Press Release Details
TONIGHT'S GAME PREVIEW: PENGUINS at BEARS
11/21/2012 -
TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS at HERSHEY BEARS
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 7:00 PM
GIANT Center
REFEREE: Mark Lemelin (#41)
LINESMEN: Luke Murray (#92) & Scott Pomento (#25)
BEARS vs. PENGUINS: Happy early Thanksgiving! The HERSHEY BEARS and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins meet up tonight for the fourth time out of 12 regular-season matchups. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is the top AHL developmental affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
ALL-TIME: The two teams will play their 140
th all-time meeting tonight, with the BEARS holding the edge at 69-59-11 (W – L/OTL – T/SOL). HERSHEY posted a record of 5-5-1-1 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season.
THE LAST TIME: This will be the second meeting in less than a week between the two clubs. HERSHEY put forth a strong effort once again against their arch rivals on Saturday night, battling for a 4-1 victory in front of 10,082 at GIANT Center. Garrett Mitchell started off a career night by scoring on a penalty shot in the first period. Mike Carman sprung Mitchell on a breakaway while the team was killing a penalty, and after being hauled down on his scoring chance, Mitchell went one-on-one with goaltender Brad Thiessen and scored over Thiessen’s glove hand. The Penguins tied the game in the second period on a power-play tally from Trevor Smith, but Mitchell struck again shortly afterward to put the hosts ahead. Video replay was necessary to override the referee’s original call of waving Mitchell’s goal off, as his backhand barely snuck underneath the crossbar. The BEARS excited their fans again with time winding down in the second period, as Tomas Kundratek buried a Garrett Stafford rebound on a power play with 0.4 seconds remaining in the second frame. Captain Boyd Kane found the empty net with 30.3 seconds left in the game to seal the BEARS’ third win in as many tries against the Penguins.
The BEARS have now taken five of their last six regular-season meetings away from their rivals.
2012-13 SEASON SERIES:
|
Sun. October 28, 2012 |
W-B/SCRANTON |
GIANT Center |
3-2 |
W |
|
Fri. November 9, 2012 |
@W-B/Scranton |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
3-1 |
W |
|
Sat. November 17, 2012 |
W-B/SCRANTON |
GIANT Center |
4-1 |
W |
|
Wed. November 21, 2012 |
W-B/SCRANTON |
GIANT Center |
|
|
|
Fri. December 7, 2012 |
@W-B/Scranton |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
|
|
|
Wed. December 26, 2012 |
W-B/SCRANTON |
GIANT Center |
|
|
|
Thu. December 27, 2012 |
@W-B/Scranton |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
|
|
|
Fri. January 11, 2013 |
@W-B/Scranton |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
|
|
|
Sun. January 20, 2013 |
W-B/SCRANTON |
HERSHEYPARK Stadium |
|
|
|
Sun. February 3, 2013 |
W-B/SCRANTON |
GIANT Center |
|
|
|
Fri. March 1, 2013 |
@W-B/Scranton |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
|
|
|
Sun. April 7, 2013 |
@W-B/Scranton |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
|
|
RECENT RECAP: The BEARS’ 4-1 win over the Penguins was the bright spot of the three games in three nights, as the Syracuse Crunch came to town on Sunday and spoiled HERSHEY’s chance at a perfect home weekend, winning 5-3. The BEARS erased deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 with a power play goal from Jeff Taffe and the first AHL goal by T.J. Syner. But Syracuse forged ahead late in the second period, and then struck twice in a span of 46 seconds just eight minutes into the third to push their lead out of reach. Zach Hamill scored from the seat of his pants with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, cutting the deficit to 5-3. But Syracuse hung on for the victory.
The Penguins have not played since falling to the BEARS on Saturday. Prior to Saturday, the visitors defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3-1, behind a power-play hat trick from leading goal scorer Eric Tangradi.
EAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of November 21):
|
POS |
TEAM |
GP |
W |
L |
OTL |
SOL |
PTS |
WIN% |
GF |
GA |
|
|
1. |
Syracuse |
14 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
22 |
.786 |
54 |
38 |
|
|
2. |
Binghamton |
13 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
16 |
.615 |
34 |
34 |
|
3. |
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton |
15 |
8 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
.533 |
37 |
35 |
|
|
4. |
Norfolk |
14 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
.500 |
43 |
46 |
|
|
5. |
HERSHEY |
15 |
6 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
13 |
.433 |
39 |
44 |
KANE CLIMBING THE LADDER: LW Boyd Kane is now just three games away from Andre Gill and “Mr. HERSHEY BEARS Hockey” Frank Mathers for 39
th place on HERSHEY’s all-time games played list. Kane has appeared in a total of 306 games in Chocolatetown. He is 21 games away from joining the elite ranks of those who have played 900 AHL games.
