Hershey Unable to Hold On Against Wilkes-Barre

Dane Byers, seen here earlier in the season, had two goals in Hershey’s 6-5 loss (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

“12 Rounds” may be an epic movie starring entertainer John Cena, but in a way the action film’s title describes the annual rivalry between the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Both teams battled in round 12 on Tuesday night to end the 2013-14 regular season portion of the I-81 rivalry. The back and forth game ended in a victory for the Baby Penguins, beating Hershey 6-5.

It wasn’t a great start for the Chocolate and White, as the Penguins’ fourth liners cashed in to open the scoring only 2:38 into the came. Bobby Farnham fought off Jeff Taffe in the trapezoid behind David Leggio and centered a quick pass to Mike Carman. Carman beat Leggio on a point-blank chance to give Wilkes-Barre an early 1-0 cushion.

Hershey’s power play was horrendous last weekend against Syracuse, and a minor injury to Michael Latta and two game suspension on Brandon Segal would only toughen the Bears’ special team units.

But captain Dane Byers tied the game at the 13:45 mark via a power play goal. Ryan Potulny set up Byers on a combination play and tallied on only his club’s second shot of the night.

On Hershey’s very next shot only 3:05 later, Casey Wellman put the Bears in front on the scoreboard moments after their third power play expired. On an even man rush, Wellman entered the offensive end with a burst of speed and caught Eric Hartzell leaning with a low bullet into the net.

The Bears controlled the remainder of the period and entered the first intermission at a 2-1 advantage.

Mid-way though the second period of play, Bobby Farnham would find the back of the net for Wilkes-Barre, tying the game a 2-2. Farnham has five goals this season, three of which have come against the Chocolate and White this season.

The period would end without anymore scoring, but Byers would give Hershey the lead back only 28-seconds into the final period of play. The captain’s tenth of the season and second of the night would give the Chocolate and White a huge momentum swing to finish the final period of play.

The flightless fowl would tie the game up again with a shorthanded goal from Brendan Mikkelson just about 4:30 later. Dustin Gazley would be called for a high sticking double minor, which Wilkes-Barre would take full advantage of. Andrew Ebbett and Spencer Machacek would find the back of the net on the long power play to give the Pens a 5-3 lead.

Taffe would cut the lead down to one with a goal with 9:59 left in the third. A goal that would cause Wilkes-Barre to pull Eric Hartzell in favor of Jeff Deslauriers.

Machacek would give the Penguins another two goal lead with a goal just over two minutes later. With 12:24, Hershey looked like they were just about done with the score 6-4. Nicolas Deschamps gave the Bears hope 30 seconds later, cutting the game to 6-5.

Despite Wellman ringing the post with seconds left, the Bears could not finish the comeback and would drop the game, 6-5.

The Bears started the weekend fourth in the conference, but after the three straight losses, they dropped five spots to ninth overall – one spot out of the playoff picture. Hershey has been outscored 16-7 over the three games. The three game skid comes after winning 12 of their last 14 games. Despite a loss where Hershey was able to keep the score close most of the night, there needs to some changes to get back on the path to the playoffs; a path which is starting to get shorter and shorter.

Notes:

• Capitals defenseman Jack Hillen was on a conditioning assignment from Washington. Hillen was paired with Tyson Strachan and finished the game with five shots.
• Hillen sported the number 40 on his sweater for the game, becoming the first player since Marek Svatos to wear that number, the highest by any Bear in recent history, since the 2004-05. Ed note: Hillen became the first player to wear the number in a game since Svatos. Michal Cajkovsky wore it during warmups on December 4th and 7th, 2013.
• As Scott Stuccio noted, Deslauriers made three saves and got the win. His final line was one goal allowed on four shots in 9:59 ice time.

Additional reporting by Matt Trust