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Division Semifinals Game 3 Preview: Pirates at Bears

April 28, 2016

TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES
Atlantic Division Semfinals - Game 3
Portland Pirates at Hershey Bears
Thursday, April 28, 2016 - 7:00 PM 
GIANT Center


Broadcast Information (Pre-game 6:20 PM)
WQIC-FM 100.1
WKBO-AM 1230
WOYK-AM 1350 (in progress)
iHeartRadio App (WHP 580 Harrisburg)
WHP580.com
AHL Live


REFEREES:  David Banfield (77) & Geno Binda (22)
LINESMEN:  Bob Goodman (90) & Jud Ritter (34)

 

BEARS vs. PIRATES:  The 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs continue tonight from Chocolatetown, with the Hershey Bears hosting the Portland Pirates in game three of the Atlantic Division semifinal series.  Portland is the top AHL developmental affiliate of the Florida Panthers.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE:  The Bears and Pirates are meeting in a playoff series for the first time since 2005-06, one of the most infamous series in Bears history.  On May 30, 2006 – the last time the teams played at GIANT Center in the post-season – Graham Mink tied the game at four with 2:09 left in regulation in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals.  Eric Fehr would go on to net the overtime winner past Pirates netminder Jani Hurme, vaulting the Bears into the Calder Cup Finals – which they eventually claimed in six games over the Milwaukee Admirals.

 

2015-16 REGULAR-SEASON SERIES (2-2-0-0):

Sat. October 17

at Portland

Cross Insurance Arena

L 2-3

Sun. October 18

at Portland

Cross Insurance Arena

L 2-5

Fri. November 20

PORTLAND

GIANT Center

W 3-2

Sat. November 21

PORTLAND

GIANT Center

W 4-2

 

2016 ATLANTIC DIVISION SEMIFINALS (1-1):

 

Fri. April 22

at Portland

Cross Insurance Arena

L 4-6

Sat. April 23

at Portland

Cross Insurance Arena

W 3-1

Thu. April 28

PORTLAND

GIANT Center

 

Sat. April 30

PORTLAND

GIANT Center

 

Sun. May 1*

PORTLAND

GIANT Center

 

*If Necessary

 

FINAL 2015-16 ATLANTIC DIVISION STANDINGS (x, Clinched Playoff Berth; y, Clinched Division Title):

POS

TEAM

GP

W

L

OTL

SOL

PTS

WIN%

GF

GA

1.

y-HERSHEY

76

43

21

5

7

98

.645

259

220

2.

x-Providence

76

41

22

9

4

95

.625

238

198

3.

x-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

76

43

27

4

2

92

.605

230

203

4.

x-Portland

76

41

27

6

2

90

.592

215

207

5.

x-Bridgeport

76

40

29

4

3

87

.572

209

220

6.

Hartford

76

41

32

3

0

85

.559

202

199

7.

Lehigh Valley

76

34

35

4

3

75

.493

215

222

8.

Springfield

76

26

42

3

5

60

.395

194

265

GAME 2 RECAP: Riley Barber’s third-period power play goal ended up as the game-winner, backing up Justin Peters’ 31-save effort and helping the Bears to a 3-1 victory on Saturday night at Cross Insurance Arena.  The first period was up to the goaltenders, and it was a much better period for Hershey.  Mike McKenna had the answer on all nine Hershey shots however, including glove saves on Barber and on a Carter Camper power play rebound chance. Peters turned away all 12 shots, and was busy early and late.  McKenna was finally beaten early in the second period.  Garrett Mitchell’s first goal of the playoffs came on a hard snap shot from the left faceoff dot that eluded McKenna short-side.  Hershey led 1-0 at 1:41.  But the Pirates turned up the heat and owned the possession for just about the remainder of the period.  Peters came up huge on two penalty kills, but after Connor Brickley beat out an icing call, he hurried a feed toward the right circle.  Sena Acloatse cruised in and stepped into a one-timer that beat Peters at 18:02.  Hershey’s first power play goal of the series would later end up deciding the game.   Jakub Vrana spotted Riley Barber with a diagonal pass to the left circle, and Barber would lift a wrister off the right-corner post and in at 1:31.  Vrana then scored for the second consecutive night for the insurance tally, whirling around in the slot and firing a rebound of a Camper shot inside the left post at 8:07.  That was all the Bears needed, as Peters shut the door on all six third-period shots by the Pirates, including a waving-glove save on a Rob Schremp shot with time winding down.  McKenna took the loss and evened his record at 1-1, stopping 18 of 21 shots.  The Bears finished the night 1-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

 

BEARS vs. PIRATES – PLAYOFF TEAM LEADERS (Stats Exclude Players on NHL Recall):

 

HERSHEY

Portland

Goals

Tyler Lewington, Jakub Vrana (2)

Shane Harper, Rob Schremp (2)

Assists

Aaron Ness (3)

Rocco Grimaldi (3)

Points

Aaron Ness, Jakub Vrana (3)

Rocco Grimaldi (3)

PIMs

Chris Bourque (6)

Corban Knight, Wade Megan (4)

Plus/Minus

Aaron Ness (+3)

C. Balisy, D. Olsen, B. Regner (+2)

Power-Play Goals

Riley Barber (1)

Shane Harper (1)

Shorthanded Goals

None

None

Game-Winning Goals

Riley Barber (1)

Rob Schremp (1)

Wins

Justin Peters (1)

Mike McKenna (1)

Goals-Against Average

Justin Peters (1.00)

Mike McKenna (3.54)

Save Percentage

Justin Peters (.969)

Mike McKenna (.868)

 

BEARS vs. PIRATES - SPECIAL TEAMS:

 

HERSHEY

Portland

Power Play

1-for-7 (14.3%) – 7th

1-for-10 (10.0%) – T10th

Penalty Kill

9-for-10 (90.0%) – T6th

6-for-7 (85.7%) – 10th

 

BEARS vs. PIRATES – PLAYERS AMONG THE AHL:

Hershey

D Tyler Lewington

T1st-defensemen, goals (2); T9th-defensemen, points (2-0-2); 1st-defensemen, shooting percentage (100%).

 

D Aaron Ness

T2nd-defensemen, assists (3); T3rd-defensemen, points (0-3-3).

 

D Christian Djoos

T9th-defensemen, points (0-2-2); T4th-rookies, assists (2).

 

LW Jakub Vrana

T2nd-rookies, shooting percentage (66.7%); T4th-rookies, goals (2); T4th-rookies, points (2-1-3).

 

RW Riley Barber

T1st-rookies, PP goals (1); T1st-rookies, GW goals (1); T14th-rookies, points (1-1-2).

 

C Travis Boyd

T4th-rookies, assists (2); T14th-rookies, points (0-2-2).

 

LW Chris Bourque

3rd, shots on goal (12).

 

G Justin Peters

T2nd, GAA (1.00); 2nd, save percentage (.969); T5th, wins (1).

 

 

 

Portland

LW Shane Harper

T1st, PP goals (1); T2nd, shooting percentage (66.7%).

 

D Matt MacKenzie

T9th-defensemen, points (0-2-2).

 

LW Rob Schremp

T1st, GW goals (1).

 

G Mike McKenna

16th, GAA (3.54).

BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

Apr. 20

ADD

LW

Domenic Monardo

Signed to PTO

                                                                                           

PIRATES RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

Apr. 27

ADD

C

Greg McKegg

Returned on loan from Florida (NHL)

Apr. 27

ADD

RW

Logan Shaw

Returned on loan from Florida (NHL)

Apr. 27

ADD

D

Michael Matheson

Returned on loan from Florida (NHL)

Apr. 21

ADD

G

Colin Stevens

Reassigned by Florida (NHL) from Manchester (ECHL)

Apr. 21

ADD

D

Josh Brown

Reassigned by Florida (NHL) from Manchester (ECHL)

 

BEARS NEWS AND NOTES:

NEW MILESTONES IN SIGHT:  After capturing his second John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL’s leading scorer; after being voted the recipient of the Les Cunningham Award as the league’s most valuable player; and after being named to the AHL First All-Star Team, star forward Chris Bourque began the postseason with two assists in his 101st career Calder Cup playoff game.  Among all AHL players, Bourque now ranks tied for 16th with John Stevens in playoff games played (102); he ranks seventh in playoff scoring (25-72-97); and is now tied with former teammate Keith Aucoin for third in assists (72).  In Hershey, Bourque ranks second in all-time playoff assists (50) and third in all-time playoff points (16-50-66).  He needs seven points to tie the legendary Mike Nykoluk (13-60-73, 1958-72).

VRANA’S ON:  Rookie Jakub Vrana has scored in back-to-back playoff games, is tied for second in rookie shooting percentage (66.7%) and is tied for the Bears’ playoff scoring lead.  In two playoff seasons spanning 12 games, Vrana has notched nine points (4-5-9).

HELPFULNESS:  Defenseman Aaron Ness is tied for second among defensemen with three assists in the Bears’ two games.  He is also tied with Jakub Vrana for the Bears’ playoff scoring lead.

CHRISTIAN CHIPS IN:  Rookie defenseman Christian Djoos has recorded assists in back-to-back games for his first two career playoff points.

BIG DEBUT FOR BOYD:  Forward Travis Boyd made his Calder Cup playoff debut on Friday, notching two assists and a plus-one rating.

BARBER STARS:  After being held off of the score sheet on Friday, rookie Riley Barber buried the game-winning goal on Saturday – Hershey’s first and only power play goal of the series to date – and added an assist for second-star honors.  Barber finished as Hershey’s leading 2015-16 rookie scorer.

STELLAR PETERS:  On Saturday, goaltender Justin Peters made his first Calder Cup playoff appearance since April 29, 2010 – when his Albany River Rats took on Hershey – and ended up with a 31-save, first-star effort. Peters’ last AHL playoff win was on April 19, 2010, a 5-3 win at W-B/Scranton.

PLAYOFF BULLETS: The Bears are 317-272 in the postseason through 589 games played, outscoring opponents 1,848-1,756… The Bears rank sixth on the road and tied for sixth overall in playoff penalty killing (9/10=90%)… Defensemen have factored into the first six of Hershey’s seven goals in the series…The Bears, who finished third in regular-season offense, rank tied for third in the playoffs (3.50 goals/game)…Hershey captured its division title for the 17th time in franchise history and fifth in the 11-year affiliation with the Washington Capitals.



AFFILIATES’ NOTES


STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS                                         KELLY CUP PLAYOFFS

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals:                                    Eastern Conference Quarterfinals:

Washington Capitals (4)                                                    South Carolina Stingrays (4)

Philadelphia Flyers (2)                                                                      Kalamazoo Wings (1)


Eastern Conference Semifinals:                                          Eastern Conference Semifinals:

Washington Capitals (0)                                                    South Carolina Stingrays (0)

Pittsburgh Penguins (0)                                                                 Adirondack Thunder (0)
Series Start:  Thu. 4/28 at WSH                                             Series Start: Fri. 4/29 at SC




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