Press Release Details
TONIGHT'S GAME PREVIEW: BEARS at SENATORS
01/26/2013 -
TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES
HERSHEY BEARS at BINGHAMTON SENATORS
Saturday, January 26, 2013 - 7:05 PM
Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
REFEREE: Chris Brown (#86)
LINESMEN: Ryan Daisy (#90) & Brian Oliver (#80)
BEARS vs. SENATORS: The HERSHEY BEARS hit the road for the final game before the All-Star break, a matchup against the Binghamton Senators. It will be the fourth of eight meetings between the two teams in the regular season. Binghamton is the top AHL developmental affiliate of the Ottawa Senators.
ALL-TIME: By far, the BEARS have the best win-loss ratio against the Senators than against any other AHL team. The BEARS are 48-21-6 (W – L/OTL – T/SOL) all-time.
THE LAST TIME: The BEARS and Senators last met on January 5 at GIANT Center, a game taken by Binghamton in a 3-1 final. After a scoreless battle in the first period, in which goaltenders Braden Holtby and Ben Bishop were excellent in their respective nets, the hosts finally got on the board in the second frame. Ryan Potulny scored his fifth goal of the season when a shot from Patrick McNeill deflected off of Potulny, off of the back boards, and into the net off the leg of Senators defenseman Eric Gryba. The lead held until the 17:44 mark, when Stephane Da Costa beat Holtby to tie the game. Mike Hoffman scored the go-ahead goal at 12:08 of the third, followed by an empty-net power play strike from Michael Stone with 54 seconds left to play. Binghamton outshot HERSHEY 36-21 in the game and killed off both of the BEARS’ power play chances.
2012-13 SEASON SERIES:
|
Fri. October 19, 2012 |
@Binghamton |
BroomeCountyVeterans Memorial Arena |
3-2 W |
|
Sun. October 21, 2012 |
BINGHAMTON |
GIANT Center |
1-2 OTL |
|
Sat. January 5, 2013 |
BINGHAMTON |
GIANT Center |
1-3 L |
|
Sat. January 26, 2013 |
@Binghamton |
Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena |
|
|
Sat. February 9, 2013 |
BINGHAMTON |
GIANT Center |
|
|
Fri. February 22, 2013 |
@Binghamton |
Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena |
|
|
Sun. March 10, 2013 |
BINGHAMTON |
GIANT Center |
|
|
Sat. April 20, 2013 |
@Binghamton |
Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena |
|
RECENT RECAPS: It was another tough go on home ice for the BEARS last night, as the St. John’s IceCaps came to town and kept the BEARS’ offense at bay for most of the night in a 3-1 victory. Getting themselves into penalty trouble in the first period, the BEARS found themselves down 15-7 in shots on goal through 20 minutes but very much in the game, thanks to the stellar goaltending of Philipp Grubauer. The netminder turned aside every shot he saw, with his best coming on a diving play with the paddle of his stick to deny forward Kael Mouillerat. Patrice Cormier finally solved Grubauer, as he screened the goaltender and tipped a shot from Mouillerat home at 11:52 of the second period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The goal came on the IceCaps’ fourth power play of the game. The BEARS didn’t get their first two chances until the second period, and on the second opportunity, the hosts tied the game. After Ryan Stoa moved the puck to Jeff Taffe in the left corner, the BEARS’ All-Star backhanded a centering pass to the top of the crease where a driving Jon DiSalvatore chipped the puck past St. John’s goaltender Eddie Pasquale at 15:54. But the tie would not last a full minute, as Ben Maxwell stickhandled across the blue line around a falling Steve Oleksy, then charged in to deke Grubauer at 16:47. Ray Sawada would ice the game with an empty-netter at 19:21 of the third.
