Hershey’s Home Stand is Perfect, beat Falcons 4-3


Sheldon Souray celebrates another win with Dany Sabourin. Photo by Kyle Mace

Before I dive into this game recap, I want to congratulate John Walton on calling his 1,000th game. Fans of any team should appreciate Walton and all that he has done for Hershey. It wouldn’t be half as interesting to listen without you, John. It would be an understatement to say that I hope he’s around for 1,000 more.

And now about the game. After getting snowed in last time and having to push the game to tonight, the two teams were going pretty strong right from the start.

The Springfield Falcons had a some notable names in the starting line-up. Mike Commodore was in, playing his first game for the Springfield Falcons. But the bigger name for Hershey fans was the return of Kyle Wilson. The Reeses Cup mascot dropped the puck in a ceremonial face-off and Andrew Gordon and Wilson took it together. It was nice to see two former teammates together again, even if they were wearing different jerseys.

Speaking of Gordon, he was the first Bear to find the back of the net. With a nice pass from Keith Aucoin, Gordon scored short side on David LeNeveu. Sean Collins, who is having a pretty good season, made it a two goal lead with a missile from center point.

The Falcons cut Hershey’s lead in half when they scored ten seconds into their first power play of the night. The second period was fairly quiet but Brian Willsie added some insurance with a power play goal of his own.

The Falcons looked like they were on the cusp of a comeback during the third period when John Moore got Springfield within one goal of tying. Steve Pinizzotto didn’t take too kindly to this and just moments later scored a sweet goal where he danced around the Falcons goaltender.

Kyle Wilson wasn’t willing to accept defeat and scored a goal with 17.8 seconds left in the game after a botched clearing attempt by Sabourin. The Bears were able to stave off any last chances from Springfield and won 4-3.

Hershey took advantage of this four game home stand and gained eight points in the standings. These four wins are crucial ones and have shown just what this time is capable of. Dany Sabourin played great, winning all four games. He has proven that we can rely on him even when we don’t have Braden Holtby with us.

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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.

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Bears Send Amerks Packing After 5-1 Victory


The Bears celebrate one of many goals against the Rochester Americans. Photo by Kyle Mace

Sometimes after a blow-out victory, like the game last night against the Albany Devils, it’s easy to sit back and relax during the next game. But it’s games like the one tonight against the Rochester Americans where you will look back and regret not getting those two points if you relax too much.

I think Steve Pinizzotto took it a little too seriously when someone told him to start the game strong. Right off the opening face-off, he dropped the gloves with Michael Duco. It was over pretty quickly but I’d say Pinizzotto came out on top.

The Bears also started strong by scoring the game’s first goal. Patrick McNeill had a nice goal during a 5-on-3 where he came in and sniped the rebound shot. It was his first goal of the season and a well-deserved one. Keith Aucoin would add to the scoring sheet after he snuck in back door while Andrew Gordon had the puck.

Rochester’s only goal of the night game came during the second period. They beat Dany Sabourin on the power play to cut Hershey’s lead in half. Speaking of Sabourin, he had another great night. He stopped 25 of 26 shots and those were big shots. It’s a great thing to see him getting comfortable and winning two in a row in front of the Hershey faithful.

Thankfully, the third period was all Hershey in terms of scoring. Gordon got Hershey’s third goal with a perfect deflection past Tyler Plante. Brian Willsie tacked on another goal during the power play that got Plante moving. Finally, Ashton Rome added even more goal insurance by cashing in on another juicy rebound.

The top two lines were fantastic tonight and Hershey defeated the Amerks 5-1.The homestand continues tomorrow night when the Adirondack Phantoms come to town.

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Bears Gain Penalty Minutes and Goals Against Devils


Dany Sabourin lays on the ice in pain after being run down by Louis Robitaille. Photo by Kyle Mace

If you were looking for excitement tonight, you better have been watching the Hershey Bears play the Albany Devils tonight.

