Bears, Wolf Pack Brace for Division Final Rematch
The time is almost here! After dispatching the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in four games, the
Hershey Bears are gearing up for a rematch in the Atlantic Division Final against the Hartford
Wolf Pack.
Give Lehigh Valley a ton of credit. They sneaked into the playoffs at the very end of the regular
season, played like they had nothing to lose and proved to be a tough out for the Bears. Outside
of game two, each game’s end result was decided by the finest of margins.
Those who were box score watching would think more times than not that the Bears faced
minimal resistance. The Phantoms’ play at points in the series created some adverse moments for
the Chocolate and White. The locals – using their tenacious skill and killer instinct – ended up
being too much for the sixth-seeded group out of Allentown by eliminating the Phantoms by a 5-
3 final Saturday night.
“How we played on Wednesday, and how we addressed it, I don’t think the guys needed much
motivation,” Nelson said during his game four postgame media scrum. “Lehigh had their way
with us on Wednesday. It was a 2-0 game, but it could have been a lot worse. The killer instinct,
I thought the guys all had it because we had to play better. Otherwise, we were going to game
five and anything can happen. We didn’t want to go there.”
Hartford eliminated second seed Providence Bruins in four games, where the last two wins came
beyond regulation. Through four regular season games, Hershey boasted a 3-1 record against its
Connecticut foe. This is the third all-time meeting in the postseason between these two teams.
Hartford defeated the Bears in six games in the 2015 Eastern Conference Semifinals, while
Hershey swept the Wolf Pack last postseason en route to the franchise’s 12 th Calder Cup.
Here’s how both teams stack up from regular season and playoffs:
Regular season
Goals per game: Hershey – 3.18, Hartford – 2.83
Goals against per game: Hershey – 2.09, Hartford – 3.04
Penalty minutes: Hershey – 719, Hartford – 1064
Power play %: Hershey – 20.1, Hartford – 19.3
Penalty kill %: Hershey – 87.7, Hartford – 83
Playoffs
Goals per game: Hershey – 3.00, Hartford – 2.25
Goals against per game: Hershey – 1.75, Hartford – 3.00
Penalty minutes: Hershey – 94, Hartford – 75
Power play %: Hershey – 12.5, Hartford – 18.5
Penalty kill %: Hershey – 75, Hartford – 76.2
What did Hershey do in the opening round that they’ll look to carry into this
upcoming series?
- The best players showed up early and often. Seven different skaters for the Chocolate and
White dented the twine against Phantoms goaltender Cal Petersen. The team’s leading
goal scorer in the regular season, Ethen Frank, paced the offense with three tallies –
including the game-winning power-play goal in game four. Hendrix Lapierre, Ivan
Miroshnichenko and Henrik Rybinski recorded two goals each. Pierrick Dube, Hardy
Haman Aktell and Alex Limoges scored one each.
“We know we have a deep team, and playing the right way with all four lines is big for
us,” echoed Frank. “We know that we can have some grit, along with some skill and
scoring, on each line. It’s nice to see everyone hop in and produce.” - Defenders chipping into the offense. Haman Aktell, Chase Priskie, Logan Day and Dylan
McIlrath combined for eight points (one goal, seven assists) in the first round. By seeing
production from the blue line, it takes a bit of pressure off of the forwards from needing
to do everything.
“It’s hard to play against when the defense are active,” Nelson added. “The game has
changed quite a bit. When you look at the National Hockey League or here, a lot of
defensemen are going down the walls. Everybody is doing it now, so it’s harder to
defend. We are at our best when our defense are active but also being responsible.
“It definitely plays into our system with the way we want our defensemen and [third
forward] working together in the offensive zone,” said Frank. “It’s nice because it’s
easier to play offense with five guys rather than three. We love when they jump down
and keep plays alive at the right times and moments. It can help a lot.” - Goaltender Hunter Shepard continued being rock solid in net. Earlier in the series, Nelson
described Lehigh Valley as a team that throws everything at the net. Some of those
chances were grade-A, but Shepard stood tall with multiple scorpion saves thanks to
tremendous positioning. Was he perfect? No, but he was darn close to it. His consistency
and reliance between the pipes allowed the team to take more chances knowing their
backbone was on his game. - Blocked shots. The team is neither shy, nor unwilling, to lay out to block a shot to thwart
high-danger chances. This team is tight knit, and it’s easier to do that when teammates
like each other.
The biggest adjustment for the Chocolate and White will be their power play, which went two-
for-16 against the Phantoms. The two times they scored featured tremendous movement, with
and without the puck. They moved their feet, executed crisp tape-to-tape passes and moved the
puck efficiently. In game four, the Bears took advantage of an overload by Lehigh Valley –
giving Frank ample time and space to snap the puck high on the glove side of Petersen for their
lone power-play marker in the game.
“If we want to have success in the playoffs, special units are a massive difference,” said
Lapierre. “All ten guys on the power play are competitors. They want to score, and we want to
make a difference. We want to make an impact. We weren’t doing that in the first couple of
games. We were pretty pissed about it. We want to score. In game four, we tried a couple things
in practice. We wanted to keep it simple with rotations. We have to have success on the power
play in this series.”
“The first two or three games, I think – especially on the power play – that we struggled a bit
because we tried to make the difference too much,” said Dube. “As soon as we started to play
like a unit of five on the power play, we started creating a lot more.”
Outside of game three, where the Bears surrendered two man-advantage goals, the penalty kill
unit went six-for-six shorthanded. Hartford’s high-flying forwards of Alex Belzile, Brennan
Othmann and Brett Berard are dangerous when given ample opportunities and space, so Hershey
will need to continue the good vibes while a man down to advance.
Team News
Forward Riley Sutter shed the non-contact jersey, indicating he’s inching closer to returning.
Defenseman Vincent Iorio, injured during the Stanley Cup Playoffs in New York, skated in a
non-contact sweater. He’s currently listed as non-roster while he works his way back.
Game one is on Thursday at Giant Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
