Videoclip via the Hershey Bears YouTube page

It was a milestone night in Hershey on Saturday. Keith Aucoin registered his 700th career AHL point, Brian Willsie scored his career-high 30th goal of the season and Dmitry Orlov tallied his first career goal at Giant Center. The Bears went on to defeat the Albany Devils 7-4 in front of a sold-out crowd. With the win, Hershey clinched a playoff spot and earned the right to defend their back-to-back Calder Cup Championships.

The most fascinating part of the evening, however, was the line-brawl that was ignited after Brian Willsie scored against the Devils’ fourth line. As the five Bears on the ice went to congratulate each other, Albany tough-guy Chris Murray gave Mathieu Perreault a shove. The feisty, 174 lb. Perreault responded with a flurry of punches and Hershey’s entire line engaged Murray. Pierre-Luc Leblond – yes, the same guy who was suspended earlier in the year for jumping Marcus Johansson – then came to his teammate’s aid, charging towards the pile of Bears as if he were a bowling ball looking for a strike. Mayhem ensued thereafter, as everyone on the ice squared off except for the goalies.

All in all, 34 penalty minutes were doled-out between the two teams, including 14 PIM’s to Leblond and 12 PIM’s to Louis Robitaille. The Bears swept the contentious and brutal season series with Albany, 6-0-0.  Below the jump, Sweetest Hockey On Earth‘s Kyle M. has shared his photos of the brawl.

Photos by Kyle M. (Click to enlarge)

The Swedish War Machine. (Photo credit: Joel Auerbach)

The Washington Capitals better get used to playing on the road. With 22 of their remaining games away from Verizon Center, the boys have to play with the discipline that was lacking tonight in tonight’s date with the Florida Panthers. The second consecutive meeting between the southeast rivals was decorated with twelve minor penalties, six apiece. But it was the Caps and their uncanny ability to place those penalties at the worst possible times that cost them the game.

The Panthers could have taken the Caps out entirely with three early goals by Santorelli, Reasoner, and Booth– two of those tallies thanks to two-man advantages. But the Caps rallied back with a pretty give-and-go and by Marcus Johansson via Laich and a Mike Knuble wrister off an Alex Ovechkin pass. MoJo struck again in the third with the tying goal, a crash-the-net maneuver that compelled Tomas Vokoun to bobble and release the puck into the net. In overtime, Mike Green’s hook put the Caps once more at a disadvantage, which Dennis Wideman exploited. Narf. Panthers beat Caps 4-3 (OT).

• The power play was 0 for 6 tonight. This is no longer a problem; it is a crisis. Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green have no problem cycling the puck below the blue line, but they’re incapable of creating scoring chances.  There were only three over 10:19 of PP time. Measly.
• This bullet is dedicated to awfully timed penalties. Apparently dissatisfied with his crosscheck’s inability to ruin last game, Nick Backstrom chose tonight to board a dude during Mike Knuble‘s delayed penalty. That 2-minute 5-on-3 gave the Panthers their first of the night.  John Carlson and Jason Chimera activated their wondertwin powers to serve up a second 5v3 for the Panthers. And then Mike “Game Over” Green lived up to his name by blatantly hooking Cory Stillman after Cory had already been refused by Neuvirth. Disgraceful.
• No hate on the PK unit though. 5-on-3 isn’t killing a penalty, it’s Pickett’s charge.
• Mike Knuble‘s 501st career point also provided goals in back-to-back games for the 8-19-22 trio. That’s only the third time the “top line” has scored in consecutive games, turning what should be a normal occasion into an event as rare as the Leonid meteor shower.
• Marcus Johansson, you meatball-eating qoH! Good work! The 20-year-old Swede had two goals tonight, one pretty and one gritty. He nearly tricked the hat, but Tomas Vokoun activated the nitro boosters in his glove hand just in time. Thanks for the point, kid.
• Let’s play “who’s the liability?” Nick Backstrom: on ice for all three shorthanded chances against. Hershey call-up Brian Willsie: on ice for one scoring chance for and five against. Jay Beagle: four chances for and only one against. Dangit, Jay. You’re not a liability at all! Get out of this bullet.
• Finally, Michal Neuvirth was awesome for a losing goalie. After not getting the nod for so long, New Bear didn’t hesitate to make huge saves when they counted. Giving up two to 5v3 and another to 4v3 shouldn’t keep Michal from sleeping well tonight. If the skaters worked as hard as he did, we’d probably be celebrating the first ever Ovechtrick right now.

