Although the St. John’s IceCaps started February off on the right foot, defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-2 on Friday night, they stumbled during their weekend series against the Hershey Bears.
Saturday
As with Friday’s game, the IceCaps took an early lead, finding the back of the net on the first shot of the game. Chris Terry made a sneaky pass between the legs of Tyler Lewington to find Charles Hudon, who went up and over the shoulder of the Bears netminder, Parker Milner.
Charles Hudon takes a Chris Terry feed for the @IceCapsAHL opening goal against Hershey. pic.twitter.com/lMO2uJK5um
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 5, 2017
This seemed to anger the Bears causing them to go into attack mode. Their response was a flurry of three unanswered goals before the opening period came to a close.
They continued their assault on Yann Danis when Stanislav Galiev went over the glove of the IceCaps netminder just 1:52 seconds into the middle frame.
Mid-way though, Terry cut the lead in half, notching his 13th goal of the season, with Daniel Carr picking up the helper. The Bears weren’t fussy with this additional goal either, so with less than a minute left, ex-IceCap Christian Thomas took advantage of a power-play and extended the Bears lead once again.
The IceCaps had three power-play opportunities during the third period but were unable to capitalize, ending the contest with a 5-2 loss.
Three stars:
- Paul Carey (1G, 2A) – HER
- Stanislav Galiev (1G, 1A) – HER
- Parker Milner (SA: 31, SV: 29) – HER
Sunday
In the two previous games the IceCaps were the first on the board after the first shot of the game. This time it was the Bears turn.
Chandler Stephenson hopped off the bench and straight into a breakaway to get one past Charlie Lindgren just five minutes in.
Right place, right time for @CStephenson22 #STJvsHER pic.twitter.com/k9vZDCxmyB
— AHL (@TheAHL) February 5, 2017
It was a quiet second period with the IceCaps trailing 2-0, until Josiah Didier notched his first AHL goal with just over a minute to go. Bobby Farnham and Nikita Scherbak (who was bounced down to the third line), assisted on the tally.
Josiah Didier scores his first of the year for the IceCaps. pic.twitter.com/Dat9LNB0oo
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 5, 2017
Early in the third, the Bears made it 3-1 and it was too-little too-late when a rocket from the right-wing from Terry found it’s way behind Vitek Vanecek.
All Chris Terry does is score goals these days pic.twitter.com/sml5KA6EGG
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 5, 2017
The IceCaps had a few close calls during the rematch, hitting the post on several occasions and having two goals waived off. The Bears took home their second win of the weekend with a 3-2 victory.
Three Stars:
- Chris Bourque (1G) – HER
- Chandler Stephenson (1G) – HER
- Vitek Vaneck (SA: 30, SV: 28) – HER
On the bright side, Carr and Terry were both terrific in all three games this weekend, tallying a total of five and six points respectively. Also, despite being the second-most penalized team in their division, the IceCaps remained disciplined, racking up a mere 14 penalty minutes during the series.
Even though they only came away with two out of a possible six points, the IceCaps are holding steady in third (21-20-5-1) in the North Division
The IceCaps will have a rematch with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday, before concluding their road trip with a weekend series against the Leigh High Valley Phantoms on Friday and Saturday.