The game started off innocently. Brian Willsie opened scoring on a funny goal that he jammed past the Albany goaltender, Mike McKenna.

Then Louis Robitaille jumped on the ice and the game was never the same.

In true Robitaille fashion, he caused drama just four minutes into the game. Dany Sabourin went to clear the puck next to the goal and Robitaille absolutely ran him down. There was no effort to slow down and Sabourin fell awkwardly on his leg. He took a while to get back up but did finish the game and played pretty damn well. Robitaille received a game misconduct (along with two major penalties) and never returned. After the game, Robitaille claimed that he was just coming around the forecheck and that he didn’t mean to hit him. I guess that’s his story and he’s sticking to it.

I’m awarding Robitaille’s dumb penalty as tonight’s game changer. During the subsequent power play, Steve Pinizzotto scored on the power play.

I won’t even begin to go into detail with all the goals tonight, but here’s the gist: Patrick Wellar and Brian Fahey added goals and the Devils were able to get one back before the end of first period.

In the second period, Francois Bouchard and Sean Collins scored, as well as Willsie getting his second goal of the night. McKenna was pulled and Dave Caruso took his unenviable spot.

The third period was better for the Devils, as they scored twice more. Suffice to say, it wasn’t enough, especially with Kyle Greentree adding a power play goal. Bears destroy Devils, 8-3.

To say this game was ugly would be the understatement of the century. With other 32 penalties and seven fights, there was not a dull moment in this game.

Even Keith Aucoin dropped the gloves with Matt Anderson. It was mostly a wrestling match but when Aucoin fights, you realize how insane this game really is.

So that’s that. I reckon tomorrow’s game against the Rochester Americans looks pretty calm at the moment. It’ll be hard to top tonight.

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Binghamton Edges Hershey in 2-1 Victory

As the Washington Capitals wrapped up a win against the Ottawa Senators, their farm teams dropped the puck in Binghamton.

It was a rough start for the Bears as the Binghamton Senators took an early lead. Maybe they were feeling a little tired after a late game the night before and travelling today. Whatever the reason, they were rudely awakened by a goal by Andrew Sweetland. Sweetland just signed a PTO with Binghamton and he was definitely impressing everyone tonight.

Boyd Kane tied the game up after a play that he deserves all the credit for. He was harassed by David Hale on the boards behind the goal but was able to keep the puck. He passed it briefly to Keith Aucoin but it returned to him. He powered to the front of the goal and beat Barry Brust to tie it up.

The second period saw no scoring change although the Senators were awarded a penalty shot after Mike Hoffman was hooked on a breakaway. Braden Holtby was ready to make the big save and it all came down to the third period.

Unfortunately, penalties ultimately won this game for the Senators. Patrick McNeill took his second penalty of the night and the best power play unit in the league got to work. They got Holtby moving and Ryan Keller scored the game-winning goal. Bingo takes this one 2-1.

Hershey gets a couple days to rest up and prepare for their next weekend of games. Hopefully it will be better than this weekend’s.

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Hershey’s Weak Finish Results in SO Loss to Lake Erie


Braden Holtby looks in disbelief at the replay. Photo by Kyle M.

A sold-out crowd gathered in Giant Center tonight to watch the Bears take on the Lake Erie Monsters. It was the only time we will see the Monsters in Hershey this season.

The game started off perfectly. Hershey scored the first goal early in the first period, as they often do. Lake Erie had two men in the box and Hershey had a 5-on-3 power play for thirty seconds. After getting roughed up, Keith Aucoin made the Monsters pay by scoring on the man advantage.

A few minutes into the second period, Ashton Rome recorded his sixth goal of the season. Tyler Sloan had a nice role in the play, joining the rush as a winger. Along with Maxime Lacroix, they got the puck to the goal. John Grahame made the initial save but Rome buried the rebound.