The Senators, meanwhile, played the marquee game on Friday’s schedule at Syracuse, a matchup between the top two teams in the division. Crunch goaltender Dustin Tokarski and Sens netminder Robin Lehner dueled it out all the way through regulation and overtime, and still neither would give way. A scoreless battle would go to a shootout, and Stephane Da Costa would be the only one to hit paydirt. His backhander beat Tokarski in the third round, sending the Sens to victory. Lehner stopped every shot he faced – 40 through regulation and overtime, and all five in the shootout – to pick up the win. Tokarski finished with 28 saves through 65 minutes, and three of four in the shootout.
EAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of January 26):
|
POS |
TEAM |
GP |
W |
L |
OTL |
SOL |
PTS |
WIN% |
GF |
GA |
|
1. |
Binghamton |
40 |
26 |
10 |
1 |
3 |
56 |
.700 |
127 |
96 |
|
2. |
Syracuse |
40 |
24 |
10 |
2 |
4 |
54 |
.675 |
134 |
109 |
|
3. |
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton |
41 |
20 |
18 |
2 |
1 |
43 |
.524 |
98 |
101 |
|
4. |
HERSHEY |
42 |
20 |
19 |
2 |
1 |
43 |
.512 |
107 |
102 |
|
5. |
Norfolk |
41 |
17 |
21 |
2 |
1 |
37 |
.451 |
98 |
122 |
PROVIDENCE-BOUND: C Jeff Taffe, who played in the original NHL Winter Classic in Buffalo, NY in 2008, registered his team-leading 29
th assist last night against St. John’s. Taffe ranks second in the league in assists, and his point total ranks tied for fifth. The native of Hastings, MN is also headed to the AHL All-Star Classic in Providence this weekend, replacing the recalled Tomas Kundratek.
KUNDRATEK GETS THE CALL: D Tomas Kundratek was recalled by the Washington Capitals on Monday. He netted his team-leading 13
th goal of the season in the Capital BlueCross AHL Outdoor Classic on Sunday, to set a new AHL career high in goals. His 26 points are also an AHL career best. Kundratek was named to the AHL’s Eastern Conference All-Star squad last week. Among defensemen, his goal total and power-play goal total (six) both rank third, and his point total ranks tied for sixth.
STOPPED BY SABOURIN: Goaltender Dany Sabourin has allowed two goals or less in four of his last five starts. He has a record of 2-2-0 in those games.
TOUGH TANDEM TO TOUCH: Dany Sabourin and Philipp Grubauer, along with the recalled Braden Holtby, have all combined to push the BEARS into fourth place in the AHL in goals against per game (2.43).
GRUBAUER SHINES: Goaltender Philipp Grubauer has returned from Colorado after starting for the ECHL All-Star squad against the host Colorado All-Stars. The native of Rosenheim, Germany stopped 14 of 16 shots and helped the ECHL to a 7-3 victory. Grubauer is 2-3-0 with HERSHEY, and holds a goals-against average of 2.04 and save percentage of .926. In 26 games with the Reading Royals, Grubauer was 19-5-1 at the time of his recall, and his 19 wins still lead the ECHL.
KANE JOINS 900 CLUB: Captain Boyd Kane, who played in the 1,000
th game of all the top professional leagues on January 8 at Bridgeport (ECHL-71, AHL-898, NHL-31), became the 13
th player in history to appear in 900 AHL games on January 12 against Connecticut. Ironically, Kane played his first AHL game on November 20, 1998 as a member of the Hartford Wolf Pack, the team that became the Whale after the 2009-2010 season. In BEARS history, Kane ranks 37
th in all-time games played, one game behind Brian Willsie. Former BEARS left winger Les Duff ranks 12
th in all-time games played.
All-Time Leaders, AHL Games Played
|
Rank |
Player |
Played From-To |
Seasons |
GP |
|
9. |
Ken Gernander |
1991-2005 |
14 |
973 |
|
10. |
Jim Bartlett |
1955-1973 |
16 |
955 |
|
11. |
Jimmy Anderson |
1954-1970 |
16 |
943 |
|
12. |
Les Duff |
1955-1970 |
15 |
927 |
|
13. |
BOYD KANE |
1998-Present |
15 |
905 |
|
14. |
Larry Wilson |
1951-1968 |
15 |
899 |
McNEILL NEAR MILESTONE: D Patrick McNeill silently has worked his way toward a significant HERSHEY milestone as well. The Strathroy, Ontario native has played 298 AHL games, all with HERSHEY, over the past 5 ½ seasons. He is poised to become the 42
nd player in BEARS history with 300 games played wearing the Chocolate and White.
