Hershey Bears Week Preview: March 16
By Tori Hartman
Photo Credit: Tori Hartman
The Hershey Bears are coming off another mediocre two point week. Hershey lost four of their last six games. I’m not panicking, yet, and I don’t think you should either. Some injuries and Capitals recalls/reassignments has jumbled the lineup quite a few times in the last few weeks, and has made an impact in the Bears’ play. Here are some stats from the last week:
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- The Hershey Bears are first in the East Division with a record of 37-18-5-2 totaling 81 points in 62 games played. Their record places them at second in the conference only trailing the Manchester Monarchs who have 83 points and played one less game than the Hershey Bears.
- Hershey is ranked second in the league on the penalty kill at 88%. In the three games this past week, the Hershey Bears killed 11 of 12 penalties.
- 2 players have scored more than 20 goals on the season: Stanislav Galiev (23) & Casey Wellman (21)
- 5 players have more than 40 points: Tim Kennedy (52), Chris Conner (45), Casey Wellman (44), Kris Newbury (43), & Stanislav Galiev (42)
- Tim Kennedy has a whopping 45 assists on the season so far
Before the trade deadline and injuries, the Hershey Bears had quite the streak going and hopefully can ignite some chemistry with new lines for this upcoming week.
Hershey Bears vs Worcester Sharks
Hershey Bears record against the Sharks: 1-1-0-0
Sharks’ record: 32-22-4-2 in 60 GP
Sharks’ standing: 70 points is 9th in the Eastern Conference
The Hershey Bears lost 5-4 the first time these two teams met in November, but the Bears won the second matchup 1-0 in a Philipp Grubauer shutout. The Worcester Sharks have struggled recently and went 2-5-0-0 in their last seven games.
Who to watch: C Evan Trupp (13-19-32 in 57 GP)
Evan Trupp was traded around the ECHL for awhile before he landed with the Alaska Aces. Last year, he played 17 games with the Abbotsford Heat and tallied up seven points before being returned to the Alaska Aces where he went on to win the Kelly Cup. Trupp finally signed his first permanent AHL deal with the Worcester Sharks and has done pretty well for them this season. On February 27, he had a hat trick and four points total in the game. Trupp‘s current point total places him at second in points and third in goals amongst his Worcester Sharks teammates.
Hershey Bears vs Portland Pirates
Hershey Bears record against the Pirates: 1-1-0-0
Pirates’ record: 35-22-3-1 in 61 GP
Pirates’ standing: 74 points is 6th in the Eastern Conference
On February 14, the Hershey Bears won 5-2 against the Portland Pirates. Since that game against the Bears, the Pirates have gone 9-1-0-1 and are currently on a seven game winning streak. One of those wins came against the Hershey Bears on a 5-1 loss on March 8th. They will face-off for the time final two meetings this season on Friday and Saturday.
Who to watch: C Jordan Martinook (14-24-38 in 52 GP)
Jordan Martinook was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2nd round in 2012 (58th overall). In the third year of his entry level contract, he has posted a season high in points and is tied for his best season goal totals. Martinook has put up a pretty hot scoring month. He has three goals and seven assists in six games in March. Martinook hasn’t made it on the scoresheet in only one of those six games and four of them are multipoint games. One of those multipoint games came against the Hershey Bears on March 8th were he had one goal and two assists.
Notes:
–Playoffs: The Hershey Bears magic number to clinch is 19! The WBS Penguins lost their game on Sunday so the Hershey Bears point lead against them remains at three, and Hershey keeps its second place standing. Playoff Primer
–Injury update: Jim O’Brien practiced in full contact this week, thankfully. Head Coach Troy Mann told Tim Leone of PennLive, “As far as I know, he’s ready to go, unless something changes here this afternoon, I anticipate him making the trip and playing Wednesday night.” I’m excited to have him back in the lineup. Leone also reported that Nathan Walker was seen walking around the Hershey bench after having knee surgery a while back.
–Recalls: Philipp Grubauer and Chris Conner were recalled to the Washington Capitals and Andre Burakovsky was sent back down to Hershey. Conner has definitely put up good enough numbers with Hershey this season to earn the recall. In Conner‘s debut with Washington, he had four minutes in penalties which is unusual for him since he only has eight penalty minutes in games with the Bears. He had a much better game against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday. Andre Burakovsky seems to be practicing in where Chris Conner was on the first line.
I’m a little upset that Grubauer wasn’t given the start against the Buffalo Sabres. If Peters isn’t healthy enough to back up the Capitals next game, I don’t know what the Bears will do for a backup. I guess that Brandon Anderson would earn a recall to Hershey, but he wasn’t brought up for practice this week. Troy Mann told Tim Leone that he “anticipated that we would have Grubauer for the road trip.”