Galiev and Kashirsky hold the Kelly Cup after the game. (Photo credit: @Galixon_97)

Caps prospect Stan Galiev, the 29th ranked prospect in the world coming into this season, may not have stuck with the AHL’s Hershey Bears all year long, but the Russian forward rebounded in a big way with the ECHL’s Reading Royals. The Russian winger scored 47 points in 46 games, including this sick goal which got him featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 in early December. Galiev continued performing for the Royals in the playoffs, scoring 11 points in 13 playoff games to help Reading win the 2012-13 championship.

This is Galiev’s third straight championship season. In 2010-11, Galiev’s junior team, the Saint John Sea Dogs, captured both the QMJHL championship and the CHL championship, the Memorial Cup. The next year, the Sea Dogs repeated as QMJHL champions. You would think that after so many rings and championship trophies, Galiev would find the whole winning championships thing dull, but then he went out and won a title in his first pro season too.

First year as a pro… First pro championship!!!! Thank you guys for a great season!!Lets go Royals!!! @rroyalshockey #KellyCupChampions

— Stanislav Galiev (@Galixon_97) May 26, 2013

With the 6-0 win over Stockton Sunday, Nikita Kashirsky, Alex Ovechkin’s best friend growing up, won his second career Kelly cup. Minor league defenseman Patrick Wellar also became only the second player in ECHL history to win the Kelly Cup three times. He’s also won a title with the Hershey Bears.

Here’s Stan after his last four championship wins.

2010-11 QMJHL Championship

Galiev is front and center, sitting on the ice.

2010-11 Memorial Cup Champions

Galiev is in the second row, third from the left.

2011-12 QMJHL Championship

Galiev is sitting on the ice, front row, bottom right.

2012-13 ECHL Championship

Galiev is in the second row all the way to the left.

Above: Chris Bourque skies in the air to keep the puck on his stick. Top: Bourque and Andrew Gordon celebrate the GWG. (Photos by Chris Knight, The Patriot-News)

After an absolutely dreadful start which saw the Bears take a 3-1 deficit into the first intermission, even the most optimistic of Bears fans would have thought that the chances of Hershey coming back in this series were slim. But Head Coach Mark French showed confidence in his players and made the necessary adjustments. He allowed Michal Neuvirth to return in net for the second period, despite witnessing last year’s playoff MVP flub a clearing attempt on a first-period powerplay. Neuvy’s whiff led to Texas’s second goal of the night, an unassisted short-handed goal by Francis Wathier. French then subtlety tinkered with his forward combinations promoting Chris Bourque to the top line and dropping the 2008-09 AHL MVP, Alexandre Giroux, to the second. It paid immediate dividends.

Hershey went on to score five unanswered goals, punctuated by two third period tallies by Andrew Gordon which included the eventual game-winning goal. The Hershey Bears win 6-3. The high-octane offense has returned!

• Tonight marked Hershey’s 9th game in 39 days. Maybe the rust is starting to come off? (Special thanks to fan of the blog Emily Bennett for pointing this out to me via email.)
• I swear Bears’ third-line center, Kyle Wilson, must love NHL10 like I do. He scored both of his goals tonight, Hershey’s 1st and 2nd of the night, via one timers from odd areas in the offensive zone.
• Not to be outdone, Mathieu Perreault had a pair of tallies, and both Keith Aucoin and Chris Bourque had two assists.
• Andrew Gordon’s game-winning goal tonight was a perfect example of why he is such an invaluable player to this club. Gordo set himself in front of the net, and after multiple failed whacks at a loose puck, finally connected on his backhand to give Hershey it’s first lead of the game. John Walton said of the goal, “That is paying the price to win.” While Gregg Mace responded, “Andrew Gordon is one of the heart and soul guys on the Bears.” We agree. We totally agree.
• After giving up 3 tough goals on 11 shots in the first period, Neuvy responded in the clutch by stopping the Stars next 19 shots on goal. He finished with 27 saves on the night and deserves a lot of credit for Hershey’s comeback tonight.
• Patrick Wellar deserves props for his penalty killing tonight. At one point during the second period, I thought I was watching Rod Langway incarnate on the ice as he delivered hit after crunching hit. Wellar also received a Game Misconduct in the third period for his part in a brawl. Well done, Patrick!
• Once again, Steve Pinizzotto played a charged-up game which yielded multiple takeaways and great defense. And once again, Steve Pinizzotto took a completely unneeded penalty, this time a charging call in the third period.
• Caps Employee and reserve goaltender Brett Leonhardt noticed from the stands during a second period TV timeout that Stars Goalie Matt Climie was chirping at the Bears bench. Four goals later, he might have regretted that.

The Bears will now look to even the series at two Wednesday night at 8:30. Make sure to check back in the morning for another installment of Gordo’s Take, as Andrew Gordon will give his view on Game 3. See you then.

