Hershey Gains 2-1 Series Lead with Win in Charlotte

Zach Miskovic chases after Nicolas Blanchard. Photo by Checkers SmugMug.

Spurred on by the excitement of winning Game 2, the Bears traveled down South to play the Charlotte Checkers on the road. Perhaps with a bit more confidence, they aimed to earn their first series lead of the post-season.

It’s a common phrase in hockey to say that “you need bounces to go your way.” This became a literal occurence when Francois Bouchard scored the first goal of the game. Bouchard was behind the net and the puck deflected off of his skate and over the goal. It bounced off of goaltender Mike Murphy’s back and into the net. It was such a bizarre way to get the first lead of the night but it counted and that’s what matters.

The second half of the period was a busy one for the Bears. They scored two goals to end the period with a three goal lead. One goal came from Keith Aucoin. Steve Pinizzotto has a nice, fast pass to moving Aucoin and all Coiner had to do was tip it into the net. There was not much Murphy could have done to stop that one. The final goal of the period came from Kyle Greentree who scored with a shot from the top of the face-off circle.

The Checkers finally broke the shutout in the second period with a soft goal that I’m sure Braden Holtby is not proud of. Holtby saw it coming the whole way but the puck squeaked past him courtesy of Nick Dodge. The penalty kill unit withstood a few Charlotte power plays and prevented any more goals during the second period.

From the start, the third period had a much different tempo and control than the previous forty minutes. The Checkers were roaring and got several quality scoring chances early on. Holtby was able to stand most of them up but Zach Boychuk finally got one of those scoring chances to go in and made it a one goal game.

Despite the Checkers controlling and outshooting the Bears in the final stanza, Hershey hung on. It became a nail-biter during the final two minutes when Greentree was sent to the box for high-sticking. But they prevented any game-tying goals and the Bears won 3-2. With this win, the Bears gained their first lead of the series.

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Bears Score 4 Unanswered Goals to Beat Admirals, 5-4

The difference between tonight’s first period and last night’s first period could not be any bigger. Just about the only similarity was that they were still on the road and playing the Norfolk Admirals .

It started off fine. Dustin Tokarski went to chase a puck down from behind the net. Instead, the puck bounced off the back boards and out to Kyle Greentree who scored on the completely empty net.

From there, it went downhill. Norfolk didn’t allow this fluke goal to mess up their game. They responded with a 4-on-4 goal (Brian Fahey was in the box for cross-checking and Blair Jones joined him for diving). After that, Andrew Gordon was whistled for tripping and the Admirals only took eleven seconds on the power play to score.

With Sheldon Souray in the box, Norfolk scored a second power play that seemed to especially tick off Braden Holtby. After the goal, he turned and shoved the net towards the back wall. It’s hard to tell if it was just general frustration but some fans in attendance said that the net was already off it’s pegs. Holtby knew it and was angry that the goal counted. It took a while to get the net fixed but there Bears were still down two goals.

Before you could blink, the Admirals then scored an even strength goal with less than a minute left in the first period. The Bears were sent to the locker room with a lot of goals to discuss.

As rough as the first period was, the second period made up for just about all of it. Francois Bouchard continues to show the coaching staff that he doesn’t belong on the fourth line. He scored his second goal this weekend. Just about 30 seconds after that, Greentree got his second goal of the night on a gorgeous pass from Keith Aucoin. They both came roaring towards the net and Aucoin placed his pass perfectly so that Greentree could flip it past Tokarski.

With all the momentum in their favor, the Bears actually tied the game up before the second period was even half over. It was Patrick McNeill who got the goal when he skated just past the blue line and got a big shot past the Norfolk goaltender. Amazingly, it was a 4-4 game.

Norfolk really took a blow when Tokarski got injured. Gordon was in front of the net and accidentally hit Tokarski with his stick. Tokarski immediately fell to the ice and the skated to the bench during a stoppage in play. Jaroslav Janus took over.

Janus gave up his first goal towards the end of the second period. For Hershey fans, I can just describe as your typical “Andrew Gordon” goal. Another great play by Aucoin to Gordon who was in Janus’ face. After being down 4-1, suddenly the Bears were up 5-4.

Neither side scored during the third period, although there were some close calls. During the final moments when Norfolk had pulled Janus, they came very close to tying the game but Hershey escaped with another big win. Bears win 5-4.

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Penguins Win 3-2 Nail-Biter with Overtime SHG

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Bryan Lerg scores in overtime to beat the Bears. Photo by Kyle Mace

What a game!

We already know that both teams will be going to playoffs this season. Despite the troubles that Hershey has had with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this year, it would be a fun series if these teams met up during the post-season.

After shutting out the Montreal Canadiens last night, Braden Holtby returned to Hershey and allowed a goal on the second shot of the game. The Penguins got the first lead of the night on the power play while Perreault was in the box for tripping. They only needed four seconds of the man advantage before they scored.

