Bears Blitz IceCaps in Marathon Shootout

HERSHEY, PA – Chay Genoway and David Leggio smile after Leggio’s final save in the shootout during Hershey’s win Saturday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

The infamous Arabic proverb, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” suggests two parties have the ability to work together, and overcome a common enemy. In the world of sports, the term could easily be applied currently to the Hershey Bears and their push to qualify for the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Entering Saturday night, the Bears and their I-81 Rivals from Wilkes-Barre both opposed a common enemy. The Penguins battled the eighth seed Norfolk Admirals, who sit in the conference’s final playoff spot, three points ahead of Hershey.

While the Pens attempted to provide a helping hand to the Chocolate and White, the Bears’ personal attention was focused on the St. John’s IceCaps. Wilkes-Barre followed through with a 2-1 victory over Norfolk, as the Bears topped St. John’s, 2-1 in a 12 round marathon shootout.

HERSHEY, PA – Dane Byers scores in the shootout during Hershey’s 2-1 win over St. John’s (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

It was a well played opening period for Hershey, but it resulted in a scoreless deadlock entering first intermission. Andrew Gordon was denied by David Leggio on two quick chances from in close with three minutes and change left in the frame. Gordon received a nice ovation by the Giant Center crowd when announced as a starter for St. John’s.

1:25 into the second period, Jeff Taffe put the Bears on the scoreboard. Cameron Schilling sent a wrist shot on goal from center point, and Taffe crept into the slot uncontested to tally on the rebound. Entering Saturday, Hershey possessed a 24-10-2-3 record when scoring first.

But the lead lasted only 5:05, as St. John’s answered on a pretty double deflection goal. On a Ben Chiarot shot, both Patrice Cormier and Kyle MacKinnon made contact with the flying biscuit to allude Leggio. MacKinnon was credited with his ninth goal of the campaign. Hershey went 0-for-2 on the power play in the stanza, keeping the score at 1-1 entering the third period.

It was a scary final four minutes of regulation for the home team, as the IceCaps hit the cross-bar twice on Leggio during continuous offensive waves of pressure. The Hershey penalty kill unit, guided by Leggio, was the star of the night with two key penalty kills at the end of regulation and overtime frame.

Tyson Strachan scored for the Bears in the top of round 12, which was followed by Leggio’s tenth save of the skills competition to secure the victory.

Head Coach Mike Haviland commented on out of town help provided by the Penguins. He said, “Nobody including myself wants to say thank you to the Penguins, but certainly this time of the year, we’ll take everything we can get.” He continued, “I know we are going to get in (to the playoffs), and when we get in, we are going to make some noise because this team is a good team.”

For the Hershey Bears to qualify for the playoffs, they must string together wins away from Giant Center. The team will begin a five game road trip, their longest of the season, on Wednesday, April 2 in Portland. Games in Worcester, Bridgeport, Binghamton and Springfield will follow.

Two home games remain for the Chocolate and White in the 2013-14 regular season. Those dates are April 13 and 19 against Binghamton and Adirondack.

More photos from the game (All photos by Kyle Mace)

Former Bear Andrew Gordon lays a hit on David Kolomatis during the first period

We think he was a little happy that the Bears won…