AHL Hershey Bears

Light Month Opens with OT Setback; Division Rivalry Renews Saturday

October 7, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The Hershey Bears Hockey Club earned one point in their only game of the American Hockey League's opening weekend, as the club suffered a 4-3 overtime loss to the Adirondack Phantoms on Saturday night at GIANT Center.

Despite being unable to find power play success on five opportunities - all before the game was halfway old - the Bears' penalty kill side of special teams sparked the club's offense. Nate Schmidt would erase a 2-0 second-period deficit by scoring the season's first goal for the Chocolate and White, set up by postseason scoring leader Peter LeBlanc. Shortly afterward, Adirondack would earn their first power play of the game, but Michael Latta interrupted the Phantoms' rush with a center-ice steal. He scored on a breakaway, beating goaltender Yann Danis to tie the game. Latta later made another play on the very next Adirondack man advantage, stealing the puck along the wall and sending a one-handed backhand pass to a breaking Derek Whitmore, who buried his shot past Danis to put the Bears ahead. Adirondack would eventually tie the game on a third-period power play, and claim victory in overtime on Brandon Manning's rebound goal with 1:38 left in the extra session.

The Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins rekindle their heated rivalry when the teams clash in the Pens' home opener this Saturday at 7:05 PM.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

LATTA LEADS: C Michael Latta emerged from Saturday's game as the Bears scoring leader heading into the new week, recording a shorthanded goal, a shorthanded assist and a plus-two rating. He leads the AHL in all shorthanded categories.

MORE FROM WHITMORE: Counting the pre-season contests, LW Derek Whitmore has scored a goal in all three games in which he was in the lineup. All have come on special teams, and all are on home ice. He scored a power-play goal in both pre-season tilts at GIANT Center, and added the Bears' second shorthanded goal of the game on Saturday versus Adirondack.

STRONG SHORTHANDED STARTS: Including Saturday's game versus Adirondack, the Bears have scored five shorthanded goals in their past three season-opening games (Michael Latta & Derek Whitmore, 10/5/13; Garrett Mitchell, 10/13/12; Christian Hanson & Chris Bourque, 10/7/11).

SCHMIDT DOES IT: D Nate Schmidt scored the Bears' first goal of the season in the second period of Saturday's contest versus Adirondack. Schmidt is the first Bears defenseman to score the team's season-opening goal since Tyler Sloan's tally on October 7, 2006 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

WALKER DEBUTS: LW Nathan Walker became the first native of Australia to play a game in the American Hockey League when he made his season debut on Saturday vs. Adirondack.

LeBLANC HELPS: C Peter LeBlanc chipped in an assist on Saturday, and now shows one goal and two assists in four games against Adirondack since joining the Bears in January.

Check out the Hershey Bears Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from October 7, 2013


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