the Norfolk Admirals also gained two points out of a possible four on the weekend with a shootout win over Syracuse and 5-1 loss to Binghamton the next night. They remain five points behind Hershey in the division and conference standings.

Games Remaining: 14

Connecticut Whale- March 22
Manchester Monarchs- March 23, April 13, April 21
Worcester Sharks- March 24
Albany Devils- March 29
Providence Bruins- March 30, April 12
Syracuse Crunch- April 5, April 6
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins- April 7
Portland Pirates- April 14
Adirondack Phantoms- April 19
Binghamton Senators- April 20