Hershey Bears Week Preview: February 23
By Tori Hartman
Photo Credit: Tori Hartman
The Hershey Bears put up another good 3-in-3 weekend. A loss to the Binghamton Senators wasn’t a great way to start out, but they rebounded with a win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday and then held on for an overtime win on Sunday against the Providence Bruins. The Hershey Bears are tied with the Manchester Monarchs for second place in the conference with 71 points in 53 games. The Hershey Bears record improved to 32-14-5-2.
Hershey Bears vs Binghamton Senators
On Friday, it will be a week since the Hershey Bears last faced the Sens. The last game was a close match but ended in a 3-2 loss for the Bears. Since Friday, the Senators have moved from 15th in the conference to 13th and are still shooting for a playoff spot. The Senators will be without Colin Greening as he was recalled to Ottawa. Greening had one of the three goals against the Bears on Friday.
Who to watch: Shane Prince
Prince was recalled last week to Ottawa to play in his first NHL game, and he recorded his first NHL point. He was back in time to play against the Bears on Friday where he assisted on three of the five Senators goals. In 49 games played, Prince leads the BSens in points with 18 goals, 24 assists, and 42 points.
Hershey Bears vs Albany Devils
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The Bears have won all three of the matchups against the Devils thus far and will look to close up the season with a victory on Saturday. Goalies Justin Peters and Philipp Grubauer worked together to shut out the Devils twice this season. The Devils came close to victory on January 17, but the Bears held them off to win 5-4. Yesterday, Albany’s goalie Scott Clemmensen was recalled due to an injury to New Jersey’s goalie Keith Kinkaid. Kinkaid took morning skate, so Clemmensen may be back for the games this weekend.
Who to watch: Paul Thompson
Paul Thompson is third in league leaders with 23 goals in 51 games. Thompson makes a big impact on the offensive production for the Albany Devils. In his 51 games this season, he hasn’t registered a point in only 14 of those games. Of those 14 games he was kept off the score sheet, three of them were against the Hershey Bears.
Hershey Bears vs Lehigh Valley Phantoms
The Bears are 5-2-1-1 against the Phantoms this season and will look to add to the win column on Sunday. The last time the Phantoms rolled into Giant Center, Kevin Goumas scored the decisive overtime goal for a 5-4 Phantoms’ victory. The last game also saw two goals from Jay Rosehill, who has five goals on the season and three of them are against Hershey. He must like scoring against the Bears. I’m sure the fans prefer to recall the previous two times the Bears won 7-2 and then 6-1 at PPL Center.
Who to watch: Brandon Manning
Manning has been a staple in the Phantoms’ blue line for the last three seasons. For his fourth season with the Phantoms, he has already put up a new high in points with 9 goals and 30 assists. Manning has only played 13 games with the Flyers over the years which is surprising given his offensive prowess in the AHL. Maybe the Flyers a weary that he was a -28 in 2011-12 and then a -24 last season. Whether you like the plus/minus stat or not, Manning is sure to make an impact in Sunday’s tilt.
Notes:
-Even though he didn’t actually get involved in an altercation, Liam O’Brien was suspended for three games after he left the bench during the line brawl on Saturday. He served his first game this past Sunday and will be unavailable to for the games against Binghamton on Friday and Albany on Saturday. Michal Cajkovsky, normally a defensemen, filled in on left wing in the wake of Liam’s absence. Head Coach Troy Mann told Tim Leone that he plans on going with Cajkovsky again Friday, and hopes that Chandler Stephenson will be ready for Saturday.
–Tim Leone also reported that Nate Schmidt was cleared for contact this week and looks like he will be available to play this weekend if practice goes well.
-The Bears are now on a 10 game win streak at home, so let’s pack the Giant Center for the last eight games and keep the title as “best fans in the league.” After this weekend, the only games that are left are the Portland Pirates, Manchester Monarchs(2), Worcestor Sharks, Binghamton Seantors, and Lehigh Valley Phantoms.