“O” FROM THE “D”: Two of the BEARS’ top three scorers are defensemen (1st – Garrett Stafford 1-13-14, 3rd – Tomas Kundratek 4-7-11). The BEARS defense corps has contributed 37 points (8-29-37) through the first 15 games.
TOMAS TALLYING: D Tomas Kundratek is climbing the ranks among AHL defensemen. His three power-play goals rank tied for second, his nine power-play points rank second, and his overall point total (4-7-11) ranks tied for 10
th.
STAFFORDIN GOOD STANDING: D Garrett Stafford has accumulated eight assists in his last 10 games. His 13 helpers rank tied for second overall in the AHL, and his seven power-play assists rank tied for second among blueliners.
DiSALVATORE CLOSING IN: RW Jon DiSalvatore needs one more point to reach 500 in his AHL career (208-291-499). The veteran winger is also just seven games away from 700 in the AHL.
GRAND GARRETT: RW Garrett Mitchell had a career night on Saturday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, scoring twice and posting a plus-3 rating to earn the game’s number one star. His first period penalty shot goal was scored shorthanded, giving Mitchell two shorthanded goals on the season to tie for the AHL lead.
IT’S BEEN A WHILE: RW Garrett Mitchell’s penalty shot goal on Saturday night was the first successful penalty shot for the BEARS since Mathieu Perreault beat Bridgeport’s Scott Munroe on February 27, 2010.
MORE FIRSTS: F T.J. Syner registered his first AHL goal on Sunday against Syracuse, his first point of the season. RW Alex Berry also chipped in on Sunday with his first point of the campaign, an assist. Of the 25 forwards and defensemen on the BEARS’ active roster, 24 have found the score sheet with at least one point – the most in the AHL.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: D Garrett Stafford leads the head-to-head scoring with (0-4-4), while C Zach Hamill has scored twice against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton – once in each meeting. C Riley Holzapfel and LW Eric Tangradi have one goal and one assist each for the Penguins against HERSHEY.
BEARS vs. PENGUINS – TEAM LEADERS:
|
HERSHEY W-B/Scranton |
|
Games Played SEVERAL TIED (15) SEVERAL TIED (15) |
|
Goals Jeff Taffe (5) Eric Tangradi (9) |
|
Assists Garrett Stafford (13) Benn Ferriero (9) |
|
Points Garrett Stafford (14) Beau Bennett (11) |
|
PIMs Steve Oleksy (44) Bobby Farnham (33) |
|
Plus/Minus Kevin Marshall, Garrett Mitchell (+5) Robert Bortuzzo (+3) |
|
Power-Play Goals Tomas Kundratek, Jeff Taffe (3) Eric Tangradi (5) |
|
Shorthanded Goals Garrett Mitchell (2) NONE |
|
Game-Winning Goals Zach Hamill (2) Eric Tangradi, Paul Thompson (2) |
|
|
|
Wins Braden Holtby (4) Jeff Zatkoff (6) |
|
Goals-Against Average Braden Holtby (2.53) Jeff Zatkoff (1.82) |
|
Save Percentage Braden Holtby (.927) Jeff Zatkoff (.932) |
BEARS vs. PENGUINS – SPECIAL TEAMS:
|
|
HERSHEY |
W-B/Scranton |
|
Power Play |
13 for 69 (18.8%) – 9th in AHL |
13 for 75 (17.3%) – 16th in AHL |
|
Penalty Kill |
57 for 70 (81.4%) – 20th in AHL |
70 for 79 (88.6%) – 3rd in AHL |
BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
11/21/12 DEL RW Stanislav Galiev Reassigned by Washington (NHL) to Reading (ECHL)
11/21/12 DEL LW Barry Almeida Loaned to Reading (ECHL)
PENGUINS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
None.
BEARS AMONG THE AHL:
D Garrett Stafford: T,2nd – assists (13);
T,2nd (D) – PP assists (7);
T,3rd (D) – points (1-13-14).
RW Garrett Mitchell:T,1st – SH goals (2).
D Tomas Kundratek: 2nd (D), PP points (3-6-9);
T,2nd (D) – PP goals (3);
T,10th (D) – points (4-7-11).
PENGUINS AMONG THE AHL:
LW Eric Tangradi: T,1st – PP goals (5);
T,5th – goals (9).
G Jeff Zatkoff: 7
th – GAA (1.82).
LW Beau Bennett: T,11th (R) – scoring (3-8-11).
D Brian Dumoulin: T, 3rd (R) – PP assists (5).
LW Bobby Farnham: 3rd (R) – PIM (33).
Image updated every 10 minutes - 
