AHL Hershey Bears

Game Preview: Bears Conclude Season Series with Wolf Pack

Published on March 25, 2018 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


(Hershey, PA)- The Hershey Bears close a home-and-home this evening with the Hartford Wolf Pack. A Hershey victory would pull the Chocolate and White ahead of Hartford and into 6th place in the Atlantic Division standings. Tonight is the final game of the season series between the two clubs. Hershey must at least get a point in today's game to stay in the playoff chase. A regulation loss today would eliminate Hershey from playoff contention.

Hartford Wolf Pack (29-30-5-3) at Hershey Bears (28-30-4-5)

Sunday, March 25, 2018, 5 p.m.

Giant Center

RADIO: WQIC-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM,

LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream,  Caps Radio 24/7

WATCH LIVE: AHLLive.com

LAST TIME OUT: Yesterday afternoon, the Bears and Wolf Pack met at the XL Center in Connecticut. Hershey came away with a 2-1 victory, as the Bears finished the season series a perfect 3-0-0-0 in games at Hartford. After a scoreless first period in which the Bears only fired three shots on net, the Chocolate and White got the scoring started at the 6:30 mark of the second period. Madison Bowey struck on a wrist shot from the left wing to give the Chocolate and White a 1-0 lead. Jeremy Langlois and Nathan Walker assisted on the tally. Just under two minutes later, Cole Schneider tied the game, scoring on a breakaway for his 15th goal of the season. Harford appeared poised to take a 2-1 lead late in the frame. John Albert had a breakaway, but was stopped by Vitek Vanecek. With Vanecek out of position, the rebound came to Scott Kosmachuk who had an open net. However, Hershey defender Connor Hobbs blocked the shot, stopping the puck with his face, and the visor on his helmet. In the third period, Bowey scored again at 12:49 to give Hershey the victory. Vanecek stopped 26 shots to record his 11th win of the season. Hartford outshot Hershey, 27-22.

BOW-WOW: Yesterday marked the second straight game in which Hershey has collected a pair of goals from a defender. Jonas Siegenthaler did it last Sunday in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and yesterday afternoon, it was Madison Bowey's turn to shine. The two-goal performance for the defender was the first multi-goal game of his AHL career, which spans 109 games. For Bowey, the goals were a long time coming. The defender had no goals and 12 assists in 51 games with the Capitals this season. Bowey's second period marker yesterday was his first goal since he struck for the overtime winner in Game 5 of the 2017 Atlantic Division Finals at Providence on May 14, 2017. While Bowey scored the game-winning goal in that playoff game, yesterday's third period tally was the first time the Winnipeg native scored a regular season game-winning goal in his AHL career. Bowey has collected five points (two goals, three assists) in five games with Hershey since his re-assignment.

WALKER HITS 100: Forward Nathan Walker posted an assist on Madison Bowey's first period goal last night. For the Aussie, it was a milestone helper as it marked his 100th career AHL point. The scrappy forward now has 43 goals and 57 assists in 236 games with the Chocolate and White. The fifth-year Bear has struck for 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 34 contests this season. Walker has also played nine NHL games this year, including seven with Washington and two with Edmonton.

BOURQUE BANISHED: Hershey will be without leading scorer Chris Bourque tonight. Bourque was issued a three-game suspension due to a boarding incident on Mar. 17 vs. Springfield. Bourque was assessed his first major penalty since 2009 in that game after a hit from behind on Springfield's Alexandre Grenier. Bourque will serve the second game of his suspension this evening. The future Hall of Famer has 48 points (13 goals, 35 assists) this season with the Bears.

BAU'S BACK: Forward Mathias Bau returned to the lineup yesterday after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury. The forward's last game prior to yesterday was on Feb. 19 in Toronto. The Bears are hoping the big Dane can rekindle his scoring touch from early in the season. Bau has 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) on the season. However, the 6-foot-7 forward has not found the back of the net since Dec. 29 at Springfield, putting him at 20 games without a goal. If Bau is able to find his scoring touch again, that could prove to be critical. He has posted three power play goals this season, as well as four game-winning goals.

IGNITE THE POWER PLAY: The Bears have not scored a power play goal in six straight games. The club is 0-for-17 in that span. The Bears' last power play goal came on Mar. 9 at Syracuse when Tyler Graovac scored in the second period in the 2-1 win over the Crunch. The club's power play has slipped to 24th in the AHL at 15.3%. The return of Travis Boyd (seven power play goals) will help, but the Chocolate and White are still without Riley Barber (10 power play goals, upper-body injury) and Chris Bourque (five power play goals, suspension).

BEARS-WOLF PACK FAST FACTS: Since the Feb. 9 trade between Hartford and Hershey, Joe Whitney has scored 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 18 games with the Chocolate and White, while Adam Chapie has zero points in five games. John Albert has zero goals and two assists in 15 games with Hartford, while Hubert Labrie has one goal and zero assists in 17 games...Tonight is Fairview Golf Course Golf Ball Night for the first 3,000 fans.

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