Hershey Weekly
Published on April 20, 2015 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
The Hershey Bears Hockey Club claimed four out of a possible six points during the final week of the AHL's regular season, thus locking up the East Division title and second seed in the Eastern Conference.
On Tuesday at Allentown, Jim O'Brien scored the opening goal of the game, but the Lehigh Valley Phantoms scored four unanswered and got 39 saves from Rob Zepp as the club handed the Bears a 4-1 setback. O'Brien was set up by Jakub Vrana, the rookie's first point in the AHL. Scott Laughton tied the game early in the second, and Petr Straka put the Phantoms in front for good at 6:41 of the third. Jason Akeson netted the insurance goal, and rookie Danick Martel added an empty-netter to round out the scoring. Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves on 28 shots in the Bears' final road game of the regular season.
The Binghamton Senators visited GIANT Center on Friday, and gave the Bears a battle, throwing 44 shots on the Hershey net. Pheonix Copley would end up stopping a personal best 42, and Nate Schmidt, Chris Conner and Casey Wellman struck for third-period goals in a 3-2 victory. Chris Wideman would emerge from the Binghamton penalty box and convert a breakaway after taking a long pass from Aaron Johnson, giving the Sens a 1-0 lead just as the first period ended. The Bears didn't tie the game until 7:28 of the third, when Schmidt collected a Jim O'Brien drop pass and ripped a shot past Scott Greenham while the teams skated four- on-four. Conner banged home a rebound of a Schmidt shot for a power- play goal and a 2-1 lead at 10:31, and Wellman took a slapper while skating down the right wing that eluded Greenham just 56 seconds later. Alex Guptill scored a six-on-four power play goal with 10.1 seconds remaining in regulation, but the Bears held on from there for the victory.
The season finale took place in front of a record regular-season crowd of 10,998, who saw the Bears cruise to a 5-1 win over the Phantoms. Jon Landry opened the scoring with his third goal of the season just 2:07 into the game, and Tomas Kundratek - playing his first game since March 14 - added a late-period goal that ended up as the game-winner. Brett Hextall dropped a shot in off of Copley's glove for a shorthanded marker at 1:19 of the second, and that would be his only blemish. Chandler Stephenson scored the insurance goal, and Travis Boyd would set up Philippe Cornet for a power-play goal and later score one of his own for his first AHL points. Christian Djoos also registered his first AHL point with an assist. Copley stopped 21 shots for his 17th victory of the season, while Anthony Stolarz made 39 saves on a season-high 44 Hershey shots on goal.
HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES
BEAST OF THE EAST: The Bears clinched their first East Division title since 2010 on Friday, with a 3-2 win over Binghamton and a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' 4-0 home-ice loss to the Albany Devils.
POWERFUL GALIEV: RW Stan Galiev finished as the AHL's leader in power- play goals (15), the first Hershey player to lead in the statistic since Ryan Potulny netted 19 in 2011-12. He also led the AHL in first-goals (10), and tied for the Bears' goal-scoring lead (25) with RW Casey Wellman, who finished second in Hershey scoring (25-29-54).
GIANT GRUBAUER: G Philipp Grubauer, who remains on NHL recall after securing his first career Stanley Cup playoff victory on Friday, finished tied for third in the AHL in wins (27), tied for third in shutouts (six) and 12th in goals- against average (2.30). He was 27-17-5 in 49 appearances with a save percentage of .921.
CLUTCH CONNER: LW Chris Conner netted seven game-winning goals out of his 19 on the season in Hershey, which tied for fourth in the AHL. Conner finished third in Hershey scoring with 52 points (19-33-52), tying his AHL single-season career high in goals and posting his third-highest point total.
CAREER YEAR: LW Dustin Gazley posted a career-best 38 points (18-20- 38), setting personal highs in all statistical categories.
"O" FROM O'BRIEN: C Jim O'Brien finished as the Bears' best point- producer since his acquisition on December 27. In 32 games, O'Brien posted 29 points (10-19-29), including a strong regular-season finish in which he posted three assists on Friday against his former team, Binghamton.
FIRSTS: LW Jakub Vrana produced his first AHL point, an assist, on Tuesday at Lehigh Valley. He added another on Friday against Binghamton, and then picked up first-star honors with three assists on Saturday against Lehigh Valley. C Travis Boyd notched his first AHL points on Saturday against Lehigh Valley, scoring a power-play goal and assist for second-star honors. D Christian Djoos recorded his first AHL assist on Saturday as well.
PHEONIX RISING: G Pheonix Copley's rookie year ended with just one regulation loss in calendar year 2015, a record of 17-4-3, goals-against average of 2.17 and save percentage of .925 in 26 appearances.
BEARS BULLETS: The Bears led the AHL in attendance for a ninth consecutive season (9,791 average); The Bears finished on top of the AHL in penalty killing (87.5%), tied for the AHL lead in first-goals (48), ninth on the power play (18.0%) and fourth in goals-against average (2.38)...Hershey went 16-2-2-0 against the East Division at home, and produced a calendar-year 2015 record of 30-10-1-2...The Bears tied for the fewest home-ice regulation losses (seven), had the second-most home wins (26) in the AHL, and were one of four teams to produce 100 or more points.
American Hockey League Stories from April 20, 2015
- Monarchs to Face Pirates in First Round - Manchester Monarchs
- Wolves Weekly Notes - Chicago Wolves
- San Antonio Rampage Weekly Update - San Antonio Rampage
- Wolf Pack Weekly - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Texas Stars Weekly Update - Texas Stars
- Albany's Joe Whitney Named CCM/AHL Player of the Week - Albany Devils
- Matteau Added to U.S. Men's National Team - Albany Devils
- Ricoh Rock Report - St. John's IceCaps
- Manson, Noesen Recalled by Ducks - Norfolk Admirals
- Albany's Joe Whitney Named CCM/AHL Player of the Week - AHL
- Springfield Falcons Weekly - Springfield Falcons
- Hershey Weekly - Hershey Bears
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