BEARS vs. SENATORS – TEAM LEADERS:
|
|
HERSHEY |
Binghamton |
|
Games Played |
Garrett Mitchell (42) |
T. Eckford, D. Grant, H. Jessiman (40) |
|
Goals |
Tomas Kundratek (13) |
Derek Grant, Jakob Silfverberg (13) |
|
Assists |
Jeff Taffe (29) |
Andre Benoit, Jakob Silfverberg (16) |
|
Points |
Jeff Taffe (38) |
Jakob Silfverberg (29) |
|
PIMs |
Steve Oleksy (118) |
Hugh Jessiman (109) |
|
Plus/Minus |
Kevin Marshall, Garrett Mitchell (+9) |
Eric Gryba (+22) |
|
Power-Play Goals |
Tomas Kundratek (6) |
Mike Hoffman (6) |
|
Shorthanded Goals |
Garrett Mitchell (2) |
Derek Grant (5) |
|
Game-Winning Goals |
Zach Hamill (3) |
M. Hoffman, J. Silfverberg, P. Wiercioch (3) |
|
Wins |
Dany Sabourin (6) |
Robin Lehner (15) |
|
Goals-Against Average |
Philipp Grubauer (2.04) |
Robin Lehner (1.80) |
|
Save Percentage |
Philipp Grubauer (.926) |
Robin Lehner (.948) |
BEARS vs. SENATORS – SPECIAL TEAMS:
|
|
HERSHEY |
Binghamton |
|
Power Play |
31-for-190 (16.3%) – 14th in AHL |
28-for-180 (15.6%) – 20th in AHL |
|
Penalty Kill |
155-for-185 (83.8%) – 14th in AHL |
168-for-191 (88.0%) – 2nd in AHL |
BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
|
1/25/13 |
DEL |
G |
Brandon Anderson |
Reassigned by Washington (NHL) to Reading (ECHL) |
|
1/22/13 |
ADD |
G |
Brandon Anderson |
Reassigned by Washington (NHL) from Reading (ECHL) |
|
1/22/13 |
ADD |
D |
Brett Flemming |
Reassigned by Washington (NHL) from Reading (ECHL) |
|
1/21/13 |
DEL |
D |
Tomas Kundratek |
Recalled from loan by Washington (NHL) |
|
1/19/13 |
DEL |
RW |
Alex Berry |
Returned on loan to Reading (ECHL) |
SENATORS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
|
1/23/13 |
ADD |
G |
Robin Lehner |
Returned on loan from Ottawa (NHL) |
BEARS AMONG THE AHL:
C Jeff Taffe: 2nd – assists (29);
T,5th – PP assists (12);
T,5th – scoring (9-29-38).
D Tomas Kundratek: 2nd (D) – shooting percentage (13/78 = 16.7%);
T,3rd (D) – PP goals (6);
3rd (D) – goals (13);
T,6th (D) – scoring (13-13-26).
D Steve Oleksy: 3rd (D) – PIM (118).
SENATORS AMONG THE AHL:
G Robin Lehner: T,1st – save percentage (.948);
3rd – GAA (1.75).
C Derek Grant: 1st – shorthanded goals (5);
2nd – shorthanded points (5-0-5).
D Eric Gryba: T,1st (D) – plus/minus (+22).
RW Hugh Jessiman: 3rd – minor penalties (27).
C Jean-Gabriel Pageau: T,1st (R) – SH assists (2).
D Tyler Eckford: T,3rd (D) – shooting percentage (6/48=12.5%).
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