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.
All Photos by Kyle Mace.
The Bears wrapped up a long weekend with a game in Connecticut against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. After the jump, see Kyle’s fantastic photos of the Bears preparing for a Sunday matinee game in their snazzy third jerseys. Guys like Braden Holtby, Joel Rechlicz, and Keith Aucoin served as subjects for the photo shoot.
Scott Stuccio and Gregg Mace have tonight’s call between the Bears and Sound Tigers
abc27 will be televising tonight’s game in Bridgeport as the Bears face off against the Sound Tigers at 3pm EST. This is the first of six away games they will be airing on their digital channel this season.
In honor of Bridgeport’s 10th anniversary, Rick DiPietro (along with Trent Hunter and Jeremy Colliton) drops the puck for the ceremonial face-off.
Tonight was the final game of February for the Hershey Bears. They took to the road last night after their win against Albany to make it in time to play the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Connecticut.
There was no score after twenty minutes, which isn’t surprising when you see that Bridgeport led the shots on goal six to three. After the second period, the Bears still only had nine shots on goal but they had started making efficient use of them.
It took a power play in the early in the second period to put the Bears on the board. Keith Aucoin set up Kyle Greentree right in between the face-off circles.
Dmitri Orlov continues to impress everyone. When you watch him play, it’s really hard to believe that he hasn’t been with the team all season. The second period was probably his best so far. He gave a nice primary assist to Dmitri Kugryshev, who scored his sixth goal of the season. Orlov also showed off his physicality, got some penalty kill time, and almost scored a goal himself. The coaches and his teammates are showing confidence in him and deservedly so.
The Sound Tigers finally broke the shutout late in the second period with a power play goal from Rhett Rakhshani. Later in the third period, the Bears were whistled for two penalties and the Sound Tigers had a little over a minute and a half to tie it up…which they did.
Thankfully, the Bears regained their lead on a play where David de Kastrozza deserves a lot of credit. It started with him breaking up a pass in the Bears’ zone. He streaked down the ice where he got at least two shots off on goaltender Joel Martin. Eventually the puck bounced out to Maxime Lacroix who was to the side and had an open net to shoot at.
Despite some last minute penalties and great offensive rushes from Bridgeport, the Bears hung on and won 3-2.
Boyd Kane leads the Hershey Bears to victory! Photos by Kyle Mace
If you were looking for goals, this was the game for you!
Two guys returned to the line-up tonight. The first was Braden Holtby, who held down the crease for the game. The second was Patrick McNeill, fresh off his call-up to Washington but returning without playing a game. He scored the first goal of the game just over one minute in. You think he wants to show the Caps what they’re missing?
Bridgeport briefly tied it up on the power play. Holtby tried to clear the puck up the middle but it was intercepted and he couldn’t recover in time. Thankfully, Steve Pinizzotto was there to give the Bears some breathing room. It was a strange goal. He was hit into the Bridgeport goalie but managed to backhand the puck in without even looking as he was falling. Money.
Soon it became 3-1 Bears as Joel Rechlicz (yes, Joel Rechlicz) scored his first goal of the season. Not only his first goal, but his first ever AHL goal and his first goal since his 2007-2008 IHL season (s/t to Tim Leone for that fact). Right after, Rechlicz dropped the gloves with Brett Gallant. It was a brilliant fight, both guys got in some huge punches and the fight lasted for at least a minute. That’s the kind of fight people will be talking about the next day. Before the end of the period, the Sound Tigers got one goal back.
Come second period, Pinizzotto got his second goal of the night on his own rebound. You give him that shot from between the face-off circles twice and he’s not going to miss twice. Mikko Koskinen was yanked in favor of Joel Martin, a smart move since Koskinen was looking shaky all night. The Sound Tigers responded with a goal (imagine that). But Boyd Kane scored a nice goal to cap off the period. Francois Bouchard had just gotten out of the penalty box when he took the puck right up to the goal. He had a shot but Martin stopped it and Kane got the second shot off.
In the third period, the Sound Tigers responded with another power play goal. But Kane was able to get his second goal of the game to make sure the Sound Tigers couldn’t come back and take over the game. Bears win 6-4.
It might have been a fun game for fans with all the offense, but it was not a good showing for the team. Holtby can be forgiven for knocking off some rust tonight but our defense really needs to step it up and help out our goalies. Maybe Dmitri Orlov will bring some help?
During the first weekend of October, while many of you were busy at Caps Convention or watching one of Washington’s preseason games, the Hershey Bears were also playing through their preseason. Here is a quick recap of their three games in three days (a typical occurrence in the AHL). Pictures are by our very own, Kyle Mace