{"id":1332,"date":"2009-02-10T00:04:14","date_gmt":"2009-02-10T00:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thehogs.net\/blogs\/?p=1332"},"modified":"2025-05-03T01:35:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T05:35:34","slug":"pirates-pilfer-bears-points-020809","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-hogs.net\/blogs\/2009\/02\/10\/pirates-pilfer-bears-points-020809\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Pilfer Bears&#8217; Points 02.08.09"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Hershey Bears, who have been very fortunate on more than one occasion during their recent string of 10 straight games in which they gained at least one point in the standings, had their points stolen by the invading Portland Pirates Sunday afternoon at Giant Center, falling 3-2 in regulation for the first time since January 14.<\/p>\n<div><span lang=\"EN\">Bolstered by the return of high-scoring forward, Alexandre Giroux, and facing Portland goaltender, John DeCaro, who was making his 2008-09 AHL debut, things looked good for the home-standing Bears, and a goal by Graham Mink just 2:24 into the game did nothing to curtail those hopes.<\/p>\n<div><span lang=\"EN\">Mink, finishing off a pretty tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Giroux and Keith Aucoin, deposited a power play goal behind DeCaro, giving Hershey a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n<div><span lang=\"EN\">Hershey net minder, Michal Neuvirth, who returned before the game from Washington, contributed heavily to Derek Whitmore\u2019s goal at 6:50, which tied the game at one. Dylan Hunter, son of former Washington Capitals legend, Dale Hunter, intercepted Neuvirth\u2019s clearing attempt along the left wing boards. Hunter, after gathering in the puck, launched a lazy wrist shot that Neuvirth gloved, but failed to hold, allowing Whitmore to corral the rebound and notch his 8th goal of the season.<\/p>\n<div><span lang=\"EN\">The line of Kyle Wilson, Andrew Gordon, and Quintin Laing combined to allow the Bears to regain the lead at 11:39. Wilson, Hershey\u2019s hero the night before in the shootout, began the play by winning the face off in the Portland zone. Gordon, pouncing upon then puck in the face off circle, kicked the biscuit to Laing who then proceeded to beat DeCaro stick side, jarring the water bottle in the process.<\/p>\n<div><span lang=\"EN\">Freshly released from his sentence in the penalty box, Portland\u2019s Aaron Slattengren tied the game at two just 16 seconds after gaining his freedom. Nathan Gerbe, on a semi-breakaway around Bears\u2019 defenseman, Dean Arsene, had his effort squelched by Neuvirth. However, Slattengren seized the rebound and trickled a shot into Hershey\u2019s net, tying the game at two.<\/p>\n<div><span lang=\"EN\">Mika Kostka\u2019s sizzler from the point, the eventual game-winning goal, sailed by a screened Neuvirth to give the Pirates their first lead. Marek Zagrapan sidestepped Bears\u2019 defenseman, Tyler Sloan\u2019s, attempt to hip check him into the boards to gain Portland entry into the Bears\u2019 zone. Zagrapan\u2019s evasive maneuver caused Hershey to take a penalty which was never officially called, due to Kostka finding the back of the net before the referee could identify the guilty party.<\/p>\n<div><span lang=\"EN\">A bit of controversy ensued in the third period at 10:09 when Jay Beagle had seemingly tied the game on a goal-mouth scramble. Beagle\u2019s goal was waived off when referee, Chris Cozzan, ruled that the whistle had blown the play dead before the puck entered the net. Beagle, a college teammate of DeCaro at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, who was denied on a quality second period chance, was foiled again by DeCaro at 14:17, securing the Portland victory.<\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Hershey Bears, who have been very fortunate on more than one occasion during their recent string of 10 straight games in which they gained at least one point in the standings, had their points stolen by the invading Portland Pirates Sunday afternoon at Giant Center, falling 3-2 in regulation for the first time since &#8230; <a title=\"Pirates Pilfer Bears&#8217; Points 02.08.09\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/the-hogs.net\/blogs\/2009\/02\/10\/pirates-pilfer-bears-points-020809\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Pirates Pilfer Bears&#8217; Points 02.08.09\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1890],"class_list":["post-1332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-washington-capitals","tag-hershey-bears"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pirates Pilfer Bears&#039; Points 02.08.09 | The-Hogs.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/the-hogs.net\/blogs\/2009\/02\/10\/pirates-pilfer-bears-points-020809\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pirates Pilfer Bears&#039; Points 02.08.09 | The-Hogs.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Hershey Bears, who have been very fortunate on more than one occasion during their recent string of 10 straight games in which they gained at least one point in the standings, had their points stolen by the invading Portland Pirates Sunday afternoon at Giant Center, falling 3-2 in regulation for the first time since ... 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