Andrew Gordon is wiped out along the boards by Aaron Gagnon. (Photos by Joe Hermitt, The Patriot-News)

If you’ve ever played a competitive sport at any high-level, you know the importance of momentum. It’s something that cannot be accurately measured by statistics, but its presence will never show up on any box-score.  Watching game two of the Calder Cup Finals between the Hershey Bears and the Texas Stars tonight, it was obvious who had momentum in the final ten minutes of the game: The Hershey Bears. Despite the Chocolate and White never leading during regulation, Andrew Gordon’s electrifying put-back off a Patrick Wellar shot from the right point rallied the troops and tied the game 3-3 with 9:16 to go. And after Stars’ Defenseman Matt Stephenson went off for a four-minute double minor for high-sticking towards the tail end of a Bears Powerplay, it seemed like fate was on the Bears side.

It was not to be. The Bears could not score during the ensuing 31 seconds of their 5 on 3 advantage and fretted away the first 1:16 of their 5 on 4. Then, after a whistle, Boyd Kane lost his temper during a scrum and speared a Texas player. The back linesman saw it, notified the head official, and Kane was sent off for four minutes, negating the rest of the Bears Powerplay. Hello, 4-on-4 hockey. Goodbye, momentum.

Hershey and Texas then traded chances back and forth until Caps castoff Travis Morin lifted a slow, knuckling backhander with 46 seconds left. The puck arc’ed over Michal Neuvirth, who desperately tried to stab it with his glove hand. While the rest of the Bears looked on in disbelief, the puck settled in the back of the net. The Bears lose a heartbreaker 4-3.

• Postgame, Hershey Head Coach Mark French, didn’t mince any words when reminded by ABC27′s Gregg Mace that the Bears have come back and won two straight on the road before: “We took six penalties tonight. Four poor in nature. If [our guys] want to continue making those errors, they’ll get to four [wins] before us.”
• Let’s not turn to the History Books for inspiration. No team has ever lost the first two games of the Calder Cup Finals at home and ever come back to win a series. The Bears will now travel to Texas where they’ll play three straight games at Cedar Park Center. They must win at least two of three to bring the series back home to Giant Center. Consider this little factoid as well: The Bears are only 4-3 this postseason on the road.
• Hershey had been 37-1-0-0 in its previous 38 home games before falling to Texas Stars on home ice twice in a three-day span. Is this just an anomaly or are they simply playing a better hockey team?
• I’ll put my Caps blinders on and say I think it’s an anomaly. We’re talking about potentially the AHL’s greatest team of all-time– a 60-win team in the regular season. Let’s face it: The Bears had an 11-day layoff before game one and looked rusty. Tonight, they were the better team, but were plagued by a few early mistakes, a lack of discipline and bad luck. Stars’ Center Aaron Gagnon scored one minute into the game on a breakaway after Hershey’s Defense came out disorganized. The Stars’ second goal of the game was an absurd gift from the Gods. Andrew Joudrey made a great hockey play and blocked a chunk of Garrett Stafford’s shot from the point during a Stars’ Powerplay. The shot changed directions and puttered harmlessly along the ice towards Bryan Helmer, who looked to control the puck on his backhand. As Helmer’s stick met rubber, the puck shot off his stick past a helpless Michal Neuvirth into the yawning net.
• Really, the key to this series will be if Hershey can eschew chip-and-chase to play the simple hockey that will overcome Texas’s outstanding defense. Mark French was clearly frustrated after the game. He has been preaching offensive-zone patience to his players. Yet, some of these guys will get discouraged and take harmless shots from the perimeter or throw a centering pass out in front when nobody’s home. The team must be aggressive on the forecheck and play hard in the corners. We’ll see if they’ve learned their lesson Monday Night.
• 

  Haaaaaaaaay Ray! (Photo by Kyle M.)

  Hall of Fame Defenseman Ray Bourque was in the house tonight to watch his son play.  He looks grumpy in our accompanying picture.
• One thing’s for sure: Steve Pinizzotto certainly plays the game with an edge. In the first period with the Bears shorthanded and down 1-0, he caused a turnover and expertly executed a 2-on-1 break. Pinner blasted a hard slapshot top-shelf to tally his fifth goal of the playoffs, unassisted. While that was totally awesome, he also lost his temper a few times and yapped way too much at the Stars bench. Pinizzotto has good speed, a hard, accurate shot and a dedication to defense that could make him a solid third or fourth line NHL player in the future, especially for a team like the Capitals who need guys who are tenacious and gifted on the penalty kill. Pinner however, needs to play with a controlled chaos and keep his emotions in check. Tonight, his two minors (slashing, roughing) negated his positives.
• Francois Bouchard now has goals in two straight.
• Andrew Gordon’s tally in the third was the first goal of the finals for the AHL’s most prolific line. His Celebration? So. Epic. (Check out the photo montage here.)

The Bears will leave for Texas at noon on Sunday from Harrisburg International Airport. When they step on the ice for game three Monday night, they will be forced to deal with real adversity for the first time this year. Can the Bears step up and regain their offensive flair? Will Texas feel the pressure of wanting to win the Calder Cup in front of their home fans and lose control of the series? Comcast SportsNet will be showing the game live Monday Night at 8:30pm. We’ll see you then.

Video of all of Game 2′s Goals: