Hershey Finishes Fifth, Face Penguins In First Round

HERSHEY, Pa. - The Hershey Bears finished the regular season with a three-in-three weekend following a Tuesday night road contest, ending the regular season in fifth place in the Atlantic Division - setting up a first-round playoff matchup with rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the best-of-three Atlantic Division Quarterfinals beginning next Friday, May 6 with Game One in Wilkes-Barre.

Last Week

On Tuesday night, the Bears went back to Wilkes-Barre searching for a victory to move closer to clinching a Calder Cup Playoff berth, but were held scoreless for the second straight game, falling 3-0 to the Penguins. Zach Fucale allowed two goals on 22 shots between the pipes for the Bears.

Friday night, the Bears traveled to Allentown for the first of a three-in-three to end the regular season. The in-state rivalry got off to a bang with Garrett Wilson and Dylan McIlrath dropping the gloves.

Shortly afterwards, the Flyers AHL affiliate recorded the game's first goal, but Bobby Nardella recorded his sixth goal of the season - on his birthday - to tie the game.

The back-and-forth contest continued as Alaiksei Protas scored to give Hershey a brief lead before the game was tied again in the second. Protas then assisted on Lucas Johansen’s third period goal which once again put the Bears back on top, but that lead was also short-lived as the game was tied 57 seconds later.

In overtime, Nardella got the assist on Brett Leason’s game-winner. Phoenix Copley was called on only 16 times, recording 13 saves on the evening as the Bears punched their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs.

In the rematch at Giant Center on Saturday, the Flyers AHL affiliate - despite being eliminated from postseason contention following Friday's OT loss - exacted revenge in the form of a 2-0 shutout of the Bears in the 14th and final meeting of the teams for the 2021-2022 season.

Hershey’s powerplay was 0-7 including a lengthy 5-on-3 opportunity. Hershey outshot their opponent through the first and second periods, but a Brett Leason breakaway that hit the post seemed to turn the tide as the Bears then gave up a pair of goals while Pat Nagle turned in one of the best goaltending performances seen at Giant Center this season in a 42-save shutout win.

In their final regular season contest, the Bears hosted the Syracuse Crunch in what was the final game of a 3-in-3 weekend for both teams.

While Hershey played well against one of the best teams in the league, the Bears ultimately fell 5-3.

Brett Leason scored on the powerplay in the second period to open the scoring, but Syracuse tied the game before the end of the period.

In the third, Syracuse scored a pair before Garrett Pilon dangled the puck across the front of the crease and lifted a shot over Hugo Alnefelt to make it a one-goal contest.

Jake Massie rounded out the scoring for the Bears after another Syracuse goal, but an empty net goal sealed Hershey’s fate.

After the contest, Allen said, "Out of all the teams we've seen this year in the 76 games we played, that's the best team I've seen. So I did like the resolve. I did like the fact that it was no quit. And quite honestly, I would have been extremely disappointed if that would happen."

Special Teams Weekly Recap

Hershey PP was 1-for-18

Hershey PK was 8-for-9

Three Things

1. Time 'Off'

Hershey will be idle until the playoffs begin thanks to the league adding a week for rescheduled games due to COVID issues. Funny that the Bears finished their regular season as scheduled; they played numerous 4-in-6s or sometimes worse due to COVID reschedules, but here the Bears sit with nearly a two week "break" which honestly, is probably just what the doctor (or in this case, athletic trainer) ordered.

Hershey is banged up.

Matt Moulson and Brian Pinho are out indefinitely due to surgery. Cody Franson, Shane Gersich, Ethen Frank are all out with lower body injuries. Julian Napravnik and Riley Sutter are out with upper body injuries. Macoy Erkamps was last listed as out due to an illness.

"Hopefully this week of preparation also gives us a time to get some healing," began Allen. He added, "I'll meet the trainers and see where certain guys are at. We'll have a couple of days of some rehab going on here. And hopefully some day-to-day."

2. Power(less) Play

Allen was NOT happy about Saturday's ineffective powerplay including a 5-on-3 opportunity against where the Bears were a miserable 0-for-7 in a single game. So what needs to change?

"I think right now we're not penetrating the perimeter. And, you know, if you want to have a successful power play, you have to penetrate the perimeter," Allen said. "Very few power plays can just consistently work on Tic Tac Toe plays, highlight reel plays, you know, it's about getting pucks to the net and (getting) redirects, it's about rebounds. It's about battle and playing for second [chances]. And you have to set that tone early, and you can't wait until it's too late. And again, even that five on three, it was a long five on three; we have substantial time on the clock with that and we, for sure, have to do a much better job."

3. Dangerous Plays

Allen, who has been notorious for not overly criticizing officiating this season (and who would when the AHL will fine a coach for such) was highly upset to have several dirty plays over the final three games of the season against Ethen Frank, Julian Napravnik, and Alex Alexeyev in successive contests this weekend.

However, newcomer Benton Masse had a bit of a different view. After skating in his first professional game, he said, “Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's obviously tough when you see guys like that go down to tough hits. But ,you know, at the end of the day, like whether there should have been penalties or not, I mean, it's hockey and it's the same sport that we've all been playing for the last 20 something years so obviously the physicality is a little bit higher at this level, but you know, it comes with the territory I think and that's just something that you have to be prepared for.”

Scott Allen Quotable

"We lost the two college players that we signed, both to cheap, dirty plays that were not even called penalties. And that's what's disappointing. It was the officials' responsibility to protect players out there. And we had one guy completely on Goofy Street last night - didn't even know where he was by the shot that he got to the head. The night before such a dirty play into the wall. It could have been his ankle, could have been his knee. And that's what's truly disappointing. I mean it's a tough time - we're literally going to be limping into these playoffs. So hopefully this week of preparation also gives us a time to get some healing."

The Road Ahead

The Bears will open the Calder Cup Playoffs Friday, May 6 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 7:05 p.m. ET. Game 2 will be at Giant Center on Sunday, May 8 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Game 3, if necessary, will be held at Mohegan Sun Arena on Monday, May 9 at 7:05 p.m. ET.

Milestones

Dylan McIlrath skated in his 500th AHL game Sunday. Additionally, with his early fight in Allentown Friday night, he surpassed another milestone - 1000 penalty minutes.

Additionally, Beck Malenstyn played in his 200th AHL game Sunday.