Perhaps getting a little too comfortable, the scoring ended there for Hershey. Meanwhile, Lake Erie started to kick it in gear. They cut Hershey’s lead in half before the end of the second period. Holtby couldn’t see the rebound and Lake Erie got their first goal of the night. With about a minute to go in the game, Lake Erie pulled their goalie. With an extra man, the Monsters got a lot of traffic in front of the Hershey goal and tied it up with just 40 seconds left in the game.

Overtime didn’t solve anything and so it went to the shootout. Unfortunately, the Monsters scored twice and Hershey could only score once.

Despite the loss, Braden Holtby was fantastic in net. It would have been a whole different game without him. He was there to make all the huge saves that the Bears needed him to make. I’m sure a shootout was not how the Bears wanted to end this game, especially with an early game in Binghamton tomorrow. Nevertheless, the Bears watch the game slip through their fingers and lose 3-2.

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Another Perfect Night for Bears Penalty Killers

The Bears came to tonight’s game looking to grab a couple more points from a struggling Adirondack team.  The Phantoms have recently been playing better than they had at the start of the season.  Before tonight they had not lost in regulation in the last six games.  Both teams played a tight game.  In the end the Bears were able to prevail and take two more standings points home with them.  Those were points that they ended up needing since Norfolk also won tonight.  The Bears are still trailing Norfolk by one point for third place in the Eastern Division; however the Bears have a game in hand.

Without many whistles, the first period moved along quickly.  The Bears had 3 power plays during the period.  Sloppy passing and stick handling caused them to squander the first two opportunities.  The third Bears power play of the period started out the same way.  The first unit was ineffective against the Phantoms penalty killers.  With time running short on the power play the second unit was sent out.  Dmitri Kugryshev was able to keep the puck in on the right boards then get a pass to Zach Miskovic near the center point.  Miskovic fired a shot through traffic that found the back of the net.  The period ended with 10 total shots on goal (Bears 8, Phantoms 2)

The second period started much like the first, but Brian Willsie quickly changed that.  After Phantoms turnover Steve Pinizzotto took the puck below the right faceoff circle and sent a pass to Willsie in the high slot.  Leighton never got over in time and Willsie was able to bury the shot in the back of the net.  Willsie later gave Patrick Wellar an assist.  Wellar took a deflected shot to the mouth late in the second period and immediately left the ice with blood evident.  Willsie skated over, found Wellar’s tooth and made sure the tooth made it back to its rightful owner.

The Bears took a couple penalties in the front half of the third period.  Unlike the first two periods, the Phantoms were able to get some quality chances on those power plays.  In the first two stanzas, I found myself forgetting that the Bears were actually killing a penalty.   Fortunately Danny Sabourin and the penalty killers were able to keep the Phantoms off the score sheet.  At 17:36 Keith Aucoin took a slashing minor to make the last couple minutes of the game a little more interesting.  With about 1:20 left, Michael Leighton was pulled to add an extra skater.  In the end it didn’t make a difference.  The Bears killed off the penalty, and Pinizzotto added an empty netter to finish off the game.

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Penalties Help Moose Get Retribution Against Bears

When the coaching staff opted to play tonight’s game against the Manitoba Moose with seven defensemen and eleven forwards, I don’t think they realized what a good decision that was.

Through two periods, the Bears were not able to get any kind of offensive momentum going. This was mostly a result of the ten power plays awarded to Manitoba. Some of them were obvious ones like delay of game and playing with a broken stick. Others, like a tripping call against Francois Bouchard, were questionable.

Nonetheless, the Bears penalty kill unit deserves a lot of credit tonight. Even though the Moose scored three power play goals (including the game winner), the Bears special teams held the Moose off during the nine other power plays. Still missing Andrew Joudrey and Boyd Kane, the Bears tempted fate with so many penalties. The players were getting frustrated but, for the most part, they were able to hold back and not take dumb penalties due to anger.

Dmitri Kugryshev kicked off the scoring with an unassisted beauty. It’s awesome to see Kugryshev coming into his own because he’s going to be a dangerous offensive player soon. During the second period, Lawrence Nycholat salvaged any chance Hershey had at winning this game with a shot that beat the Manitoba goaltender’s five hole.