Joe B's suit of the night

The Caps probably didn’t deserve the point they took away from this game. They were way too awful for way too long to consider this a point well earned. A bad power play and a half dozen many penalties should sink  any team on the road. So while we’re glad that Knuble and MJ90 were strong enough to drag everyone to overtime, the overt loss might have been a clearer message to the team’s “passengers”.

If the Caps bring tonight’s play with them to face either Tampa Bay tomorrow or the Canucks on Friday, it’ll be a disaster. I don’t know. Maybe I’m being overly harsh on a team that has gotten a standings point in all of the last nine games, but they’ll still a shadow of their former selves on offense. And in the end, it really comes down to those two or three guys who are sleepwalking through the season.

Wake up, comrades. It’s a brand new year. Time to scoar.

Additional reporting by Neil Greenberg.

This past weekend was awesome. Why? Because it was chock full of Hockey at every hour of the day. Sure there was “Super Sunday” with the Russians destroying the Czechs, USA humbling the Green Snubbers from the North, and the Swedes shutting out the Fins in Olympic action. But there also was a double dip of AHL Hockey with the Hershey Bears playing both on Saturday and Sunday. Well since we here at RMNB can’t be everywhere – though Fedor certainly tried as he watched illegal Russian Video Streams of the Bears Games during breaks in the Olympics – we asked our Hershey Correspondent Kyle M to summarize the events of this weekend via pictures, words & yes, his own video. Video which includes reaction from players and Coach Mark French after Hershey set the AHL Record for Consecutive Home Victories. Awesome. If you hate reading like me, here’s all you need to know: HERSHEY RULZ!

Game 1 – Saturday, February 20th – Lake Erie Monsters vs Hershey Bears @ Giant Center

In Saturday’s tilt, the Hershey Bears rose to the challenge – in what I’d say was one of their toughest tests in their now 19 game home winning streak. The Bears defeated the Colorado Avalanche’s affiliate Lake Erie Monsters 4-1 despite a tremendous amount of physical play. Bears goaltender Jason Bacashihua (above) beat his former team (while being in his old Avs mask) with 24 superb saves on 25 shots. With his strong effort in net, Bacashihua was also named the First Star of the Game.

Cash has now won 12 of his 15 starts this season. Four different Bears managed to light the lamp including Oskar Osala, Jay Beagle, Andrew Joudrey & Andrew Gordon via an Empty Net Goal. One final note: Who broke Bacashihua’s Shutout? None other than former Capital Brian Willsie.

Photos From The Game:

Oskar Osala Scores!

Jason Bacashihua and Karl Alzner Gaurd The Net

We weren’t kidding about the rough stuff!

Game 2 – Saturday, February 20th – Albany River Rats vs Hershey Bears @ Giant Center

With the consecutive home victories record on the line, the Bears came out hard against the NJD Affiliated Albany River Rats. After getting back to back goals by Andrew Gordon and Chris Bourque, Braden Holtby surrendered 3 goals in succession in a little under 10 minutes. By the end of second period, the game was all tied up 3-3. It would take 11 minutes of play in the third frame until lil’ scrappy Francois Bouchard would break the tie. More importantly, Bryan Helmer’s assist on the goal gave him the All-Time AHL Assists Record for Defensemen. Bouchard would then add another goal 8 minutes later as the Hershey Bears won their 20th Straight Home Game.

Post Game Reaction:

Photos:

Captain America John Carlson Focuses On Being Awesome During Warm Ups

Steve Pinizzotto Ready To Drop The Gloves