Monday, December 2, 2013

Hershey Bears miss the mark but get 3 out of 4 points this weekend

Netting the first goal of the game and of his season, Matt Watkins opened the flood gates and the teddy bears rained onto the ice last night during the Hershey Bears game against the Providence Bruins. It was an eventful afternoon yesterday, not only did the team collect a record 12,890 teddy bears for local charities, they also honored a few of their own alumni during the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 inductions.

“It kind of gives you some chills, for me at least,” Head Coach Mike Haviland reflected on listening to the inductees.

Coming off of a win Saturday night, the Bears were looking to start a winning streak during this home stand. David Leggio was between the pipes making great saves to keep the score low as the game was back and forth between the Bears and the Bruins.

“I think it started and ended okay,” said Haviland, “but I didn’t like the middle frame at all.”

The Bruins found the equalizer with one minute of play remaining in the 2nd period and then put the Bears on their heel in the 3rd period, as they found the back on the net again. The Bears worked hard to battle back, fighting for a chance to win this game in front of a packed house on an already eventful night.

“Three out of four points this weekend after really having a long chat, after St. John’s [loss], about how we needed to play. I thought we played really good for these two games,” said Haviland. “Three out of four points, I told them ‘it’s a positive thing and we need to keep building off of this now.’”

The Bears kept the game alive through the end of regulation time, tying the score and sending the teams into a hard fought overtime battle. The game ended in a skills competition, where the Bruins out skilled the Bears, scoring 3 to their 1 goal winning the game 3-2.

Hitting the road for the next week and a half, the Bears are looking to string together wins. More then capable of winning all four of their road games before returning home, the Bears will need to be aggressive on the fore-check, stop turning over the puck on the blue line and continue to help clear pucks at the net. The Bears win most often when they play a full 60-minute game, chipping away at their opponent shift by shift and winning each period. The Bears will return home Saturday, December 14th to face the Binghamton Senators.

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