March 25, 2017
TODAY'S GAME NOTESHershey Bears (37-18-8-3, 85 points, 3rd in Atlantic) vs St. John's IceCaps (31-25-8-2, 72 points, 5th in North)
Saturday, March 25, 2017- 2:30 pm ET
Mile One Centre
Broadcast Information (Pre-game 2:00 PM ET)LISTEN ON: WQIC-100.1 FM, WOYK-AM 1350, the Bears app via
Fox Sports 1460 Harrisburg,
Caps Radio 24/7WATCH: AHLLive.comICECAPS AT BEARS: The
Hershey Bears make the trip to St. John’s for the final time this weekend. The club goes for a seventh straight victory this afternoon versus the IceCaps. Hershey is 9-1-0-0 over the past 10 games and are the hottest team in the AHL. The IceCaps are coming off a pair of losses at home to Lehigh Valley and are in the middle of a playoff race for one of the final spots in the North Division.
2016-17 REGULAR-SEASON SERIES VS ST. JOHN’S (2-0-0-0): February 4 ST. JOHN’S
Giant Center W, 5-2
February 5 ST. JOHN’S
Giant Center W, 3-2
March 25 At St. John’s Mile One Centre
March 26 At St. John’s Mile One Centre
CURRENT AHL STANDINGSRECENT RESULTS:
Wednesday, March 22: Hershey 3, Binghamton 1Pheonix Copley stopped 33 shots and Riley Barber had two points Wednesday night to propel the
Hershey Bears hockey team to a 10th straight home win, and a sixth straight victory overall. The Bears beat the Binghamton Senators 3-1 in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,569 at
Giant Center to move within four points of the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Hershey defender Hubert Labrie enjoyed an exceptional first period on both ends of the ice. The defender prevented Binghamton from notching the game's first goal, sweeping the puck off the goal line with the Senators on the power play. Later in the period at 13:55, Labrie opened the scoring for Hershey with his third goal of the season. Barber fed Labrie on the left wing, and the defender snapped a shot over the blocker of Binghamton netminder Matt O’Connor to make it 1-0. Rookie Hampus Gustafsson also assisted, notching his first professional point.
The Bears added to the lead in the second period as defender Tom Gilbert notched his second goal of the season. Defender Christian Djoos centered a pass from behind the net and Gilbert’s one-timer from the right wing beat O’Connor to make it 2-0 at 4:49.
Barber scored with just under 58 seconds left in the middle frame to give Hershey a 3-0 lead. While falling down, the forward cashed in for his 10th goal of the season, tapping a Jakub Vrana feed past a sprawled O’Connor from the top of the crease.
Copley was strong in goal again for Hershey, stopping double-digit shots in all three periods. The only blemish on his record came on a Jason Akeson goal via a 5-on-3 power play at 14:29 of the third period.
Hershey outshot the Senators 36-34 on the evening. The Senators went 1-for-7 on the power play while Hershey was 0-for-5.
BEARS vs. ICECAPS - SPECIAL TEAMS: (As of March 24:)HERSHEYPower Play 63-for-288 (21.9%) – 6th in AHL
Penalty Kill 232-for-292 (81.8%) – 16th in AHL
St. John’sPower Play 46-for-255 (18.0%) –13th in AHL
Penalty Kill 220-for-277 (79.4%) – 27th in AHL
BEARS vs. ICECAPS– TEAM LEADERS (Stats Exclude Players on NHL Recall):HERSHEYGoals Christian Thomas (24)
Assists Travis Boyd (43)
Points Chris Bourque, Travis Boyd (56)
PIMs Tyler Lewington (140)
Plus/Minus Stanislav Galiev (+19)
Power-Play Goals Christian Thomas (12)
Shorthanded Goals N/A
Game-Winning Goals Liam O’Brien (4)
Wins Pheonix Copley (21)
Goals-Against Average Pheonix Copley (2.20)
Save Percentage Pheonix Copley (.926)
St. John’sGoals Chris Terry (24)
Assists Chris Terry (31)
Points Chris Terry (55)
PIMs Bobby Farnham (127)
Plus/Minus Keegan Lowe (+12)
Power-Play Goals Chris Terry (14)
Shorthanded Goals Jacob de la Rose (2)
Game-Winning Goals Charles Hudon (6)
Wins Charlie Lindgren (21)
Goals-Against Average Charlie Lindgren (2.62)
Save Percentage Charlie Lindgren (.913%)
BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:Mar. 24 DEL LW Paul Carey Recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)
Mar. 20 ADD D Jonas Siegenhaler Reassigned by Washington (NHL) from Zurich (Swiss-A)
Mar. 17 ADD LW Jakub Vrana Returned on loan from Washington (NHL)
Mar. 14 DEL C Kelly Zajac Returned on loan to South Carolina (ECHL)
Mar. 14 DEL D Cody Corbett Reassigned by Washington (NHL) to South Carolina (ECHL)
Mar. 14 ADD D Kris Bindulis Signed to ATO
Mar. 9 ADD LW Mason Mitchell Signed to ATO
Mar. 9 ADD C Hampus Gustafsson Signed to ATO
Mar. 8 ADD D Mattias Backman Reassigned by Dallas (NHL) from Texas (AHL)
ICECAPS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:Mar. 8 DEL RW Guillaume Asselin Signed to SPC, Loaned to Brampton
Mar. 7 DEL RW Alexandre Ranger Released from PTO
Feb. 22 ADD D Keegan Lowe Loaned from Montreal (NHL)
Feb. 21 ADD D Josiah Didier Recalled from loan to Brampton (ECHL)
Feb. 19 DEL D Josiah Didier Loaned to Brampton (ECHL)
Feb. 17 DEL C Michael McCarron Recalled from loan by Montreal (NHL)
Feb. 12 ADD LW Daniel Carr Returned on loan from Montreal (NHL)
BEARS NEWS AND NOTES (As of March 24):LAST TIME VERSUS ST. JOHNS: Hershey won a pair of games versus St. John’s earlier this season. The Bears claimed a 5-2 win on Feb. 4 at
Giant Center. The following afternoon, Hershey earned the Super Sunday win, 3-2, over St. John’s. Chris Bourque scored the game-winning goal at the 3:41 mark of the third period and Vitek Vanecek stopped 28 shots. Chandler Stephenson and Christian Djoos also scored in the win.
JONAS JOINS: The Washington Capitals announced Monday that defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler has been re-assigned from the Zurich Lions to Hershey. Siegenthaler, 19, returns to Hershey after playing six games with the club last year. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound defender made his AHL debut on Mar. 23, 2016, collecting an assist in Hershey’s 8-0 win at Lehigh Valley. The native of Zurich, Switzerland enjoyed a strong performance at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championships, collecting six points (one goal, five assists) in five games for Switzerland. He spent the remainder of the season with the Zurich Lions in Switzerland, collecting seven points (one goal, six assists) in 28 games. The defender traveled to St. John’s with the team and will wear #34.
LEAGUE LEADERS: Entering Friday's action, the Bears have several players among the AHL leaders in a variety of categories. Chris Bourque and Travis Boyd are tied for third in the AHL with 56 points. Boyd is also third in the AHL with 43 assists. Bourque ranks second in the AHL with 30 points on the power play and 199 shots. On the blue line, Christian Djoos is third among defenders with 52 points and ranks first in assists with 40. He has the best shooting percentage among defenders at 16.7%. Defender Tyler Lewington is the AHL’s penalty minute leader at 140 minutes. In goal, Pheonix Copley is fifth with a 2.20 goals against average and third with a .926 save percentage.
BACK TO ST. JOHN’S: Hershey’s Christian Thomas is a former member of the IceCaps. Thomas spent 18 games with the IceCaps last season, scoring 14 points (seven goals, seven assists). Thomas currently leads Hershey with 24 goals this season and is enjoying the best season of his professional career with 47 points, including 12 power play goals.
BEARS-ICECAPS FAST FACTS: Hershey’s six game win streak is tied with Charlotte as the best active mark in the AHL…Christian Djoos has points in four straight road games for Hershey…St. John’s netminder Charlie Lindgren has been a workhorse, posting the third most minutes in the AHL (2562) and the fifth most saves (1172)…St. John’s forward Chris Terry is fifth in the AHL in points with 55 and second in power play goals with 14.