TONIGHT'S GAME PREVIEW - BEARS at PHANTOMS

November 19, 2014

TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES

HERSHEY BEARS at LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - 7:05 PM
PPL Center

REFEREES: T.J. Luxmore (49) & Geno Binda (22)
LINESMEN: Leo Boylan (97) & Dave Brown (56)

 
BEARS vs. PHANTOMS:  The Bears travel a short 75 miles east of Chocolatetown tonight, for the second road contest of the season against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.  Lehigh Valley is the top AHL developmental affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers.
  
THE LAST TIME:  The division rivals last clashed over the weekend of October 24, playing twice in a three-night span.  At PPL Center on the 24^th, Lehigh Valley scored three times in a span of 1:53, late in the third period, to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 victory.  Darroll Powe led the way with two goals, while Taylor Leier and Petr Straka also scored for the hosts.  Kris Newbury and Casey Wellman netted the Hershey goals.  Philipp Grubauer made 20 saves on 24 shots.  In the rematch at GIANT Center on October 26, Philippe Cornet and Chandler Stephenson scored second-period goals to break a scoreless deadlock and help the Bears to an eventual 3-0 win.  Dustin Gazley added an empty-net tally, and Pheonix Copley tacked on a second consecutive shutout to his rookie debut month, making 22 saves on the night.
 
 
2014-15 REGULAR-SEASON SERIES:

Fri. October 24	@Lehigh Valley	PPL Center	L  2-4
Sun. October 26	LEHIGH VALLEY	GIANT Center	W  3-0
Wed. November 19	@Lehigh Valley	PPL Center
Fri. December 19	@Lehigh Valley	PPL Center
Fri. December 26	LEHIGH VALLEY	GIANTCenter
Sun. January 18	LEHIGH VALLEY	GIANTCenter
Wed. January 21	@Lehigh Valley	PPL Center
Fri. January 30	@Lehigh Valley	PPL Center
Sun. February 8	LEHIGH VALLEY	GIANT Center
Sun. March 1	LEHIGH VALLEY	GIANT Center
Tue. April 14	@Lehigh Valley	PPL Center
Sat. April 18	LEHIGH VALLEY	GIANT Center

 
 
EAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of November 19):

POS	TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	WIN%	GF	GA
1.	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton	17	9	7	1	0	19	.559	44	44
2.	HERSHEY	16	8	6	1	0	17	.567	44	36
3.	Lehigh Valley	13	6	6	1	0	13	.500	33	38
4.	Norfolk	15	6	9	0	0	12	.400	36	55
5.	Binghamton	15	5	8	2	0	12	.400	44	50

 
 
RECENT RECAPS:  Hershey continued its home dominance over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday, wiping out a 2-0 deficit and going on to win 3-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 10,907.  Jayson Megna tallied both Penguins goals, one in the first period and the other :38 into the second, putting an outshot and outplayed Penguins team in front.  The visitors would later get into penalty trouble, and Hershey broke out of a 1-for-22 power play slump by scoring on consecutive chances.  Philippe Cornet got the Bears on the board, tipping in a shot from Tim Kennedy while stationed at the front of Jeff Zatkoff’s crease.  Penguins forward Josh Archibald was later awarded a penalty shot, but missed his chance wide to the right of Philipp Grubauer’s glove.  Connor Carrick then tied the game on a center-point slap shot, bringing the crowd to life.  Chandler Stephenson was also awarded a penalty shot, after being taken down from behind on a scoring chance.  He converted on his shot with 23.8 seconds left in the second period, a goal which would stand as the game-winner.  Grubauer stopped all four Wilkes-Barre/Scranton shots in the third period, while Zatkoff stood tall in keeping the contest to just one goal.  Zatkoff made 32 saves in the loss, and Grubauer stopped 16 of 18 for his fifth win of the season.
 
The Phantoms, meanwhile, are coming off of just their sixth game of the month and 13^th of the season.  On Saturday at PPL Center, Brandon Manning broke a 2-2 tie with his third goal of the season – with 3:58 remaining in regulation – sending Lehigh Valley to a 3-2 win over the visiting Toronto Marlies.  Offense was slow to develop in the game, with the shots 18-17 in favor of the Phantoms at the end of the second period.  In the third, each team threw 13 shots on goal.  Robb Zepp made 28 saves in picking up the win, while Christopher Gibson turned aside 28 of 31 shots in the loss.  Scott Laughton and Nick Cousins added the other Phantoms goals.
 
