Hershey Routes the Senators

Seven Straight Unanswered Goals by the Bears Leads to a Third Period Brawl Totaling 68 Penalty Minutes

Hershey Bears 7, Binghamton Senators 1

Boxscore

(Photos Courtesy of Michael Fernandez/Patriot-News)

Playing without their leading scorer in Alexandre Giroux, who was recalled by Washington, the Bears had no trouble denting the scoreboard tonight as six players combined to tally seven goals in route to the Bears blowout victory over Binghamton.

Making his home debut with Hershey Scott Barney lead the way with 2 goals and 2 assists on the night. While struggling to put up just 4 goals and 12 points in 40 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins this season, the Oshawa, Onterio native seemed to regain his offensive stride that saw him put up 32 goals in only 53 games for the Chicago Wolves last year.

Despite not allowing a shot during the first ten minutes of the game, the Bears ended up giving up the game’s first goal when Ryan Vesce scored his 12th goal of the season at the 11:44 mark. The power play goal would be the Senators’ only tally of the game and gave the them a brief 1-0 lead.

Hershey would answer back just two minutes later as goals by Joey Tenute and Scott Barney only 61 seconds apart would give the Bears the lead for good. They got contributions all throughout their lineup as 15 of the 17 players recorded at least a point on the night. Only defensemen Deryk Engelland and Donny Grover were get off the score sheet.

In the third period with the Senators trailing 5 to 1 their frustrations finally got the best of them as Louis Robitaille was jumped from behind leading to an all out brawl that even included both goalies going at it. Goaltender Jeff Glass left his crease and skated the entire length of the ice after Bears goaltender Maxime Daigneault, who defended himself well by catching Glass with a few solid punches that left him shaking his hand afterwards. For his trouble the Senators goalie received 29 penalty minutes alone for leaving the crease, instigating, fighting, a ten minute misconduct, and a game misconduct.

The win kept the Bears on pace with the division leading Norfolk Admirals, who won in a shootout and the third place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who won in overtime. They remain three points out of first place while still two points ahead of third.

Game Notes:

Troy Milam, Jamie Hunt, Eric Fehr, Pete Vandermeer, and Dean Arsene were the scratches…. Maxime Daigneault stopped 33 of 34 shots to improve his record to 17-4-0.

Wilson Wins Game in Comeback Fashion

Kyle Wilson’s Game Winner With 2:31 Left Completes Hershey’s 3rd Period Rally

Hershey Bears 3, Albany River Rats 2
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(Photo Courtesy of Just Sports Photography)

The Bears scored first but needed two third period goals in order to prevail in Albany tonight before 3,004 fans at the Times Union Center.

Despite the River Rats controlling the action early on, including recording 9 of the games first 10 shots on goal, Joey Tenute was able to tally the game’s first goal at the 13:07 mark of the opening period. His shot from the right circle beat goaltender Tyler Weiman five-hole, thanks to a nice screen in front by newcomer Scott Barney. The 6′4″ 225 pound winger made a habit of causing traffic in front of the River Rats net on several occasions tonight, giving the Bears something to look forward to down the stretch run to the playoffs.

Albany scored the next two goals in the second period to take the lead following a Ryan Bayda point blank shot on the power play and a Tim Conboy wrister from the point. The Rats would take that advantage into the final period where they were looking for their second straight win over the Bears after snapping their 19 game losing streak earlier this month in Hershey.

It was not to be this time as Kip Brennan notched his second goal of the season just 3:12 in. With the game tied heading into the final minutes, Matt Hendricks was able to draw a key holding penalty on Kyle Cumiskey giving the Bears a power play. Kyle Wilson would capitalize on the man advantage. He received a pass from the point off the stick of Alexandre Giroux and roofed it over Weiman into the top right corner from directly in front of the net. Wilson’s 14th of the season would end up being the game winner as Mike Green would add an empty netter from his own blue line with just 6 seconds remaining to give the Bears the 4-2 victory.

The win improved Hershey’s record to 36-13-5-5, giving them 82 points and moving them within 1 point of the 1st place Norfolk Admirals who were idle tonight. The Bears find themselves on a role winning 4 of their last 5 heading in clear day tomorrow, where playoff rosters need to be set by 3:00 PM. They could still make a few moves before then as Frederic Cassivi will most likely be sent down, at least on paper, in order to be eligible for Hershey’s Calder Cup run.

Game Notes:

Jamie Hunt, Donny Grover, Pete Vandermeer, and Chad Wiseman were scratched…. In John Walton’s pre-game report head coach Bruce Boudreau said that the team can expect to name a captain soon after Nycholat will officially not be back following his trade to Ottawa…. Nolan Schaefer will not be back with the team after he was traded by San Jose to Pittsburgh at the NHL trade deadline…. Maxime Daigneault had 30 saves to improve his record to 16-4-0 on the year.

