Hershey-Coachella Valley game one observations

By: John Sparenberg

Game one wins/losses are very overrated.

Every series, even if it's a sweep is a grind, and the longer they go on, they more grinding they become. And, if game one was any measure of nearly the best of what CV has, and the Bears clearly not being at their best, I think that bodes well for Hershey moving forward.

There are many factors that could contribute to a victory/defeat game one. Such as, one team having more rest (fatigue), and injuries. And I think the Bears’ effort in game one was heavily influenced by their weariness. Their third period, when they game CV four straight power plays in under 5-minutes of clock time, was in my opinion a combination of both fatigue and frustration with their circumstances at the time.

Apart from their first goal, which was the combination of Joe Snively being put in a precarious position at the point on the power play, with no backup, I thought each of the CV goals were very preventable, with the tallies resulting from poor positioning, bad choices in coverage, or multiple failures to clear the zone.

Hunter Shepard doesn’t get a pass on his performance either, and obviously, he could have been better in game one, but he has always responded well to sub-par performances in the post-season, and I see no reason why that will not be the case the rest of the way.

I, as I’m sure many others in Bears nation felt, a goaltending change might be needed after Shepard surrendered the fourth goal. However, in hindsight, I like coach Todd Nelson’s choice not to pull the trigger.

Doing so, probably would have raised more questions that it answered, and Shepard, despite not seeing many more shots after CV’s fourth foray into the goal scoring column, stopped each of them and gave his club a chance to mount their comeback, which fell just short.

Lastly, the Bears rash of injuries in the post-season has certainly made their quest to repeat as champions more challenging, but there is a silver lining in the lineup changes that have been necessitated by them.

For the Bears/Caps organization, they have been able to see players playing out of their customary positions, play higher or lower in the lineup than they did in the regular season, or play alongside personnel that might either enhance their game, or make it more challenging for them to play to their strengths.

As for the skaters, there is no better platform to display their versatility for future contracts than the post-season, particularly now in the Calder Cup finals, whether that be for the Bears/Caps organization or another potential suitor.

Moulson Leads Bears to Comeback Win

By: John Sparenberg

Matt Moulson once again made the Giant Center the “Moulson Center” Sunday afternoon, leading a third period comeback to give the Hershey Bears their 8th straight triumph, a 3-2 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Down 2-0 entering the final frame, Moulson gave the Bears their first goal of the game at 1:39, dialing long distance and getting a connection to register his 10th goal of the season.

Six minutes and six seconds after his first strike, Moulson was at it again, wristing another shot that emanated from between the faceoff circles by Philippe Desrosiers on the blocker side with the Bears on the power play, tying the game at 2-2.

Later, Moulson played playmaker on the game-winning goal, putting a long outlet pass onto the tape of a streaking Philippe Maillet at center ice, sending his teammate last season with the Ontario Reign into the Springfield zone on a breakaway. Maillet, whose last goal was a game-winner at Giant Center, added another to his ledger by waiting for Desrosiers to commit before launching a wrist shot by him on the stick side at 10:43.

Bears Torpedo T-Birds in Overtime

By: John Sparenberg

The Hershey Bears made it seven straight wins tonight by downing the visting Springfiled Thunderbirds in overtime, 2-1.

Matt Moulson, who had tallied six of his eight goals this season at Giant Center entering the contest, made in seven-of-nine early in the second period. Stationed in the high slot and to the stick side of Thunderbirds goaltender Sam Montembeault, Moulson deftly redirected Martin Fehervary's point shot by the T-Birds 'tender early in the second period. Liam O'Brien who had won the offensive zone faceoff the got the puck by to Fehervary, picked up the second assist on the Moulson strike.

The visitors tied the game later in the second period, and after a scoreless third period, the teams headed into overtime.

In the extra session, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, who broke a 16-game goalless streak in the Bears' previous game, but was thwarted by Montembeault on a breakaway earlier in the game and a post in the third period, won it for the home club when he went low to the stick side of Montembeault to seal the deal at 4:04 of the overtime.

Vitek Vanecek, who was outstanding in net for the Bears, stopping 27 Springfield salvos including a breakaway attempt, garnered his 9th win of the season with his solid showing. 

Bears Tame Tigers

By: John Sparenberg

On Friday the 13th you'd expect some bizarre happening, but Saturday the 14th, not so much. But last night at Giant Center, the Hershey Bears bounced by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in a weird one, 5-2, to obtain their fifth straight triumph.

The visitors, who arrived in town in the wee hours of the morning after enduring a long bus ride from Utica, New York, received an early wakeup call from the Bears only 1:49 after the opening faceoff, when Brian Pinho, playing in his 100th game as a Bear made it 1-0 for when he shoveled Axel Jonsoon-Fjallby's centering pass by Bridgeport netminder Jakub Skarek's glove.

