After the Bears shootout win in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Braden Holtby had a little celebrating to do. Holtby blocked Nick Petersen shot and gave a little "what now" and pump as he skated back to the bench to greet his teammates. Simon…
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.
Simon Despres celebrates his game winning OT goal (All Photos by Kyle Mace. Click to enlarge.)
The fourth installment of the the 12 part I-81 rivalry for the 2011-12 season was in Chocolate town Friday. The Bears were looking to tie up the season series at two apiece. But for the Chocolate and White, that didn’t happen. Going back and forth all night long, Hershey got the early edge, but they couldn’t hold on and lose 5-4 in overtime.
Photo by AFCMedia Photography.
It was the battle of the in-state rivals’ third jerseys tonight. The Bears wore their white skating bear sweaters while the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins wore dark jerseys with more tan than their usual uniforms. But it was more than a story about fashion.
Just 33 seconds in, Patrick Wellar laid out a nice check at the blue line. It was a clean hit but, as often happens in hockey these days, he was immediately jumped. He and Ryan Schnell exchanged some rough stuff but the Bears ended up with a power play.
Unfortunately, the Penguins killed off the penalty and then took the first lead of the game. An innocent pass by Wilkes-Barre in front of Dany Sabourin became a goal when the puck bounced off of an unlucky Patrick McNeill. Before the end of the period, the Penguins scored again on a stuff attempt.
Graham Mink and Niko Dimitrakos exchange words after a big hit. Photo by Kyle Mace.
It’s always an interesting game when the in-state rivals play. Tonight, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were in Chocolatetown, ready to put up a fight against Hershey’s point streak.
The drama came in the first period when Sean Collins hit Eric Tangradi. Collins definitely got his arm up high but it was unclear whether it was a hit to the head or to the chest. I saw some of other angles of the hit and I’m still not sure of where the hit landed but I can understand arguments either way. Collins was initially put in the penalty box but, after some discussion, the penalty was called off.
The Bears were unable to get a lot of momentum going during the first period because of all the penalties against them. Thankfully, Braden Holtby was very sharp and made a lot of big saves to keep the Bears in it.
The only goal he gave up in the first period was a deflection by Brian Gibbons during a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton power play. It was the second night in a row that the Bears gave up the first goal.
(Photo courtesy Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins Facebook Page)
Well, the Bears are off to a pretty good start! Six goals in two games, and each one has been scored by a different player. Did I mention they are now 2-0? The Bears beat their archrival, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins by a score of 3-2 tonight, and it looks like this scoring won’t be stopping anytime soon.
Wilkes-Barre celebrates one of their 2 goals as they come back to beat Hershey (Kyle Mace)
It’s getting closer. With the start of the regular season less than a week away, the Hershey Bears play the second of their three pre-season games Saturday night at Giant Center. And although the results don’t count in the standing, the Bears dropped their second straight to Wilkes-Barre Scranton, 2-1.
The Baby Pens celebrate one of many goals against the Bears tonight. Photo by Kyle Mace
For your average teams, a game with two teams who already have secured seeds in the playoffs would be just another game to get through.
Someone should tell the Bears and Penguins this, although I don’t think they’d hear you over the sound of their hatred for each other.
It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that this game would be just as physical as yesterday’s, if not moreso. Just about five minutes in, Ashton Rome had a big hit on Zach Sill. Sill had a few words for Rome and then they dropped the gloves. It was definitely dominated by Rome though, who brought the crowd to their feet after delivering some huge blows.
It didn’t take long for Patrick Wellar and Jesse Boulerice to follow suit and fight near center ice. Wellar had the advantage early but Boulerice got the takedown.
Despite several power plays, the Bears just could not find the back of the net. This is mostly the result of John Curry’s stunning saves. Just when it seemed like the period would end scoreless, the Penguins kicked it up a notch during the final minute of play. The Bears botched several attempts to clear the zone and all of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s offense got Braden Holtby moving. 1-0 Penguins.