Hershey tied it up during the second period. They came rushing into the offensive zone and Brian Willsie passed to Mathieu Perreault. He got a shot off and John Curry stopped it but the rebound bounced back out to Francois Bouchard who didn’t miss.

Unfortunately, the Penguins regained their lead in the same period. Yet again, it was on the power play. This time it took them 37 seconds on the power play to score.

With their backs against the wall in the third period, the Bears had to kill off a penalty to Boyd Kane for elbowing with the final few minutes of the period dwindling. The Bears stood tall and interrupted the Penguins offense. There was a two-on-one but Wilkes-Barre broke that up. Perreault collected the puck and dished a perfect pass to Keith Aucoin, who was crashing the net: tie game thanks to a short-handed goal.

With the crowd roaring, this game would need overtime to end it. Steve Pinizzotto was whistled for tripping just 29 seconds in and fans held their breath. But they were excited again when Brett Sterling took a penalty of his own almost two minutes later.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t slow down the Penguins. They scored short-handed to cement the win and their East Division Championship. Bears lose 3-2 (OT).

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Syracuse Crunch Destroy Hershey Bears, 5-2

Braden Holtby very clearly disagrees with the call on the Syracuse goal. Photo by Kyle Mace

The Bears wrapped up this 3-in-3 with a Sunday matinée game against the Syracuse Crunch. With one win and one loss already, this game decided whether it would be a winning or losing record for the weekend.

The Crunch got the first lead of the night on just their second shot of the game. There wasn’t much Braden Holtby could do as Matt Kennedy spun around and deflected the puck off Dmitry Orlov‘s leg.

But the Bears tied it up at the end of the period during a delayed penalty call. Brian Willsie took at shot and it bounced out to Kyle Greentree was behind Jean-Philippe Levasseur and had a mostly empty net to shoot at. Tie game.

Enter controversy. At first, it looked like the second period was going to wrap up without a scoring change. The Bears got a late period power play but it was Syracuse that scored. Nick Bonino was left alone and had a bit of a breakaway right up to the goal. He deked a few times and took a quick shot. The puck flipped past Holtby and appeared to hit the crossbar and bounce back out. The goal light never went off but referee Francis Charron said it was good.

The replay that played in-house was a little hard to decipher but I’m still not convinced it went in. Many people were pointing to the fact that the water bottle that was resting on the netting jumped, usually signaling a good goal. Tim Leone, who most likely got a better look at the replay, had this to say:

I’d be interested to hear what some of you who saw it in person have to say, especially those seated near the goal.

Despite leading in shots on goal 26 to 11, the Bears were down a goal going into the third period. It took just under twelve minutes before the Bears were able to tie it up. They threw a bunch of shots towards Levasseur and Greentree ended up scoring on his own rebound to get his second goal of the night.

However, the Crunch didn’t take long to respond. They couldn’t even finish announcing Hershey’s goal when Syracuse regained their lead on a strange goal. I can’t fault Holtby too much on this first two goals, but this was one he should have had. He was flush up against the post but a Crunch player was able to sneak it past him after Holtby tried to poke check it away.

Then the wheels fell off and Syracuse scored on a 2-on-1 rush with a minute and a half left. The final nail in the coffin was the empty net goal with five seconds left. Hershey loses 5-2.

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Kozek and Willsie Lead Bears to 5-1 win over Falcons

It was a big night for the Hershey Bears as they traveled up north to play the Springfield Falcons.

It was a great start to the game if you were wearing chocolate and white. The same cannot be said for Springfield goaltender, Gustaf Wesslau. In just about four and a half minutes of play, Wesslau saw two shots. They both became goals.

The first goal was Andrew Kozek, who tipped a Brian Fahey one-timer shot. The second goal belonged to Brian Willsie. Willsie was assisted by Andrew Gordon, who made his triumphant return to the line-up for the first time since he was injured on February 5th.

And that was the end of Wesslau’s night. He was quickly pulled in favor of David LeNeveu. Before the end of the period, the Falcons brought it back within one with a back door shot from Maksim Mayorov.

The second period had sort of a deja vu feeling. It took a few shots, but Kozek finally beat LeNeveu to score his second goal of the night. With two defenders closing in on him, he scored thanks to a long pass from his defenders. Not to be outdone, Willsie scored his second goal of the game as well when he capitalized on a Falcons turnover. And that’s how Hershey found themselves with a cushy lead going into the third period.

It was a pretty quiet third through. Springfield all but rolled and over and gave up. Kyle Greentree put the final nail in the coffin with a 4-on-4 goal. Bears win 5-1.

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Penalties Prove Decisive in 3-2 SO Loss against Norfolk

Johan Harju scores the game-winner in the shootout against Schaefer. Photo by Kyle Mace

It was a big day for the special teams as the Hershey Bears took on the rival Norfolk Admirals.