Keifer "Bank Shot" Bellows responded to tie the game at 7:48, when he scored after launching a puck towards the crease while stationed beneath the goal line, that caromed first off goaltender Vitek Vanacek and then off of Bears defenseman, number two in your program, Tyler Lewington,  who was jostling for position in front of the net with a Bridgeport attacker.

Not to be outdone by Bellows' billiard ability, the Bears tandem of Joe Snively and Mike Sgarbossa combined their own billiard skills to give the Bears a 2-1 lead at 11:44 . Snively started the sequence from just inside his own zone by banking a slick no-look through the legs pass off the boards to a streaking Sgarbossa who received the pass in full flight in the neutral zone. After gaining the Bridgeport zone, Sgarbossa peeled off and tried to center a pass to linemate Garrett Pilon, but the pass never Reached Pilon's stick, however it did find the twig of Bridegport defenseman Seth Hegelson, their own number two, who mistakenly put it into his own cage.

Philippe Maillet's faceoff win in the offensive zone led to his fourth goal of the season seconds later when he somehow managed to go undetected by the defense, and redirected Liam O'Brien's centering pass by a stunned Skarek at 12:38.

The visitors closed the gap early in the second stanza when long time NHL'er Andrew Ladd delected an airborne missile by Vanacek, but the Bears fourth line of the Kale Kessy, Chris McCarthy and Kody Clark went to work shortly afterwards, drawing a power-play when Kessy absorbed a nasty looking blow from behind by Bridgeport defenseman Bode Wilde.

It took the Bears just over thirty ticks of the scoreboard clock to strike on the PP with Matt Moulson potting the marker after gathering in the rebound of a Sgarbossa shot that struck Helgeson in the backside before finding the home clubs' longtime NHL'er.

Off the ensuing center ice faceoff, Pinho interecpted a Bridgeport pass at center ice and dished off to Brett Leason who promptly put the puck back on Pinho's blade, and the "Centurian centerman" then found the third member of the line, O'Brien, who was cruising down the slot and finished off the play to increase the Bears' lead. 

The third period saw the visitors enjoy a 9-3 shot advantage, thanks largely in part to being on the power play for most of it, including a couple of five-on-three opportunities, but Vanacek and his mates withstood to charge to emerge victorious.

Bears Pounce Upon Pack in Overtime

By: John Sparenberg 

Like the world record-breaking 45,000-plus teddy bears that bounced upon the ice at Giant Center Sunday and then were pounced upon and bagged by the volunteers who collected them, the Hershey Bears bounced back from a couple of deficits and pounced upon four rebounds that they converted to goals to bag a 4-3 overtime win over the Hartford Wolf Pack.

It took the Bears nearly 500 seconds of play to score the goal that signaled the start of the teddy bear launching festivities, but for the multitude of charities and children who will ultimately benefit from the thousands of the furry friends tossed onto the ice in celebration of Christian Djoos’ goal, it will be well worth the wait.

Djoos’ goal was tallied after he crashed the crease and pounced upon Joe Snively’s point blank chance and occurred at 8:11 of the first period. This led to a 40:02 delay due to the cleanup of the bears.

After the cleanup concluded, the visitors tied the game when Pennsylvania native Steven Fogarty nearly went to coast-to-coast and struck with a power-play goal, beating Pheonix Copley low to the stick side on a semi-breakaway after skillfully eluding the Bears defense with some slick stick handling moves.   

The Wolf Pack then took their first lead of the game midway through the second stanza when Vincent LoVerde capitalized to give the visitors two goals on two extra-man chances, but the Bears responded to tie the game at 15:16 on a goal by Shane Gersich. Gersich’s goal started with him actually losing a faceoff in the Hartford zone, but thanks to some hard work at the point by defenseman Tyler Lewington and his linemates Liam O’Brien and Brett Leason, the puck stayed in the Hartford end where it was eventually controlled along the right half-wall by Leason. Leason then proceeded to toss a puck toward the net where O’Brien managed to get a piece of the disc despite being entangled with a Hartford defender, with Gersich eventually garnering the biscuit and beating the sprawling Hartford goaltender, Ryan Huska.

Beck Malenstyn, returning to the Bears lineup after a recall to the Washington Capitals, put the Bears back in front with another rebound goal at 5:08 of the third, with Leason and Eddie Whittchow picking up the assists.

It then looked like the Malenstyn marker would end up as the game-winner when the Wolfpack took a minor penalty with just over two minutes left in regulation time, but on the ensuing faceoff, Bears centerman Mike Sgarbossa was cited for a cross-check violation which led to a four-on-four situation. Because of that, the Wolfpack tied the game when Copley tried to guide Vinni Lettieri’s weak backhander to the corner instead of holding on for a faceoff, and Fogarty took advantage of Pheonix’s faux pas and converted the rebound to tie the game at 17:57.

In the overtime, the Bears registered all of the shots on net, and the final one was off the stick of Leason who took a pass from Djoos and then skated down the left wing on a mission to end the game and garner his first professional goal, and it was a mission on which he would not be denied as he netted his own rebound to end the game 2:21 into the extra session. 

