On the 21st anniversary of the day the 1987-88 Hershey Bears captured their 12th straight playoff victory, earning the franchise\u2019s 7th Calder Cup, the 2008-09 version of the club took a big step towards earning Calder Cup number ten, defeating the Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins 3-0 in game 7 of their East Division Final series at Giant Center, and advancing to the East Conference Finals.<\/p>\n
Goaltender, Michal Neuvirth, who yielded 12 goals to the Penguins during the Bears\u2019 three losses at the Wachovia Arena, said his confidence never wavered during his three tough outings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I could play better,\u201d said Neuvirth. \u201cI was missing bad bounces for us, and I just hoped I could get back to lucky bounces, and things worked out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neuvurth, who gave a lot of credit to his defense, was perfect for the second consecutive game, stopping all 24 shots he faced, including quality chances by Dustin Jeffrey and Chris Minard, midway through the second period.<\/p>\n
Only 50 seconds after the opening faceoff, Hershey\u2019s Alexandre Giroux, who often found himself the recipient of a Keith Aucoin pass on his way to a 60-goal regular season, played the playmaker role to perfection, putting a picture perfect pass on the tape of his linemate to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I gave him a lot of empty nets this year, so he owed me at least one,\u201d joked Aucoin. \u201cHe made a great pass. He could have shot it, but he made a great pass and I had an easy job to just put it on the net.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Penguins enjoyed their only two power plays, 39 seconds of which was a 5-on-3 advantage, late in the second period, and carrying over into the early moments of the third. However, Hershey\u2019s penalty killing unit, led by Andrew Joudrey, helped to extinguish the threat of the baby Pens\u2019 firepower.<\/p>\n
Joudrey, who also won a NCAA championship at the University of Wisconsin, compared the experience to his first Game 7 playoff action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of similarities there,\u201d said Joudrey, Hershey\u2019s plus\/minus leader in the playoffs. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where you, in both instances, you throw away anything that has happened in other parts of the series, and it\u2019s one game, winner take all. There are definitely a lot of parallels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bears power play, which had failed on three previous occasions in the game, was given a fourth opportunity when Reid Cashman was whistled off for hooking at 4:35 of the second period.<\/p>\n
Just 19 seconds into the ensuing power play, Chris Bourque struck for his 2nd goal of the playoffs, giving Hershey a 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Cashman also figured into Hershey\u2019s 3rd goal when he shattered his stick while attempting a slapshot, leading to an odd-man rush. Steve Pinizzotto, a pest in the Penguins\u2019 side throughout this series, used linemate, Darren Reid as a decoy, and bounced a shot of Jon D\u2019Aversa and between the pads of netminder, Adam Berkhoel at 10:49.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt bounced on something, and it was just good luck, and it came at the right time,\u201d said Pinizzotto. \u201cThat was a nail in their coffin.\u201d<\/p>\n
In defeat, Penguins\u2019 head coach, Todd Reirden, admitted there were several factors that contributed to his team\u2019s demise.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir goalie played outstanding. I thought he was much better here than he was on the road,\u201d said Reirden. \u201cWe had to win our three home games, and we invested a lot of energy in terms of our effort level and stuff like that. Playing 3-in-3 with that type of urgency is tough, so we were still fighting back from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cIt\u2019s a tough opponent over there, and I feel these are the two best teams in the league, and it\u2019s unfortunate we have to knock each other off. Credit to the way they go about their business; a great job by their coaching staff, and their players.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"