The second period started off a little quieter but it only took thirty seconds for Hershey to be in a 3-0 hole. Brett Sterling was positioned right in front of Holtby and chipped the puck past Holtby. It was a good shot and there wasn’t much he could do about it.
The next goal stung a bit more. The Penguins were on a power play with Souray in the box. Holtby came out of his crease a little to make a save but the rebound came right out to Nick Petersen. Holtby was too far out and Petersen practically had an empty net.
With all the momentum on their side, the Penguins kept it going. Bryan Lerg fired a fast shot from the above the face-off circle that went right past Hershey.
In one period, the game went from about equal to domination by the Penguins. The Bears did a better job during the third period of holding the Penguins back.
It took 58 minutes for the Bears to finally break the shutout. Andrew Gordon was easily the best player on the ice for the Bears tonight. He was robbed on several occasions but he was eventually able to beat Curry.
Just 31 seconds later, Maxime Lacroix, who also had several good chances throughout the game, closed in on the net and cut the Penguins’ lead in half.
It was good to see these guys rewarded for their play in a game that some guys had mailed in. Unfortunately, it was too little too late as the Bears lost 4-2. They remain winless against the Penguins on home ice.
Andrew Kozek and his linemates shine in a game against the in-state rivals.
Looking at the standings, tonight’s game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins did not appear to hold a lot of value. Neither team would lose or gain anything in the rankings. However, for the Bears, this was a big game for them mentally. They don’t have a good record against the dreaded Penguins and a road win against them right before playoffs could go a long way.
Overall, the Bears had a fantastic first period effort against the Penguins. However, it seemed like the Penguins were giving them some help. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took a couple of unnecessary penalties and seemed to be getting frustrated. The Bears didn’t score on any power plays but it did help to maintain control of the game.
Hershey did score an even-strength goal though thanks to Andrew Kozek. I could watch this goal all day. WBS’s Andrew Hutchinson was skating with the puck and not paying too much attention to Kozek. As soon as he lifted his stick, Kozek swiped the puck from under him and snapped the puck past Brad Thiessen.
But we’re not done talking about Kozek yet! During the second period, he scored his second goal of the night with another beauty. He pushed the puck through and danced past the defense. Ashton Rome helped to provide a slight screen and suddenly Hershey had a two goal lead.
The Penguins finally broke the shutout during a power play about halfway through the period. Mathieu Perreault was in the box for hooking. After a few failed attempts, Brett Sterling took a rebound and shot it past Braden Holtby. To give some credit to Holtby, it looked like there was a lot of action in front of him.
Some drama came late in the period when Dmitry Orlov hooked Brett Sterling and Sterling was awarded a penalty shot. Holtby successfully stopped it but then Keith Aucoin was given a ten minute misconduct, probably for arguing with the referee.
As expected, physicality dominated this game. Sheldon Souray and Ryan Craig were the first to drop the gloves. Souray stood his ground and delivered a huge punch to Craig, knocking him to the ice. It was over as fast as it started. Steve Pinizzotto decided to follow his example and took on Joey Mormina. Technically, it was listed as roughing but it was still pretty vicious. Pinizzotto took down a bloodied Mormina, but he received an extra roughing penalty for starting the incident.
But those two incidents would pale in comparison to the third period drama. Pinizzotto fell to the ice after a run in with Keven Veilleux. Veilleux paused long enough to recognize that Pinizzotto was flat on the ice and still pulled back and took a full swing at Pinner. Holtby, who was the closest to the play, bolted out of his crease to come to Pinizzotto’s defense.
Veilleux received a match penalty for slashing. I’m a little confused as to why it was a slashing call but nevertheless, the match penalty part works for me. John Walton said that a match penalty carries an automatic one game suspension so Veilleux will not play tomorrow against the Bears in Hershey. I’m hopeful we’ll see some more supplementary discipline for that absolutely classless move by Veilleux. Pinizzotto appeared to be okay as he skated during the ensuing power play.
There wouldn’t be any more scoring and not too much excitement after that incident. The Bears hang on and win 2-1!
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).