Monday’s Eastern Conference Playoff Picture 4/1/13

Welcome back to yet another addition of Monday’s Eastern Conference Playoff Picture as the 2012-13 season continues to whine down.

The Hershey Bears were able to peacefully celebrate Easter Sunday a night following a thrilling 3-2 win over the league’s top Providence Bruins. The win Saturday was a team milestone, as it was the first victory of the season when trailing after 40 minutes. Two third period goals by Nicolas Deschamps and Ryan Potulny broke the 0-20-0-2 streak.

Saturday’s contest against the P-Bruins suddenly turned into a must-win playoff-like game after a tough 5-3 loss to the Albany Devils. Philipp Grubauer continued his personal against the Devils, yielding three goals on only the first seven shots he faced. Dany Sabourin entered the game in relief and was handed an undeserving loss. He gave up just one goal, the game-winner only 93 seconds into the third period to Joe Whitney.

The Bears escape back-to-back weekends with a .500 record intact and soul possession of the Eastern Conference 8th seed. However with a great weekend by the surging Norfolk Admirals, they still remain a lone two points out from Hershey.

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

First off, I would like to thank the American Hockey League web site for providing their own line that separates the 8th and 9th seed. You can see there is a four point spread between the Hershey Bears and the Manchester Monarchs, but keep in mind there are still two more meetings remaining this season among those two teams.

The Bears and Admirals will not meet again for the rest of the regular season. Tuesday, April 2, the Norfolk Admirals battle the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. That is a game where Bears fans might consider, and probably should be cheering for the Pens.

East Division Recap:

The Syracuse Crunch traveled to Norfolk, Virginia to face the Admirals win back-to-back tilts Friday and Saturday. In need of just one win to clinch the league’s first playoff spot, Syracuse lost both games by a 5-4 shootout decision, and a 2-0 shutout. The Crunch’s magic number remains at just two.

The Binghamton Senators also have their eyes set on another playoff run after hoisting Calder in 2011. Similar to Syracuse their magic number hangs at two, and are one win away from officially punching a ticket to the postseason.The B-Sens earned three points out of four on the weekend with a 5-2 victory Friday over the Adirondack Phantoms and a 3-2 skills competition defeat to Wilkes-Barre.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins also received three out of four points on the weekend, but did so by losing Friday and bouncing back Saturday. The result of both matches were found in a shootout. Friday, W-B/S kicked the door open on their weekend against Providence. A packed Mohegan Sun Arena crowd watched former Bear Christian Hanson tie the game at 2-2 only 4:58 into the third period. Hanson later scored the game-winning shootout goal in round eight to deny Wilkes-Barre of 36th win.

The Penguins rebounded the next night with a 3-2 shootout win over their closest geographical rival and fellow East Division opponent, the Binghamton Senators.

Lastly the Norfolk Admirals were the only East Division team to cap a perfect weekend. They came back from a 4-1 deficit Friday to beat the Syracuse Crunch 5-4 in extra time, and beat Syracuse the next night by a 2-0 count. Whether or not Norfolk makes the postseason rests in the fate of the out of town scoreboard. They will constantly be looking for Hershey, Wilkes-Barre and even Connecticut losses to sneak into a Top 8 seating.

The Admirals also have games remaining against W-B/S Penguins, Binghamton Senators, Worcester Sharks, Providence Bruins, Syracuse Crunch and Albany Devils.

Games Remaining: 9

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