Monday’s Eastern Conference Playoff Picture 3/25/13

Following a three game in three night New England road trip, the Hershey Bears acquired 3-of-6 possible standings points. Whether the glass is half full or half empty is for the fan to decide when reminiscing this past weekend. Friday the Bears jump started their weekend with a 3-2 shootout defeat against the Connecticut Whale. One of the most entertaining, end-to-end games of the season went in the Whale favor as Kris Newbury scored the skills competition’s only goal to silence Hershey.

The next night, looking for a bounce back effort against the Manchester Monarchs, it was an offensive scoring parade that began with Hershey, but ended with Manchester. Boyd Kane tallied his historic 500th career AHL point off a goal at the first period’s 19:49 mark. The Bears eventually opened an early second period lead to 3-0, before surrendering Monarch field goals in the final 40 minutes. With an empty netter in the final seconds, Manchester capped a 6-4 win over the Bears to conclude a horrendous choke.

On Palm Sunday, many considered Hershey’s afternoon matinee against the Worcester Sharks a must win game. If the Bears were to fall in regulation, they would have only gained one standings point on the weekend. Luckily for the Chocolate and White, it was a game of bounces at the DCU Center, and the far majority of bounces jumped in Hershey’s direction. Garrett Mitchell claimed first star honors in a 4-1 win in Worcester. Joey Crabb made his Bears’ debut after clearing waivers and being assigned to Chocolate Town. Crabb became the eighth player this season to crack both the Hershey Bears lineup and the Washington Capitals.

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

Moving back into the subject of positives and negatives, a big plus for the Bears is the increase in distance between themselves and the conference’s ninth spot. Seven days ago, Hershey was in possession of seventh place, but had three different clubs within three points of their short tail. Now the Bears are standing in the final playoff position, but have a four point lead over the Norfolk Admirals.

It was mentioned in previous weeks, the Admirals are the only East Division team without a playoff spot. With 28 days remaining until the season’s conclusion, that can easily change. The defending Calder Cup Champions are currently surging the conference with points in seven of their last ten games.

East Division Recap:

With the finish line nearing, the Syracuse Crunch are eyeing the top playoff spot if the conference. They look to seal a first round, best of five tilt against the conference’s eighth seed. If the season were to end today, Syracuse and Hershey would face off in round one of the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs.

However on Friday night, the Crunch kicked off their weekend by being blanked in the hands of the AHL’s bottom feeder, Hamilton Bulldogs. The final score was a slim 1-0 regulation win for Hamilton in Syracuse, New York. The Crunch stormed back with a 3-1 Saturday night victory over the Albany Devils two conclude a quick, two game weekend.

Standing comfortably in the conference’s fourth position is the Binghamton Senators. The B-Sens gained four of six standings points over the weekend with a 5-2 beating over Albany and a 4-2 win over Hamilton. The Senators’ stab at a perfect weekend was denied with fury by the Connecticut Whale, who beat the Sens Sunday, 6-1.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins began their weekend Saturday by sporting annual St. Patrick’s Day jerseys. While their jerseys were impressive, the Penguins were simply the opposite. Alex Grant tallied his team’s only goal with 6:47 left in the middle frame, en route to being downed 4-1 by the Norfolk Admirals. Interesting enough, it was Wilkes-Barre’s only game of the weekend. The WBS Penguins hold 11 games remaining on their schedule and hope more are to be added after April 21.

Lastly, the Norfolk Admirals are beginning to prove they have a boat load of points left in their sails. Rather than laying down and dying towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, the Ads are suddenly within four points of a playoff spot. Norfolk’s only game this weekend, like-wise to the Penguins was their 4-1 victory in Wilkes-Barre.

Games Remaining: 11

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