HERSHEY, PA – Brandon Segal scores his first of two goals on the night for Hershey in their 5-1 win over Rochester (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
It may not have been a 60 minute, complete game effort by the Hershey Bears like Head Coach Mike Haviland has been preaching, but it was awfully close. Brandon Segal tallied two goals and earned first star honors in a convincing 5-1 Saturday night win against the Western Conference Rochester Americans.
Riley Gill, seen here during the Kelly Cup Finals, made his first start for Hershey Friday night
Riley Gill was summoned from the Reading Royals earlier in the week, and he received the nod to start his club’s three games in three nights stretch against the Adirondack Phantoms.
HERSHEY, PA – David Leggio celebrate’s Hershey’s shootout win over Wilkes-Barre Saturday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
The Hershey Bears entered Saturday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins again looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses against Binghamton and Syracuse. Although inconsistency has been a concern this season, the Bears entered play possessing a 9-5-0-1 record in each game following a loss. On the flip side, however, Hershey’s record stands at a disappointing 3-7-1-2 when following a win.
Saturday the Bears’ ended a 3-in-3 game stretch with a thrilling 2-1 shootout victory over their I-81 Rivals. It was a game Hershey rightfully so deserved to win in regulation, but settled for a shootout win due to an outstanding performance by Pens’ goaltender Eric Hartzell.
HERSHEY, PA – Cameron Schilling looks on as Syracuse celebrates one of their three goals against Hershey Friday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Fans packed Giant Center for a rare Friday night game against the Syracuse Crunch. Ryan Potulny made his anticipated season debut with the Chocolate and White and was inserted on an offensive line with Jeff Taffe and Casey Wellman.
A lackadaisical second period for the Chocolate and White set the stage for a 3-2 defeat to the Crunch.
Nicolas Deschamps, seen here during the 2012-13 season, had Hershey’s loan goal Thursday night (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Fresh off the Christmas holiday, the Hershey Bears returned to work against the Binghamton Senators on what is traditionally known as “Boxing Day” to our neighboring country to the north. The Senators entered eyeing their 20th home ice win against Hershey in team history and looked to pull into a first place East Division tie with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
David Leggio once again received the starting nod for the Chocolate and White in net. It was Leggio’s 11th start in the last 12 Bears games this season dating back to November 27.
It was a tale of two athletic goaltenders between Leggio for Hershey and Nathan Lawson for Binghamton. Lawson’s miraculous second period after a strong Hershey push lead to the tables turning towards a 4-1 Senators win.
HERSHEY, PA – Josh Brittain celebrates his late first period goal in Hershey’s 4-0 shutout win (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
On Saturday night, missed opportunities haunted the Hershey Bears against the Worcester Sharks leading to their tenth regulation set back of the season. A factor towards the defeat was having only a 1-for-7 success rate on the man-advantage, dropping their ranking to 24th in the 30 team American Hockey League.
The power play struggles continued into the next night against the Sharks, but the end result differed in Hershey’s 4-0 win.
HERSHEY, PA – David Leggio and Eriah Hayes look back at the puck after Worcester’s third period goal to give them the win over Hershey (Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Within the last five seasons, the Hershey Bears have beaten the Worcester Sharks only once in five attempts on Giant Center ice. Both teams met Saturday in Chocolate Town for the first time this season. On Joel Rechlicz bobble-fist night, Rechlicz did not engage in an altercation, but rather took a crucial first period charging minor leading to Worcester’s second goal of the game. The Bears later fell by a 3-2 count/
HERSHEY, PA – John Mitchell scores on Kristers Gudlevskis during Hershey’s shootout win over Syracuse (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
HERSHEY, PA – Andrew Hammond is unable to save Stan Galiev’s goal, the first of seven in Hershey’s 7-4 win over Binghamton (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
After an unsuccessful comeback Friday night, the Chocolate and White tried to bounce back against Binghamton on a snowy night in Hershey. With former 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs MVP Michal Neuvirth back between the pipes for the Bears, Hershey was on their a-game, scoring seven goals on 41 shots, winning 7-4 over the Senators.
Photo via Official Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Facebook Page
Back-to-back wins. Those are words you’ve only seen once here this season and once again, it didn’t happen for the Bears on Friday. Coming off an impressive come from behind victory in Binghamton on Wednesday, the Bears failed to follow up with another victory and lost to Wilkes-Barre Scranton on Friday night 5-3.