Hershey Bears Week Preview: Penguins and Senators

Photo credit: Tori Hartman

It’s hard to recall when this streaking Hershey Bears team only recorded two points on a weekend. The Hershey Bears lost 2-1 to the Providence Bruins on Friday, beat the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-3 on Saturday, and lost at home 5-1 to the Portland Pirates. The recent reassignment of forwards Aaron Volpatti and Andre Burakovksy created an overhaul to the line-up that’s had a lot of chemistry lately. Undoubtedly, Head Coach Troy Mann will work out the kinks in the lines and push his Hershey Bears squad to rebound on the big week ahead of them.

Hershey Bears vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Hershey Bears record vs WBS: 6-2-2-0

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The Hershey Bears will face off against WBS for the final two times of the season on Wednesday and Saturday. The previous 10 times the two teams met were tight races with half of the games needing extra time; three were settled in OT and two in the SO. WBS is only 5 points behind the Hershey Bears in the East Division and currently stands at 4th in the conference.

If WBS was to win these two games, they would only be one point behind the Bears and could easily catch up to them to push the Hershey Bears from second in the conference down to fourth (the AHL follows the old NHL playoff format before realignment). WBS seems to be matching Hershey’s pace and won eight out of their last ten games. Andrew Ebbett (15-22-37 in 33 GP) has made a big difference on this WBS team since being sent down from Pittsburgh back in October. Ebbett has 12 points (6G, 6A) in his last nine games and averages 1.12 points a game.

WBS also signed defensemen Danny Syvret to a PTO after he was released from the Iowa Wild yesterday. Syvret was a pretty stable d-man for the Hartford Wolf Pack last season and was seventh amongst defensemen in scoring with a record of 9-38-47.

Who to watch: G Matt Murray (1.57 GAA, .940 SV%, 18-8-2 in 30GP)

If you are a fan of the AHL, I’m sure you’ve heard this one’s name quite a few times lately. Murray has put up huge numbers this season, set records, and established himself as a capable goalie in this league. Here are some of the numbers from his recent shutout streak:

Murray had four consecutive shutouts and set the new AHL record for the longest shutout streak of 304 minutes 11 seconds without allowing a goal. (The previous record was set by Barry Brust in 2012 with 268 minutes and 17 seconds of shutout time.) He turned away 130 shots in 15 periods during the streak.
He has six shutouts in his last eight games and has nine total on the season.
In his last seven starts, he has gone 7-0-0 with a .29GAA and a .990SV%.
He’s won 2 CCM/AHL Player of the Week honors and was CCM/AHL Goalie of the Month in February

Crazy. I know, right? Oh, and did I mention he’s a rookie?!? I’m raging with jealousy that Washington didn’t draft him in 2012 with the potential he is showing right now; not that the Caps don’t have some fantastic goalies themselves. I can’t say that the WBS coaching staff will start him against the Hershey Bears. I’d imagine he’d get the start in at least one of the games against the Hershey Bears since WBS plays Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Jeff Zatkoff started the last five times the Hershey Bears and Pens faced off. Murray has started three times against the Bears and lost two of those starts, but those games were pretty early in the season. The last time he started was December 6th, and Murray has really hit his stride in the new year. Either way I’m anxious to see how the Hershey Bears will match up against WBS and Matt Murray.

Hershey Bears vs Binghamton Senators

Bears record vs BSens: 4-1-1-0

On February 20, the Binghamton Senators were the team to snap the Hershey Bears win streak at 13. The Bears got their revenge a week later when they whooped the Senators 5-1. The Senators record is 25-26-7-1 which gives them 58 points on the season and places them at 13th out of 15 in the Eastern Conference. They are 10 points away from tying the last seed to make the playoffs. Nonetheless, the BSens certainly aren’t going to give up on the season and should continue to make a solid push. They won the last their last three games against the Norfolk Admirals(2) and the Syracuse Crunch. The Senators should be extra motivated to play and win against the Hershey Bears to earn the valuable points against an East Division competitor.

Who to watch: D Chris Wideman (15-31-46 in 58 GP)

Chris Wideman was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 2009 after playing his first year of college hockey at Miami University (Ohio). He is in his third season with the Senators and continues to be an offensive defensemen. Wideman has registered points in his last four games racking up two goals and two assists. He is currently tied with forward Shane Prince for the scoring lead amongst the Binghamton Senators. Wideman and Prince are also tied for 15th place in scoring leaders in the AHL. Chris Wideman was honored as CCM/AHL Player of the Month for October 2014 and won CCM/AHL Player of the Week for November 8, 2014. He currently has 179 recorded shots on goal which is more than any Bears forward. Stanislav Galiev is closest with 150 SOG, and Wideman certainly has more than the Bears highest d-man which is Tomas Kundratek with 99 SOG.

Notes:

-Magic number to clinch the playoffs: 24 (Playoff Primer)

More from Stars and Sticks

-The AHL trade deadline was on Monday, and most of the AHL was pretty quite including the Hershey Bears. The only trade noted on the AHL transactions was Justin Courtnall of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers was traded to the Syracuse Crunch. Hershey Bears General Manger told Tim Leone of PennLive: “When we went into the day, we were looking to possibly add some depth defensemen. We thought we had something done, but it didn’t happen…So we’re very happy with how we stand. We didn’t want to upset the room or the chemistry that we presently have. So we are status quo.”

-The Bears and Capitals ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays, have been on a hot streak, as well. They’ve won 16 games in a row and are one game away from tying the league’s longest win streak. The Stingrays 3-1 win against the Greenville Road Warriors on Sunday ties the league record for consecutive road wins. Press Release.

Photo credit: Tori Hartman

–Chris Conner was given an award at Sunday’s game for being named CCM/AHL Player of the Month in February. “Conner recorded six goals – including three game-winners – and eight assists for 14 points along with a plus-9 rating in 12 games, helping the Bears move into first place in the overall league standings with a 10-1-1-0 record in February. Chris Conner also had an eight game scoring streak in February.” -from the AHL release

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