By: John Sparenberg
jsheynow@gmail.com
Who knows what all of the reasons were for the Hershey Bears coughing up a two-goal lead last night in squandering game one of their Calder Cup playoff series against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Webster Bank Arena in double overtime, 3-2.
Special teams could be blamed, as each of the Sound Tigers' goals were struck on the power play, while the Bears went 0-for-3 and shot themselves in the foot on each of their chances, as a result not making the home club team exert precious, valuable energy, both in that game and later in the series.
But the Bears were having no part of excuses on Saturday night, grinding out a 2-0 win to even the the series behind a brilliant 39-save shutout performance from Vitek Vanecek, and getting goals from their top two marksmen, Riley Barber and Mike Sgarbossa.
It's important to not get too high emotionally after an exhilarating win, such as the Bears game two in, and not get too low after disappointing setbacks like their game one loss. The fact of the matter is, if you have another spring game to play, there is still hope to capture the crown.
With that in mind, Bears bench boss took no chances that the message would not get through to his players entering game two, taking it upon himself to convey the desperate, but not dire, situation his club faced after dropping the opener.
"We had a good conversation today about yesterday. I didn't think that was our best at all, and it was important for us to respond in game two of a short series. I just wanted to make sure that guys realized the urgency level that we needed to have tonight, and I thought that did great responding and playing at a real high level," said Carbery, whose club scored both of their goals off quick transitions from offense to defense.
Unlike game one where the Sound Tigers controlled most of the play from the opening faceoff and had the Bears on their heels early and throughout the night, tonight the Bears brought it all, with everyone buying in, and the results are obvious.
"We were skating tonight, moving the puck well, and we were way hungrier in the offensive zone. There were a lot of areas where it wasn't that the guys didn't want to do it last night, we just weren't as sharp, and tonight we hit the ground running from the start of the game. Obviously they pushed when we got up by a couple, putting it on us for the last 20 minutes, but we did enough to hang on."
Chris McCarthy, a late season addition to the Bears from the ECHL, and a player who is a skating testament to a guy who packs a lunch pail when he comes to the rink, is a player that Carbery and his staff obviously like, evidenced by putting him into the playoff lineup over Capitals' property players.
"He came late in the year and we were looking for some help down the middle, and he got an opportunity to play, and he ran with it. We liked the way he played in those last two games of the regular season, and we thought he earned a chance to play in game one, and he played well (scoring the first goal of the series), and has been great for us."
McCarthy, a Keystone state native, has been a force in all zones by using his sizable frame to muscle away loose pucks from the opposition, but he also has an offensive upside, averaging 20-goals a season in the ECHL in the last three campaigns. He put that soft touch on display in game one by picking the top corner last night to garner the first goal of the series. And while it's unlikely that the Bears' goaltending situation will require Carbery to put the pads on him, he displayed good form early in the third turning back a shot while covering for Vanacek who scrambled to get back in his crease after turning the puck over.
Now it's a best of three series as the locale shifts back to Hershey for games three and four, with the Sound Tigers holding a commanding 91-65 advantage in shots on goal. However, that's not a stat that concerns Carbery at this point, but it's certainly one that his charges can change if they continue the masterful puck possession game they played on Saturday.
"Generally, I thought their shots were a little bit elevated tonight for both sides. I though that both teams, even when there wasn't really an opportunity, they were just throwing it on net. But we don't look at it from a target number; we look at breaking it down from where those shots are from, are they carrying the play, are we hemmed up in the defensive zone, or are we not doing enough up top to block shots to get into the shot lanes, stuff like that."
Notes-Travis St. Denis sat out his one game suspension for his hit on Aaron Ness the previous evening.
Liam O'Brien returned to the Hershey lineup after serving a three game suspension for a hit against the Hartford Wolf Pack on April 12th.
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