As if you needed any more evidence of what a clutch player Steve Pinizzotto is, he scored the game-tying goal during the third period. He was in the perfect spot for a rebound shot and made sure he didn’t miss on the second try. Thanks to him, Hershey got a point out of this and the game went to overtime.

The game ended in the most fitting way possible. Sean Collins was whistled for a tripping call with 40.5 seconds left in overtime. The Moose didn’t hesitate. They scored on the power play and sent Hershey packing. Moose win 4-3.

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Hershey Bears Edge Out Manitoba Moose, 4-3

Hershey started off incredibly strong. They absolutely punished the Manitoba Moose in the first two minutes alone. Brian Fahey got the first goal of the night 43 seconds into the game. His shot came from the blue line and may have deflected off a Moose player before entering the goal. A little over a minute later, Nikita Kashirsky recorded his second goal of the season. Two shots for Hershey, two goals for Hershey.

Manitoba then took a time out to regain their composure. They rebounded and were able to keep calm despite their early deficit. In the last minutes of the period, they got their first goal of the night. It kind of looked like Patrick Wellar screened Dany Sabourin on that shot.

During the second period, the Bears relaxed a little. They stopped firing shots at Manitoba goaltender Eddie Lack. As a result, Manchester kicked it up and tied the game. It was a good cross ice pass for Manitoba but Sabourin didn’t handle it well. Instead of using lateral movement to slide across the crease, he panicked and dove.

Hershey regained the lead before the end of the second period. Stop me if you’ve heard this before but Andrew Gordon scored on the power play with a shot right on the door step of the Manitoba goal. Shocking, I know.

During the third period, the first half was mostly uneventful. It didn’t get interesting until Manitoba tied it up again with a goal that beat Sabourin short side. I’m going to guess he wants that one back.

But have no fear! Andrew Gordon, power play player extraordinaire, is here to save the day! Once again, parking out in front of the net paid off. Lawrence Nycholat‘s shot from the blue line came towards the net and Gordon got his stick on it with less than thirty seconds left in the game. The Bears were able to stave off any last minute chances from the Moose and won 4-3 in exciting fashion.

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Holtby Blocks Norfolk in 2-0 Hershey Victory


Kyle Greentree sneaks the puck past Dustin Tokarski to give Hershey the lead. Photo by Kyle.

It’s very curious to me that when the two best offensive teams in the league play each other, the game ends up being a low-scoring event. The Norfolk Admirals are the league leaders in goal scoring but only managed to score one goal the first time they played Hershey this season.

Ironically, that was the last time Braden Holtby let in a goal. Tonight was his fourth shutout of the season. Thanks to Tim Leone for help with this stat: Holtby has now played 173 minutes and 37 seconds without letting in a goal, including two complete shutouts. While Dany Sabourin may be struggling to find his groove, Holtby is holding down the fort.

Despite winning both games against the Admirals, the Bears themselves have not been able to score as much as usual either. Kyle Greentree scored the eventual game-winner during the first period. The Bears were on the power play and Greentree shot the puck towards the goal. I think Dustin Tokarski was more concerned with Andrew Gordon‘s placement on the doorstep than with Greentree’s shot, which then hit Tokarski and deflected in.

Zach Miskovic added a little insurance during the second period. Keith Aucoin had an absolutely beautiful cross-ice pass to Miskovic who then one-timed it into the net. John Walton noted that the goal was Miskovic’s fifth of the season, but his third in the past week. It’s good to see him finding a style that works for him and feeling comfortable joining the offense. As proven in the past week, he can be quite the offensive threat.

I found it interesting that the Norfolk Admirals opted not to pull Tokarski until there was under half a minute left in the game. Interesting strategy for a team that was down two goals and about to get shut out.

Nevertheless, Hershey gains another valuable two points and downs Norfolk 2-0.

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