A pesky, watered-down WBS Penguin squad claimed their 14th and 15th points, out of a possible 20 in their series against the Hershey Bears, downing the Bears in a regulation win, 5-4, and grounding the Bears’ hopes of winning the title of ‘first overall’ in the American Hockey League.
The Bears, who had one win and two losses during the weekend, also were not operating at full strength, electing to keep several players, including Graham Mink and Staffan Kronwall, out of action. Hershey Bears’ head coach, Bob Woods, did not display a lot of concern about the lack of wins over the three-game stretch.
“We really haven’t had our whole lineup,” said Woods. “I look at it as we’ve got a week here to get everybody healthy. We could’ve dressed a better lineup tonight as well, but I think it’s more important to make sure the guys that are hurt are healthy for whenever we start this series.”
A plethora of early icing calls contributed to a sluggish, and strangely silent, first period at Giant Center that featured no goals and few quality scoring chances.
Bears’ starting goaltender, Daren Machesney, making only his sixth start in Hershey’s last 20 games, faced just seven shots in the first period, with his best work occurring late in the period, snuffing out a Paul Bissonnette backhand bid. Pens’ netminder, Adam Berkhoel, also saw limited rubber in the first period, facing only eight shots, and spared further fatigue by Hershey’s tendency to make one too many passes on numerous occasions.
Luca Caputi’s goal began a cascade of action where the teams traded goals, with each club having two on the board after the dust had settled.
Francois Bouchard’s 15th goal of the season, on the power play at 19:02, gave Hershey a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
Janne Pesonen, a persistent point producer against the Bears this season, tied the game at 1:45 with his 31st goal of the season, and then put his team up for good in the game with his 32nd at 5:07 on a power play. Pesonen, satisfied with his goal-scoring exploits, played playmaker, assisting on Nick Johnson’s goal at 17:16, giving the visitors a 5-3 lead.
Alexandre Giroux’s 60th goal of the year, with a setup by Keith Aucoin at 18:49, made for an interesting finish, cutting the Hershey deficit to one goal. Aucoin contributed mightily to Giroux’s historic season by assisting on 38 of Giroux’s tallies.
“He’s a good friend and a great player,” said Aucoin, who finished second to Giroux in league scoring. “When he was breaking all those records, I just wanted to be a part of it. I’m happy he had a great year, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
Bears’ captain, Bryan Helmer, who already has his named etched on the Calder Cup, saw sunlight through the despair of the Bears’ lost opportunity.
“Obviously every guy here is disappointed,” said Helmer. “You always want to win first overall. I think we’ve had a good season up till now. Winning your division is a big plus, and now we’re looking forward to the new season and hopefully bringing the 10th Calder Cup back to Hershey.”
Notes:
The Penguins played without regulars Jeff Taffe, Chris Minard, Connor James, Alex Goligoski, Ben Lovejoy, and goalie, John Curry.
Hershey played without Patrick McNeill, Tyler Sloan, Steve Pinizzotto, Daren Reid, Graham Mink, Grant McNeill, Staffan Kronwall, and Sami Lepisto.