Bears/River Rats AHL Preview

Albany River Rats (23-24-2-2, 50 points)
at
Hershey Bears (32-10-5-5, 74 points)

Television: B2Networks

Radio: Bears Network (100.1 FM, 1490-AM, 960-AM)

Gametime: 7:00 PM ET

After having a week off since last Saturday’s 4-0 win at home against Albany, the Bears return to action tonight to once face the River Rats at the Giant Center. Hershey will be going for their unheard of 20th consecutive win over the shared AHL franchise of the Carolina Hurricanes and the Colorado Avalanche.

With Frederic Cassivi still in Washington, goaltender Nolan Schaefer will get his first start since returning to the team on Feb 15. He was recalled by his parent club, the San Jose Sharks, when Evgeni Nabokov was sidelined with a groin injury.

The Bears find themselves five points out of first place in the East Division after Norfolk’s overtime win Wednesday night at home against the Portland Pirates. The Admirals however, were destroyed last night by the River Rats 7-3 at the Times Union Center in Albany. Cody McCormick, Dan DaSilva, and Antti Laaksonen each netted two goals to lead the way in the impressive victory.

Since these two teams played last weekend, Albany has received some much needed help on the blue line following the reassignment of defenseman Anton Babchuk from Carolina. In 51 games this season with the Hurricanes, Babchuk had 2 goals and 12 assists and was a -6 defensively.

Joey Tenute will be a gametime decision after being hit in the mouth with a stick in Tuesday’s practice.

Hershey Wins In Head Coach's Milestone Game

Three Straight Goals Lead Bears Past Slumping Pirates
Hershey Bears 5, Portland Pirates 2
Boxscore
(Photo courtesy of Just Sports Photography)

Tonight marked the 1,000th professional game of Head Coach Bruce Boudreau's career. And the Bears made sure he would have something to celebrate it by as they triumphed at home before 6,511 at the Giant Center.

Frederic Cassivi returned to the Bears lineup today after his short recall to the Washington Capitals on Sunday. He services were needed to backup Olie Kolzig following a lower body injury to reserve Brent Johnson.

The first period had the same feel as some of the recent Capitals games as sound defensive play dominated the early action. That would change as the intermission approached. The Pirates would strike first following a Timo Helbling turnover in his own zone. Helbling blew a tire as he was trying to clear the puck and fell to the ice, sending the puck right to the waiting stick of Joe Motzko. He found himself wide open in the slot and beat Cassivi glove side for his 14th goal of the season in an unassisted fashion.

The Bears were able to respond back before the end of the period, following a Trevor Byrne penalty they recorded their team's 18th short handed goal of the season when Alexandre Giroux entered the offensive zone on a two on one break. He slid a nice pass across to Quinton Laing who made the most of it, tying the score at one with his 11th of the season as the teams headed into the intermission.

The turning point of the game might just have been Hershey's ability to kill of a Pirates two man advantage at the start of the second period. They used that momentum to score twice in the period and take a 3-1 lead heading into the third. Joey Tenute put home the rebound from the left faceoff circle following a Chad Wiseman shot from the point for a power play goal, his 15th of the year. Hendricks followed that up with a hard working goal as he stuffed home the loose puck right at the goal line after Pirates goaltender Sabastien Caron could not coral it.

Less than five minutes into the third the Pirates tried to make a game of it after a weak backhand shot by Clay Wilson slipped past Cassivi to pull them within one at 3-2. It was definitely a shot that Cassivi would like to have back, but it didn't hurt the Bears as only three minutes later a Kyle Wilson goal would put Hershey back up by 2. A nice individual effort by Dave Steckel later in the period on a 4 on 4 situation put the game away for good. He pick-pocketed a Pirates defenseman in Portland's zone and went in all alone on Caron. A nice deke notched his 19th goal of the year and made the final 5-2.

With the game no longer in doubt, things got a little chippy towards the end. A pair of fights ensued less than a minute apart between the Pirates' Geoff Peters and the Bears captain Matt Hendricks, and Dean Arsene and Greg Amadio.

The win improved Hershey's record to 31-9-5-5 for 72 points on the season. That kept the Bears within 5 points of the division leading Norfolk Admirals as they were able to come from behind and beat the Albany River Rats in a shootout 5-4.

Your Top 3 Stars:

1. Dave Steckel, Hershey 1 goal
2. Alexandre Giroux, Hershey 2 assists

3. Frederic Cassivi, Hershey 32 saves