With just under 25 percent of their goal scoring production lost earlier in the day due to recalls to Washington, the Hershey Bears, consisting of the remnants and reinforcements from South Carolina, managed to carve out a 4-1 win at Giant Center on Thanksgiving Eve.
Oskar Osala started the scoring, tallying just 2:21 into the game, when he powered home a shot from the edge of the crease that trickled through the pads of Binghamton goaltender, Brian Elliott, and settled just over the goal line. Osala’s goal was the culmination of a give-and-go sequence with his linemates, Francois Bouchard and Matthieu Perreault.
“We won the battle and got the puck. I gave it to Bouchard and he gave it to Perreault and then I went in front of the net,” said Osala. It was the teamwork again that was unbelievable. It feels pretty easy to play with these guys. Win the battle and try to find the opening.”
After the penalty killing unit did their job, killing off a short 5-on-3 disadvantage, the other half of the special teams unit rose to the challenge when they cashed in on the power play, with Keith Aucoin lighting the lamp at 6:13. Auoin’s goal, his 9th of the season, was very similar to the goal he scored on November 22 against Bridgeport, when he stepped out behind the goal line and tucked the puck inside the right post.
A long range wrist shot from Binghamton defenseman, Brian Lee, eluded Bears’ goaltender, Simeon Varlamov, at 11:53, to cut Hershey’s lead to 2-1.
The second period started off slowly, without either team generating much offense until just past the midway point when Binghamton picked up the pace after Patrick McNeill was whistled off for a hooking minor at 10:12. Varlamov displayed his best work during the power play, and in the ensuing minutes, when he stopped shots from Marc Cavosie and Shawn Weller after Hershey defensive zone turnovers.
Alexandre Giroux, on his 13th shot in the last two games (with ten against Bridgeport on Saturday) was finally able to find pay dirt, scoring his 13th goal of the season during a power play opportunity.
“ I had a couple chances, but I did too much thinking, taking too long. That’s hockey; you get ten shots on goal, and no goals, and get one shot on the net and one goal. You just take what you can get,” said Giroux.
Osala finished out the scoring at 5:17 of the third period, depositing his 15th goal of the season into an open net, after Perreault drew the defender assigned to Osala toward the opposite side of the net. This was Osala’s team-leading 4th multi-goal game of the season. While Osala’s line displays amazing chemistry on the ice, he partially attributes their success to the common bonds the three rookies share.
“We are all from the same draft; we’ve been to summer (rookie) camps and played together for three years. We know each other well.”
Hershey fans, who have come to know this rookie combination very well, are thankful for their contributions to the Bears’ success so far this season, and are looking forward to see what the future holds for this talented trio of, as Osala refers to himself and his linemates, “two Frenchies and a Finn”.