In their final regular season trip to Canada, the Hershey Bears split a weekend series with the St. John’s IceCaps at the Mile One Centre. St. John’s is on the outside looking in at the Eastern Conference playoffs; Hershey sits in third overall and leads the Atlantic Division.
Leading off on Saturday, Jakub Vrana returned from illness and made his impact in the first period. Chris Bourque, the AHL’s leading scorer, faked a slap shot and passed it to Vrana for a one-timer. That goal marked the only bit of offense for the Bears as the IceCaps comeback resulted in a 2-1 Bears loss.
Max Friberg and Bud Halloway (PP) scored on Bears goaltender Dan Ellis to snap his six-game winning streak. Ellis finished the night with 20 saves. Eddie Pasquale of St. John’s saved 23 of 24 in the win.
The Sunday rematch saw the teams trade goals back-and-forth until time expired. The Chocolate and White came out on top this time, leaving Canada with two out of four possible points to keep pace in the Atlantic.
Bourque scored his 26th goal of the year off a centering feed from Chandler Stephenson. The goal gave Bourque a 60-point season, matching last season’s total production with the Hartford Wolf Pack.
In the second period, Hershey gave up an early power play chance to the IceCaps when Vrana went off for holding. Gabriel Dumont made the Bears pay, backhanding a rebound behind Justin Peters.
At 11:34 of the period, Nathan Walker won a faceoff in the offensive zone back to Sean Collins. Collins opted for a pass to Erik Burgdoefer; he let a shot go through traffic and the puck made its way into the net for the lead.
Within minutes of Burgdoefer’s goal, penalties piled up on both sides of the ice. NHL All-Star MVP John Scott got the mess started with a double-minor, one for high sticking and one for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Bears could not capitalize on the four minute advantage, but went back to the power play after Andrew Yogan got escorted to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct. Stephenson’s cross-check negated the power play and matching minors came for Vrana and Fridberg an an effort to control the game. Burgdoefer capped off the penalties with an interference minor to end the period.
Despite that, the teams played a clean third period. On a delayed penalty, Scott jammed home a rebound to tie the game again. The goal marked his second of the season in St. John’s.
The game appeared destined for overtime, but Zach Sill scored the final goal for the Bears 3-2 win. Ryan Bourque accepted an outlet pass from Burgdoefer before hitting Sill in the open slot. Sill’s parents, from neighboring Nova Scotia, were in attendence to witness the moment.
NEXT WEEK
A weekend series with intra-state rival and division rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is on deck for the Chocolate and White. Saturday will be at Mohegan Sun Arena; the Sunday rematch will be at GIANT Center. The Bears will hold Dollar Hot Dog Night and wear special St. Patrick’s Day jerseys to be auctioned off after the game.
CURRENT STANDING
62 games played, 35-17-3-7 (W-L-OTL-SOL), 80 points, 1st in Atlantic Division
