Hershey Prepares For 3-in-3 Weekend Following Win #3,000

HERSHEY, Pa. - The quest for #3000 was once again put on ice this weekend as the Bears dropped a pair of games in Charlotte. Things looked good Friday for the milestone victory, but a no-April-Fool’s collapse squashed any hope of putting this momentous occasion in the rearview mirror.

The Bears jumped out to an early lead thanks to Kody Clark’s tally less than two minutes into the contest. Mason Morelli added a goal before the end of the period giving the Bears a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. In the second, Cody Franson seemingly put the game out of reach with his 8th of the season, chasing Joey Daccord from the Charlotte netfront after allowing three goals on just 11 shots. That change in goaltender provided a momentum swing for the Checkers as Christopher Gibson stonewalled the Bears the rest of the way and Charlotte got goals from five different players en route to the 5-3 victory.

On Saturday, a late-first period power play goal and an early-third period powerplay goal doomed Hershey despite Brett Leason scoring his third goal of the season early in the second period. Charlotte clamped down on Hershey’s offensive chances, allowing just 21 shots and rode their special teams to the 3-1 victory, once again denying the Bears their milestone victory.

Hershey’s road swing continued Tuesday as they traveled to Bridgeport to face the Islanders, and what a trip it was.

The Bears were to depart Charlotte Sunday morning and fly to Newark before bussing to Bridgeport, but that did not happen (see below).

But as Scott Allen said, "No excuses," and Hershey certainly did not look travel weary out of the gates as Drake Rymsha scored his first AHL goal just 1:38 into the contest.

However, the second period was all Bridgeport as the Islanders tallied a pair to take the lead into the second intermission.

In the third period, Eddie Wittchow recorded his first goal of the season, and Leason picked the perfect spot to put Hershey within 10 minutes of winning, but a late Bridgeport goal forced the game into overtime.

In the 3-on-3 OT, it was Clark who once again beat Cory Schneider, setting off a celebration that ended up being delayed by a bench-clearing brawl.

Once the sides were separated, though, the Bears were able to formally celebrate win #3000 - the first American Hockey League (AHL) to reach that milestone.

Special Teams Weekly Recap

Hershey PP was 0-for-11

Hershey PK was 6-for-9

Three Things

1. FINALLY 3000!

It only took 30,486 days (totally used an online calculator to figure that out) and 84 seasons, but the Bears finally recorded their 3000th win in franchise history, becoming the first AHL team and the fifth (behind Montreal, Boston, Toronto, and Detroit) team in the NHL/AHL to achieve that remarkable feat.

Clark scored the OT game-winning milestone goal, and you probably couldn't have asked for a more fitting guy to do so.

After all, Wendel Clark, Kody's father, played a huge role in many of Toronto’s victories.

Hershey faithful are definitely hoping for more “Like-Father-Like-Son” moments. Clark, who scored two goals and assisted on Rymsha's first goal this weekend seems to be catching fire at exactly the right time.

2. Road to Nowhere

Boy, was this accurate this weekend?

Hershey flew to Charlotte with the intention of flying from Charlotte to Newark on Sunday morning and bussing to Bridgeport. You know what they say about Best Laid Plans, right?

"I'll let you fill in the blanks," Allen said in a broadcast interview with Zach Fisch, "but the short of the long story is that we were supposed to be on a bus from our hotel to catch an 11:15 am flight and land in Newark at 1:30 then bus over to Bridgeport which would have given us a chance to have a good dinner Sunday night and then practice yesterday and prepare for the game. None of those things came to fruition. We were stranded. We had buses cancel on us, flights cancel on us, opportunity to get out cancel on us. We didn't get on the road until yesterday morning at 7 am. Had a one-bus-to-another-bus switchover. Got in at 8 o'clock last night. There goes our practice. There goes our good day of rest and recovery and a couple of good meals. But the bottom line is that we got here. Quite frankly no excuses."

3. 1-For-the-Road

The Bears have now gone 1-7 on the road  in their last eight games with one game remaining before they return to Giant Center for a pair (at least this trip doesn't involve a flight, am I right, Hershey?). That's a horrific number considering that they will need to win on the road in the playoffs (IF they get that far - see 1). Retaining the #4 spot would mean the Bears would be the home team for a best-of-three series against #5. Falling to 5 or 6, with Hershey's current road record (12-17-3-1) would not be the best.

Regardless, if they make it out of the first round, they would end up facing Springfield or Charlotte, the 1 and 2 seeds respectively in the next round and would not have home ice advantage.

Quotable

"Very proud of our guys (with) what they've gone through these last few days, travel and the lack of ice time and practice," said Allen following Hershey's historic 3000th victory in Bridgeport Tuesday afternoon. "We fell behind, found a way to claw back in and take the lead, gave up a tough one to tie the game, and then got it done in overtime. It was certainly exciting. It's too bad we couldn't have done this on home ice for all the fans, but certainly extremely proud to be part of history."

The Road Ahead

Hershey has one more road game this week - Friday against the Flyers' AHL affiliate. They finally return home to host Atlantic Division-leading Springfield in the final games of the three-in-three weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

Milestone alert

Cody Franson is just one goal away from his 100th. Dylan McIlrath is one point shy of 100 AHL career points.