Patrick McNeill scored during a first period power play. He was skating between the face-off circles when he stopped the puck with his foot. He kicked it in front of him and shot a sweet wrister past Dustin Tokarski.

During the second period, the Admirals countered with a power play goal of their own. They got Nolan Schaefer moving and he couldn’t cross the crease in time to stop a shot from Alex Berry. Tie game after two periods.

As it always seems to with these teams, it came down to a big third period. The Admirals took their first lead of the game almost halfway through the period while (you guessed it) on the power play. It was speedy play and a fast pass to the middle where James Wright tipped it past Schaefer.

But Kyle Greentree was ready to respond! Just a minute later, Greentree gave Hershey a second wind by scoring five-hole on Tokarski. And get this: it wasn’t on the power play!

I’m sure that after seven games in nine nights, overtime during the seventh game was not deserved. Nevertheless, the Bears found themselves in sudden death, fighting for that extra point. Sean Collins was whistled for a delay of game late in overtime and the Bears killed it off to move the game to the shootout.

The Admirals only scored once, but that was all they needed. Tokarski stopped all five Hershey skaters. Bears lose 3-2 (SO).

Tokarski is just unreal. We all keep waiting for him to show signs that he’s human but he’s the epitome of a “hot goalie” right now. Nevertheless, the Bears should be proud of the way they played tonight. It was a fantastic all-around effort and they definitely have a well-deserved rest coming up this week. See you Friday.

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Bears beat the Whale for French’s 100th Coaching Win

The Bears celebrate Brian Willsie’s goal, which proved to be the game-winner.

Break out the Brass Bonanza! The Hershey Bears came to town to play their first game against the Connecticut Whale (though they did play them earlier in the season when they were still the Hartford Wolfpack).

Kyle Greentree scored the first goal of the night with a nice shot from between the face-off circles. New addition, Andrew Kozek (who was playing in his first game as a Bear) had the primary assist to register his first point as a Bear.

The Bears extended their lead during the second period when Connecticut had an iffy line change. Greentree dished a long pass to Brian Willsie who was waiting up ice. Once he got the puck, Willsie raced towards the net, took aim, and scored. 2-0 Bears.

The Whale finally broke the shutout during the third period when Kris Newbury darted through the zone and right up to the net. There wasn’t much Nolan Schaefer could do to stop it. Connecticut couldn’t muster up any more goals and Bears win 2-1!

You know what that means? We finally get to congratulate Coach Mark French on his 100th AHL coaching victory! He is the fastest coach in AHL history to reach the 100 win plateau. We can’t even begin to say how much French has done for the Bears. We know the team is in great hands with him. Now the race begins to 200 wins!

Just a heads up to our readers: we will not be covering the game tomorrow night against the Adirondack Phantoms. Instead, we’ll be in Virginia with our Russian Machine Never Breaks brothers at the RMNB Party 2: Electric Boogaloo. If you’re free, head down to Arlington and have fun while donating money to the Brian St. Louis Family Fund.

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Bears hang on to beat Sound Tigers 3-2

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.

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Despite Getting Outshot, Bears beat Marlies 3-2 (SO)

In a rare Wednesday night game, the Bears traveled to Canada to play the Toronto Marlies. Hershey had the overwhelming obstacle of defeating Jonas Gustavsson who is with the Marlies on a conditioning stint. He is definitely an NHL-caliber goaltender and did very well in his first two conditioning games. To beat him, you need to shoot often.

…which is the opposite of what the Bears did at first. However, Hershey did manage to get one past Gustavsson thanks to Andrew Joudrey who was playing in his first game since being out with an upper body injury. Welcome back, Captain! However, the Marlies, not exactly known for their power play skills, tied it up while Patrick McNeill (not O’Neill, as the Ricoh Coliseum guy announced) was in the box. Continuing their onslaught of shots, it was only a matter of time before they found the back of the net again right off an late period offensive zone face-off. By the end of the first period, the Marlies were out-shooting them 15 to 5.

I imagine there were some strong words delivered by the coaches during the first intermission because they Bears came out aggressive for the second period. Braden Holtby continued to be a rock in net, holding back the Marlies from obtaining an even bigger lead. Late in the period, the Bears got their first power play which then turned into a 5-on-3. Boyd Kane had a shot on goal that rebounded back out. A Marlie attempted to interrupt the pass but ended up deflected it right to Kyle Greentree who shot it back door.

It was a tie game doing into a big third period. Penalties were exchanged and the Marlies regained some power, outshooting the Bears by a wide margin once again. But there was no change in the score and so the teams traveled on to overtime. Despite beginning and ending overtime on the power play, the Bears were unable to convert and a shootout was needed to end this game.

When it come down to the shootout, Holtby showed them who was boss. He stopped all five Toronto shooters. Steve Pinizzotto, who had a great game in his home town with friends and family watching, was the only Hershey skater to beat Gustavsson. It was all Hershey needed, however. Bears win 3-2 (SO).

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