Chris Bourque joins Keith Aucoin (center) and Graham Mink after Aucoin’s goal (All photos by Kyle Mace)
After losing to their arch rivals on Saturday, the Hershey Bears needed a bounce back win on Sunday. The Bears responded with a 6-3 victory over the Norfolk Admirals to move into a three way tie for first place in the AHL Eastern Division.
We close another chapter in the book of the rivalry. All photos by Kyle Mace.
Tonight was the sixth installment in the Hershey Bears/Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins story. The Bears had a chance to even the series up after going 2-3 before tonight.
The first period saw no goals, only some good chances. But as is typical with all Bears/Penguins games, there was plenty of the rough stuff going around. Patrick McNeill was the victim of a knee-on-knee hit from Nick Petersen. McNeill didn’t finish the first period but thankfully did return for the second.
Photo from Scott Stuccio’s twitter feed.
Tonight’s game actually got off to a little bit of an early start with puck drop at 6:59. The Bears came out strong, but ended up surrendering 3 penalties in the period. Fortunately the penalty kill units were stong as usual. On the one power play that the Bears had they were able to maintain good possession in the offensive zone. Graham Mink and Jacob Micflikier did a good job getting in the way of the Whale goaltender. There were some quality chances in front of the net. In the end, the Bears had more shots on goal an looked like the better team for the period.
Keith Aucoin scores a short-handed goal against Bridgeport. All photos by Kyle Mace.
The Bears had a fantastic start to this weekend but the final game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers still loomed over them.
The Bears enjoyed their own Teddy Bear Toss last night and tonight it was Bridgeport’s turn. The stuffed animals were unleashed late in the first period when Trevor Frischmon’s wristshot got past Braden Holtby.
Coco helps clean up the teddy bears. All Photos by Kyle Mace.
On a night of 10,000 Bears, the real Hershey Bears put together their own big night of goals, beating the Portland Pirates 7-1 at Giant Center. The annual teddy bear toss set a new record for bears given to kids at Hershey Medical Center.
Portland got the first goal of the game only two minutes into it from a shot by Ryan Duncan. Then Graham Mink got the teddy bears flying with only three minutes left in the third.
Bodies flew as the Bears beat the Crunch. Photo by Jim Commentucci / The Post-Standard.
The Bears have had a tough time against the Syracuse Crunch so far this season. They seemed determined that tonight would not see the same fate.
It’s a strange concept to have Graham Mink on the third line but it paid off. Mink was able to muscle the puck away from the Crunch and pass to Matt Pope, who snapped it past Iiro Tarkki. That beautiful goal was Pope’s first as a Hershey Bear.
Later in the period, the Crunch managed to tie it up on the power play. Braden Holtby was screened by Patrick Maroon and possibly his own teammate. Maroon tipped the shot. But the Bears wouldn’t let that get them down! Moments afterwards, Chris Bourque had a breakaway. He was stopped by Tarkki but the Bears maintained possession and Tomas Kundratek scored his first goal as a Bear!
Patrick McNeill and the Bears traveled to Hartford, Connecticut. Photo by Chris Rutsch.
In an unusual Tuesday night game, the Bears traveled up North to face off against the Connecticut Whale. For Francois Bouchard and Tomas Kundratek, it was the first time they would play their former team.
Bourque Bros. Photo Credit: Chris Rutsch
Unfortunately, the Whale didn’t take long to tie it up. A 2-on-1 play broke out and Mats Zuccarello beat Braden Holtby. Tie game after twenty minutes.
Lake Erie celebrates their 5-4 win over Hershey Saturday night (All photos by Kyle Mace)
How do you start a recap after a game like this? After 76 penalty minutes, 9 goals, many mini line brawls, and a goal that you could argue should not have counted, the Lake Erie Monsters came out on top, 5-4, over the Hershey Bears.
Holtby gets the win tonight in Wilkes-Barre. Photo by Anthony Fabrikant/AFC Media.
The Bears broke their losing skid just in time to face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on the road. With a nice day off to feast, it was back to business for Hershey tonight.
Ryan Potulny, in just his second game back from injury, scored on the power play to give the Bears the first lead. Julien Brouillette started the play by crashing through the defense and getting a shot on goal. Potulny closed in on the rebound to pot his first goal of the season. This goal was followed by two fights and you knew it would be another crazy night.
Tenacity and determination lifted the Bears past Providence. Photo by Kyle Mace.
With each game, the Bears’ losing streak gets more and more disheartening. Tonight was a chance to turn things around and play a full game against the Providence Bruins.
The Bears tend to have strong starts and tonight was no exception. Just 18 seconds after puck drop, the first line combined for the first goal of the night. Chris Bourque scored his tenth goal of the season from the right face-off circle past Anton Khudobin.
The Bruins tied it up halfway through the period. David Warsofsky beat Dany Sabourin, who appeared pretty frustrated with letting that one in. The Bears answered with a goal of their own. Brett Flemming scored with a quick goal off the face-off.