Any time the Philadelphia Phantoms appear in Chocolatetown, ‘boos’ are sure to be heard, but not usually in the frightening quantity that occurred Saturday night at Giant Center. The Hershey Bears drew the wrath of a sellout crowd when they appeared lethargic for much of the first and second periods, before managing to escape their haunting start to finish strong with a 5-4 win in overtime.
Referee, Terry Koharski, doing his best Jeff Smith imitation, called only one minor penalty in the first period, a hooking penalty to Phantoms’ forward, Jared Ross. On the ensuing power play, Hershey displayed little intensity and did not manage a single shot on goal, ultimately paying a heavy price for their special teams’ ineptness when Ross netted the first goal of the game at 15:03, only 24 seconds after gaining his freedom.
Early in the second period, Alexandre Giroux scored his 39th goal of the season to tie the game at one after Keith Aucoin made an excellent play to keep the puck in the Philly zone at the blue line. Giroux’s goal marked his 7th tally of the season against the divisional rivals.
Aucoin’s glory was short-lived, however, when less than two minutes later he committed a defensive zone turnover that allowed David Laliberte to light the lamp for the 16th time this season at 2:08, giving the Phantoms the 2-1 lead.
The crowd, already growing restless watching their team self-destruct before their eyes, fully erupted just 37 seconds later when another turnover by Bears’ Sean Collins paved the way for Jeffrey Szwez’ unassisted goal. Collins’ miscue contributed to an early exit for Bears’ goaltender, Daren Machesney, who was replaced by Kris Mayotte.
“It’s unfortunate for Cheese; he’s been working really had and carrying a lot of the load lately,” said Mayotte. “I didn’t think he had a bad game, but it was just the coach wanted to change it up.”
However, head coach, Bob Woods, seemed to put the bulk of the blame on Machesney.
“I don’t like to criticize the goaltending, but there are saves he’s got to make, that’s all we ask. As a coach, you just want the goaltender to make the saves he should, and if he can steal one here and there, that’s great. We just needed to change something and thankfully, it worked,” said Woods.
One second after the expiration of a Phantoms’ power play, Patrick Wellar scored his first goal in a Bears’ jersey, beating Philly net minder, Scott Munroe, with a point blast.
“I wasn’t having a great game up until that point. Gordon and Wilson made each made great plays to make the goal possible,” said Wellar, who began the season in the ECHL. “Gordon spun off a defender down low and made a nice pass to me, and Wilson set a solid screen. I just found an area and got a quick shot off; I wasn’t trying to do anything fancy. The way I play, any goal I score is a bonus.”
With Andrew Joudrey serving a double minor for high-sticking, Patrick Maroon had the Bears seeing red again when he potted a power play goal at 17:21 on the second half of the penalty, giving the Phantoms their second 2-goal cushion of the game.
Former Bears’ captain, Boyd Kane, was whistled off for a double minor at 18:51, giving the home team a chance to cut the lead before the second intermission. However, the Bears failed to capitalize on their opportunity, not registering a shot on goal in the closing 1:09 of the period, sending the crowd over the edge.
Aucoin, the goat on the Laliberte goal, acknowledged that the crowd’s unhappy opinions did not fall on deaf ears.
“You always hear it, especially here with the full house,” Aucoin said. “We know the way they are; when we are playing well, they are with us. We said to ourselves between periods, ‘With the way we are playing, if we were fans, we would be booing, too’. We expected it, and I think it actually gave us fuel for the fire in the third period.”
Bears’ captain, Bryan Helmer, provided the spark that eventually lit a fuse under his team with his 2nd goal of the year, a power play goal, at 1:04, making it a one-goal game. Helmer’s fluttering shot from the point temporarily befuddled Munroe, and went a long way toward mending the fences with the fans. Despite being credited with the goal, the humble Helmer, who addressed his team during the 2nd intermission, refused to take full credit for his team’s turnaround.
“I don’t take credit for it,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of good leadership in our dressing room. I said some stuff in between periods, but I think every guy just started believing in himself, and we believed in each other that we could get the job done.”
Jay Beagle’s goal at 6:48, which tied the score at four, brought the remaining disbelievers in the crowd, back into the fold.
“It was supposed to be a set play with me, Perreault, and Bourque,” said Beagle. “I was supposed to win the faceoff back to Bourque, and he was supposed to throw it on goal as I drove to the net, but it went back to Alzner at the point. He got a shot that went through, and the rebound came right to me. I paid the price, but put the puck in the net.”
Even though Hershey’s 17 shot third period equaled their combined shot output from the first two periods, the game remained tied through the end of regulation.
In literally the last second of the overtime session, Aucoin sent the crowd home happy when he scored his 20th goal of the season to cap the comeback and earn the extra point for his team.
“The play was to win the puck back to Giroux on the wall. We only had six seconds. I was told after the draw to go right to the net. I did that, and the puck came right to me. I can’t say I’ve ever had a bounce like that before,” said Aucoin.
Aucoin’s heroics provided a belated birthday present for his former Lowell Lock Monsters teammate, Mayotte, who earned his first AHL victory by stopping 10 of the 11 shots he faced.
“I’m more excited for the guys to finally get rewarded for how hard they’ve been playing.“ said Mayotte, who redeemed himself for his shaky outing against Norfolk, attributing that performance to a case of nerves. “To be part of it is a lot of fun.”