Photo courtesy: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Facebook page
With momentum riding high in the Hershey Bears’ locker room following a win in our nation’s capital, the Bears looked to carry that momentum to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Kevin Marshall recorded his first and only shot of the game at the 3:18 mark of overtime, and capitalized on Penguins’ goaltender Jeff Zatkoff to send the Bears past the W-B for the forth time this season, 5-4.
HERSHEY, PA – Tomas Kundratek skates by as Braden Holtby looks on after Wilkes-Barre scores their fourth goal of the game (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Adam Oates is gone, but the Hershey Bears slump remains. Following Wednesday night’s 4-0 loss to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, the Washington Capitals announced that Caps head coach and Hershey Bears co-coach Adam Oates would no longer be on the Bears bench. Oates had been in Hershey and on the Bears bench for every game this season. Members of the Caps staff will also return to Washington.
HERSHEY, PA – Garrett Mitchell scores his second goal of the game (Tim Stough – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
A night after being ruffed up in Syracuse, New York, the Hershey Bears returned home looking to snap a three-game win-less streak against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Ryan Potulny, returning from injury played his first game at Giant Center since the home opener on October 20. Potulny failed to tally a point in front of his home town crowd, but the Bears beat the Penguins for the third consecutive game, 4-1.
Wilkes-Barre Township, PA – A Panoramic of Mohegan Sun Arena before the Bears faced-off against the Penguins (Tim Stough – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Early Friday, EA Sports showed their “AHL Sim of the Week,” featuring Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the simulation. The simulation showed the Bears coming out on top with a 2-1 victory. The Chocolate and White must have heard because they would take the non-virtual two points with a 3-1 win over the Baby Pens.
HERSHEY, PA – Zach Hamil celebrates his goal against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Hershey’s 3-2 win (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth)
Sunday the Hershey Bears faced off against their I-81 rivals from Wilkes-Barre Township to close out the month of October. A night after celebrating the first win of the season at Giant Center and a stellar 35-save shutout by Braden Holtby, the Bears hung for a 3-2 victory.
Robert Bortuzzo jumps into the celebration pile after the Penguin’s second goal (All photos by Kyle Mace)
After a rough start to the series, the Hershey Bears came back and won back to back game to send the series back to Wilkes-Barre. After a good first period, the Bears gave up two goals in seven seconds to the Baby Pens to drop the series in five game, losing by a score of 2-1.
Bears Graham Mink (left) and Zach Miskovic (right) celebrate with Cameron Schilling after Schilling’s goal during Friday’s game (Photo by Kyle Mace)
There was a confidence among the Hershey Bears that we hadn’t seen in quite a while, on Friday night. It was a resolve to show their fans and themselves that this team wasn’t about to let the season end, as easily as it looked to be ending after the first two games of the series. The Bears beat the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins on Friday night 4-1 to even the best of five series at two games each.
Ryan Potulny (left) celebrates his GWOTG with teammates Graham Mink (center) and Boyd Kane (Photo by Kyle Mace)
The Hershey Bears came into tonight’s game one loss from elimination and having their 2012 Calder Cup hopes come to a crashing ending. A loss would also be the first time in 46 years the Bears have been swept in a three game, first round series with the last happening in 1966. But after tonight’s game, we will have to wait until year 47 to see if that happens.
The Bears came out to a quick start, scoring 2 goals, but having Wilkes-Barre go toe-to-toe with them and tie it up ever time Hershey would take the lead, but when you go to overtime, you cannot come back and tie it up. And that is exactly what happened tonight. After 60 minutes of play, all Hershey would need is another 2:57 to cut Wilkes-Barre’s two game lead in half and stay alive in the Calder Cup playoffs, after a 4-3 win over the Baby Pens.
Mark French argues with the officials. All photos by Kyle Mace.
Down one game, the Bears had a chance to tie up the series before returning home.
…unfortunately it didn’t go quite as planned. I won’t upset you with the details, but the Bears left the first period down four goals. Between deflections, rebounds, and just plain getting out-worked, the Penguins owned Dany Sabourin and the first period and set the tone for the rest of the game.
Dany Sabourin sees a shot enter his net. All photos by Kyle Mace.
The quest for the 12th Calder Cup began tonight. Even though the Bears are viewed as the underdogs in the series, we know that they’re not going down without a fight (literally and figuratively).
It wasn’t a strong start for the Bears. After twenty minutes, they only had three shots on goal and were down one goal. It could’ve been worse, however. Dany Sabourin was back and doing his best to keep his team in it. The Penguin goal came from Colin McDonald just ten seconds into their first power play of the night.