BEARS vs. PHANTOMS – TEAM LEADERS:

	HERSHEY	Lehigh Valley
Games Played	SEVERAL TIED (15)	SEVERAL TIED (13)
Goals	Kris Newbury (9)	Nick Cousins (4)
Assists	Tomas Kundratek (11)	Nick Cousins (7)
Points	Kris Newbury (19)	Nick Cousins (11)
PIMs	Garrett Mitchell (36)	Jay Rosehill (43)
Plus/Minus	Jon Landry (+9)	Nick Cousins (+4)
Power-Play Goals	Casey Wellman (5)	Nick Cousins, Brandon Manning (2)
Shorthanded Goals	Chandler Stephenson (1)	NONE
Game-Winning Goals	D. Byers, K. Newbury, C. Wellman (2)	Brandon Manning (2)
Wins	Philipp Grubauer (5)	Rob Zepp (6)
Goals-Against Average	Pheonix Copley (1.97)	Rob Zepp (2.56)
Save Percentage	Pheonix Copley (.920)	Rob Zepp (.920)

*All statistics exclude players on NHL recall.
 
 
BEARS vs. PHANTOMS - SPECIAL TEAMS:

	HERSHEY	Lehigh Valley
Power Play	12-for-68 (17.6%) – 14th in AHL	12-for-65 (18.5%) – 11th in AHL
Penalty Kill	54-for-61 (88.5%) – 4th in AHL	52-for-64 (81.3%) – 21st in AHL

 
 
BEARS vs. PHANTOMS – PLAYERS AMONG THE AHL:

Hershey	C Kris Newbury	2nd, points (9-10-19); T2nd, goals (9).
	RW Casey Wellman	T1st, PP goals (5).
	G Pheonix Copley	8th, GAA (1.97); 2nd, shutouts (2).
	C Chandler Stephenson	4th-rookies, shooting percentage (2/8=25.0%); T1st-rookies, SH goals (1); T2nd-rookies, SH points (1-0-1).
	D Tomas Kundratek	1st-defensemen, assists (11); T1st-defensemen, PP assists (5); T5th-defensemen, points (0-11-11).
Lehigh Valley	D Brandon Manning	T1st-defensemen, game-winning goals (2).

*All statistics exclude players on NHL recall.
 
BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

Nov. 14

DEL

RW

Chris Brown

Recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)

 
PHANTOMS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

Nov. 18	ADD	C	Blair Jones	Loaned from Philadelphia (NHL)
Nov. 18	DEL	C	Scott Laughton	Recalled from loan by Philadelphia (NHL)

 
 
BEARS NEWS AND NOTES:
SPECIAL TEAMS STEPHENSON: Rookie C Chandler Stephenson scored his second goal of the season on Sunday vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a penalty shot. The goal ended up as his first career game-winner in the AHL. His other goal, scored against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, came shorthanded.
 
TWO FOR TK: C Tim Kennedy registered his second multiple-point game of the season with two power-play assists in Sunday’s win vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He now has 10 assists on the year, tied for second among his Bears teammates and ranking just out of the top five in the AHL. His five power-play assists rank tied with teammate Kris Newbury for the Bears lead.
 
CAN’T KEEP QUIET FOR LONG: Veteran C Kris Newbury was held off of the score sheet in Sunday’s win vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and is now in second place in the AHL in scoring (9-10-19). Sunday was just the third time in the 15-game season to date in which Newbury was held without a point.
 
CARRICK CHIMING IN: D Connor Carrick has been an asset on offense from the Hershey blue line. The native of Orland Park, Illinois has registered four points (3-1-4) over his last four games, including two game-tying goals (Nov. 8 vs. HFD, Nov. 16 vs. WBS).
 
“O” FROM THE “D”: Hershey’s defensemen have been chipping in remarkably on offense. At least one Bears defenseman has found the score sheet in all but two of the season’s games played – November 2 and November 14 – and Bears blueliners have a total of 40 combined points (eight goals, 32 assists) through 15 games, with two more (1-1-2) coming on Sunday vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
 
MOST EXCITING PLAY IN HOCKEY: Hershey has been involved in four of the 16 penalty shots awarded around the AHL this season. Philipp Grubauer has one credited save and one goal against, while the Bears were successful on both of their chances – both against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton – with Dustin Gazley and Chandler Stephenson scoring.
 
BEARS BULLETS:
Hershey has won both of their home games when trailing after the first period…Hershey ranks second in shots against per game (25.00)…The Bears rank third in home penalty killing (90.0%) and fourth overall (88.5%)…The Bears have won seven straight home games vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton…Hershey has held its opponent to three or fewer goals in 11 consecutive games at GIANT Center.