Bears Suffer Heartbreak Defeat in Manchester
Professional hockey games consist of a 60 minute regulation length. Some duels can be loss from the get-go, while other matches are decided by late game heroics. The Hershey Bears in dire need of a victory faced the Manchester Monarchs in New Hampshire. The New England states continue to deny the Bears of fortune in a 4-3 loss to the Monarchs.
The game was decided early with a crucial, first period scoring assembly which included three Manchester goals in a 1:49 span.
How many times this season have we witnessed both horrible and great periods displayed in the same game? Also, in how many of those games has the horrible period progressed into a heartbreaking loss? The correct answer is far too many times to count. It has happened again in Manchester in a must win game during the second to last weekend of the regular season.
Andy Andreoff and Chris Huxley jump started the first period goal scoring with strikes at the 8:05 and 9:21 marks. Andreoff leaded an offensive rush by side-stepping two guys dressed in Chocolate and White from his defensive end to the neutral zone. After a few 50-50 battles won by Manchester near Hershey’s face off circles, Andreoff received credit for a deflection following a Derek Forbort point shot.
Over a minute later, the Monarchs went right back to work in their offensive end with a cycle near the corner boards to the right of Dany Sabourin. While cycling, Brandon Kozun found a wide-open Chris Huxley at the center point. He tallied his first professional goal against the Bears and gave his team an early 2-0 cushion.
But two goal leads are traditionally known as the worst lead in hockey. Only 33 seconds later, Andreoff struck pay-dirt once more to open a 3-0 advantage. Following a D-to-D from Julien Brouillette to Patrick McNeill, a McNeill breakout pass attempt up the wall was knocked down by Linden Vey. He centered a pass to Andreoff making a B line towards the Bears’ net. His first shot was denied but quickly gathered his rebound on a backhand to hit twine.
Three goals in 1:49 sent Hershey to the locker room down 3-0 at first intermission.
The best thing to do when facing an early deficit is to begin chipping away. Into the middle frame, Hershey wasted little time to begin chipping. The Bears earned a power play chance only 97 seconds into the period after a high-stick infraction to Andrew Campbell.
Right as the man-advantage expired, Ryan Potulny turned a sharp angle shot on frame. On the rebound, Joey Crabb capitalized on a snapshot to bring the Bears within two.
Later with 13:31 remaining in the second, Nate Schmidt bombed a shot from the point for his first goal as a Hershey Bear. Suddenly with over a half a game remaining, the Bears were within one.
But 5:05 later, the Monarchs tallied their final goal of the game, which later proved to be the game-winner. A quick give and go from David Meckler to Hunter Bishop beat Sabourin low to the ice.
With the clock ticking faster and faster against Hershey, Juilen Brouillette later pulled Hershey back within one. 4:48 remained on the second period’s clock when Brouillette scored just his second goal of the season. All game long, Hershey’s defenders pinched deep into the offensive end and was involved with chances on goal. Recovering into the defensive end after offensive zone turnovers was rarely an issue against Manchester.
Down 4-3 at second intermission, Hershey needed one to draw even. Simultaneously to second intermission between the Bears and Monarchs, the Norfolk Admirals erased a 2-0 deficit against the Worcester Sharks and cruised to a 4-3 overtime win.
Norfolk’s late game heroics made a Hershey comeback all the more needed to keep pace with the conference’s eight seed. Despite an exciting third period where effort was far from being an issue for the Chocolate and White, Martin Jones stonewalled his crease and denied Hershey of the needed equalizer. The Bears fell 4-3 to Manchester and are now separated by four points from Norfolk with four games remaining.
The Norfolk Admirals are now tied in the seventh and eighth spots of the Eastern Conference with Connecticut and Manchester is now tied for the ninth and tenth seed with Hershey. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins clinched a playoff spot with a 3-0 shutout win over St. John’s.
For the Bears to clinch a playoff spot, out of town help will be needed. Hershey must win their four games remaining, and either one of Connecticut or Norfolk need to lose at least two of their games.
If Hershey fails to qualify for the postseason, this would be the second time in team history while in affiliation with the Washington Capitals. The last time was the 1983-84 season– the final season of a five year affiliation stint with the Capitals. The second affiliation stint began in 2005-06.