Bears Sweep Weekend With 5-1 Win vs. Phantoms

Dany Sabourin gets some well-deserved congratulations. Photo by Kyle Mace

It took a whole period for the Hershey Bears to wake up in their game against the Adirondack Phantoms. Maybe they were feeling a little lethargic on their third game in three days. On the other side, the Phantoms were looking even more tired due to all their traveling in the past few days.

The Bears made up for the goal-less first period. Francois Bouchard started the Bears off with a beautiful top shelf snipe against Michael Leighton. A few minutes later, Patrick Wellar scored on a shot from the blue line. Andrew Gordon topped off the period with a goal, the whole time fighting off a Phantom who was watching him closely.

Adirondack ended the shutout with a goal on the power play with Tyler Sloan was in the box for interference.

Thankfully, Sheldon Souray, playing his first game back from his most recent lower body injury, made up for it later. Phantom Stefan Legein absorbed the entire blow of Souray’s first bomb of a shot. As he struggled to get up, the puck returned to Souray and this time no one was willing to block it the second time and he found the back of the net. David de Kastrozza, playing only his second AHL game, got the primary assist and his very first AHL point!

Brian Willsie scored on the power play to make the final score 5-1 Hershey.

Dany Sabourin has taken a lot of criticism for his play this season. As such, I feel more than obligated to give credit where credit is due. Not only did he play three games in three days, not only did he win all three games, he played damn good. He even stopped a penalty shot late in the third period. Throughout the weekend, he stopped 78 of 83 shots. I think the decision to play him all three days is a show of support from the coaches. If anyone deserves a lot of rest tomorrow, it’s Sabourin.

These players deserve a lot of credit. Hopefully they will wrap up the homestand with a win against the Springfield Falcons on Wednesday.

Tonight’s Notes:

• In addition to Souray, Sloan returned from injury today. He finished the game with one assist and a +2 rating.
• Andrew Joudrey (lower body injury) and Brian Fahey (upper body injury) did not play today.
• In the three wins this weekend, the Bears outscored their opponents 18-5. (Thanks to John Walton for that stat.)
• Another two referee night. Despite having two referees, it took quite some time for an official to notice that Adirondack had too many men on the ice. I mean, that’s only if I nitpick.
• I, personally, love Steve Pinizzotto‘s fights the most because he’s such a force to be reckoned with. Today was no exception as he destroyed Zac Rinaldo when Rinaldo took offense to a clean hit by Pinizzotto. Check it out below in the video highlights (1:04 mark).

Video Highlights:

Lines and Pairings:

Kane – Aucoin – Gordon
Greentree – Willsie – Pinizzotto
Bouchard – Rome- Kugryshev
Lacroix – Bruess – de Kastrozza

Souray – Miskovic
Wellar – Sloan
McNeill – Collins

Actual three stars of the game:

1. Francois Bouchard (HER)
2. Dany Sabourin (HER)
3. Patrick Wellar (HER)

Sweetest Hockey On Earth’s three stars of the game:

1. Wellar: another strong game, game-winning goal
2. Sabourin: stopped 19 of 20 shots for his third win in three days
3. de Kastrozza: primary assist on Souray’s goal for his first AHL point