Gordie Howe Hat Trick

Dean Arsene recorded a fight, an assist, and a goal in that order to complete his Gordie Howe hat trick.

Deano also took a very very bad penalty in the second period that almost cost the team badly. With the Bears already down 2 men for another 1:12, Deano took a slashing penalty that put the team down 2 men for almost a full 2 minutes.....not smart from a veteran dman.

I honestly didn't think the fight was well timed either. But I don't really know what was said or done but right as the fight started Oskar Osala had scored but the goal was waived off due to the fight. In the offensive zone and still in the first I thought it was odd. But like I said I don't know what exactly happened to cause the fight.

But Deano redeemed himself and ended up the games #1 star.

Simeon Varlamov played in his second game and got his second win. He made 21 saves on 25 shots and looked pretty good most of the game. He sometimes seems to let in some easy goals but he makes the toughest ones usually.

The MAG line was pretty much non-existent in the game. It seemed like the Phantoms really tried to shut them down and they pretty much succeeded. Giroux did have a goal and Aucoin an assist and they didn't play bad.....they just didn't dominate like they did in the first 3 games.

The Bears ended up out shooting the Phantoms 43 to 25 and if it wasn't for Jean-Sebastien Aubin the Phantoms wouldn't have been within 5 goals tonight. He played very well but couldn't stop quite enough.


My 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Dean Arsene
2. Jonathon Matsumoto
3. Jean-Sebastien Aubin

Grading the Performance:

Even Strength - B+ - All of the goals were even strength and they had plenty of shots. All of the lines played solid and it would have been a bigger win if Aubin didn't play so well. The defense was especially good at even strength. Sean Collins looked very good in his first game of the season.

Power Play - C+ - No goals on 7 opportunities isn't what we want to see. If you have 7 chances you outta score at least 1 or 2. But they did control the puck in the zone and got some shots on Aubin and didn't give up any shorties....so not all that bad.

Penalty Kill - B - They gave up 2 goals on 9 opportunities and one of the goals was at the end of a 5 on 3 late in the second period. Considering the Bears gave them 5 power plays in the first period alone I think this unit did pretty well. They need to quit taking dumb penalties....there were quite a few.

Overall - B - An okay game that they managed to win. These games are going to happen many more times and the team needs to continue to do this to get wins. Plenty of shots but also plenty of penalties. Once again the rookie line played very well and might have played better than all the other lines. A solid game and a W, which is all that matters.



Other News:

• The Washington Capitals were expected to call up someone after the game but instead elected to call up Chris Bourque prior to the game. Bourque will be up with the team for at least a few games but it will be interesting to see how he does.
• The Caps/Bears sent goalie Michal Neuvirth to South Carolina of the ECHL. This is a bit of a surprise since they thought a couple days ago that they were close to loaning him out. They still may loan him out, I am not sure how loan rules apply to ECHL games, but they want to get him playing which he either can't do in Hershey or they want to keep Varlamov playing.