Mann's B-Sens best Bears

By: John Sparenberg

The Hershey Bears scored first in their matchup with the Belleville Senators on Saturday night at Giant Center, but the visitors scored the last three goals to emerge with a 3-1 win.

With the win, the B-Sens gave their bench boss, Troy Mann who previously held the same position with the Bears, his first victory over his former club after three previous setbacks.

The Bears enjoyed a huge territorial advantage in the first period, and also outshot their opponents by a wide margin, 11-1, but only carried a 1-0 lead into the middle frame.

The goal, scored at 6:21, came off the stick of defenseman Eddie Wittchow. After gathering in a pass from Liam O’Brien, Wittchow rifled a rising wrister by the glove hand of Belleville net-minder Joey Daccord, who was making his AHL debut, although he made his professional debut last season in the NHL with the parent club in Ottawa. With the tally, Wittchow became the second Bears defenseman this season to score in their debut, joining Alex Alexeyev, who accomplished the feat on opening night against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

O’Brien would go on to factor in the scoring in the second period as well, however, this play resulted in a negative result for his club. After absorbing a hard hit just inside the Belleville defensive zone, O’Brien retaliated by delivering a cross-check to a Senators player, and that action resulted in a five minute penalty in addition to a game misconduct sentence.

Initially the Bears penalty killing unit was able to withstand the Senators’ surge, holding them off the scoreboard for three-plus minutes, but then a hooking infraction to defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer gave them a five-on-three advantage, on which they capitalized on to tie the game. Subsequently, they then took the lead on a traditional power play that was struck with time still left on O’Brien’s penalty.

The Bears, forced to juggle their lines with the loss of their alternate captain, had few quality opportunities in the remainder of the game after falling behind, sans a few on their own five-on-three advantage, and an empty net goal with 1:14 left in the game sealed the deal for the “Boys from Belleville”, adding an exclamation point to their victory.

Notes-Kody Clark registered his first point as a pro by assisting on the Wittchow goal.

Bruins best Bears in Turkey Shootout

By: John Sparenberg

In the spirit of the traditional feasting on Thankgsiving, the Hershey Bears and the Providence Bruins engaged in a goal-scoring smorgasbord at Giant Center last night, with the P-Bruins emerging with a 7-6 shootout win after the feasting ended.

Things started out well for the Bears when they took a 1-0 lead on their second man advantage of the game when Mike Sgarbossa entered the Providence crease through a wide open back door and deposited the puck into a yawning cage at 11:45. Matt Moulson collected the primary helper on the strike, mucking it up in the crease and creating chaos for the Providence defense before sliding a pass over to Sgarbossa.

Brian Pinho, who pinged a shot off the post on a penalty shot attempt against P-Bruins net-minder Max Lagace in the first period, changed his approach early in the second, and it paid dividends. He beat Lagace through the five-hole at 52 seconds and started a second stanza scoring frenzy that saw seven goals registered.

Only seven seconds after Pinho’s tally, and while the fans were still celebrating, Joe Snively slid a pretty pass from Garrett Pilon through the legs of a sprawling Lagace to give the home team a 3-0 lead.

At that point, the visitors may have been down, but they certainly were not out.  They scored a pair of goals less than a minute apart, the second of which was very suspect and originated from the bottom of the faceoff circle from a bad angle, but it still somehow eluded Bears’ keeper Pheonix Copley.

But the Bears answered back when defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer benefited from a clean offensive zone faceoff win by Philippe Maillet to notch his second goal of the year, only to see Bruins’ defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, who victimized the Bears for a pair of goals last Sunday in Providence, respond with another to make it 4-3 at 10:36.

There would be one more goal before the buzzer sounded to end the middle stanza, and that came off the stick of Maillet, who on this historic night which saw the Bears play game number 6,000 in franchise history, added some personal history by picking up his 100^th career point on the lamp lighter.

Early in the third, former Bear Paul Carey made it a one-goal Bears lead for the fourth time in the contest, cashing in on his own rebound by squeezing the puck under Copley’s pad, all while situated below the goal line. 

 

After Carey's caper, the score remained 6-5 until the visitors responded with a pair of quick goals of their own as Jakub Lauko and Oskar Steen scored goals only 23 seconds apart to take the lead for the first time.

However, Snively’s second snipe of the game, courtesy of a smooth setup by Sgarbossa, who drew Lagace towards him before sliding a pass under him to Snively for the slam dunk, tied it at 16:08, which sent the game into overtime. Subsequently in the shootout, Lauko netted the decisive goal in the individual skills competition.

Notes-

The Bears scratched Kale Kessy, Riley Sutter, Colby Williams, Eddie Wittchow, Bobby Nardella and Chris McCarthy, all healthy, in addition to the injured trio of Lucas Johansen, Steve Whitney, and Bobby Nardella.

Matt Weis, recently recalled from South Carolina, made his Hershey debut centering the fourth line.