The previous two nights say Hershey take a couple league bottom dwellers. And it wasn't pretty...for Hershey. A 3-1 loss in Adirondack followed by a 2-1 loss at home to Providence has everyone frustrated.
And now the Charlotte Checkers visit Hershey for the 2nd time this season. Overall it is the 6th meeting between the teams this season, 4 in Charlotte with 1 in Hershey. Hershey has won 2 while Charlotte has won 3 of the meetings. Not dominant but definitely the better team in most cases.
As of this writing there has been no word on any players getting healthy or any players returning from Washington so the same lineup that you saw Friday and Saturday will likely be there tonight.
And let's be honest....that hasn't been a good thing.
Hopefully things turn around tonight.
Charlotte is finishing up a tough travel weekend as they started in Providence on Friday night before heading to Binghamton last night and now to Hershey. But they did win both those games so we can't read too much into that.
It will be interesting to see how Hershey comes out tonight. Last night I thought the energy was there but there appeared to be no familiarity or cohesiveness to the team. A lot of that has to do with lack of playing time between the guys but in the end it is a game they have all been playing for a long time.
Enough of the cross ice passes. Enough of the cute drop passes they always try when they enter the zone.
It's time to get the pucks in deep and work for the puck in the corners. And then crash the net. Make the goalie uncomfortable. Run into him, get in his crease, in his face.
Make something happen instead of waiting for it to happen.
A little more on the game tonight....
Hershey Bears
record ~ 16-12-0-1 33 points
standings ~ 4th in East Division
most recent game ~ 2-1 Loss vs Providence, 12/18
last 5 games ~ 2-3-0-0
home record ~ 7-7-0-0
goals for ~ 99
goals against ~ 76
power play ~ 19.6% (10th)
penalty kill ~ 82.0% (17th)
Charlotte Checkers
record ~ 17-9-1-3 33 points
standings ~ 3rd in East Division
most recent game ~ 4-2 Win @ Binghamton, 12/18
last 5 games ~ 4-0-0-1
road record ~ 9-4-1-0
goals for ~ 106
goals against ~ 87
power play ~ 22.4% (3rd)
penalty kill ~ 88.3% (1st)
last time teams met - This is the 6th meeting of the season but only the 2nd in Hershey. Charlotte won 5-2 in Hershey on November 28. Overall Hershey trails the season series 2-3.
Players to watch:
Hershey:
RW Francois Bouchard (22) - Is he ever going to put it all together? You can see the talent when he gets the puck but he seems to always try to do too much. He only has 4 goals and 4 assists this season. He has to do more...now is a good time to start.
LW Maxime Lacroix (20) - Since getting recalled from SC a few weeks ago he has been one of Hershey's best players in the hustle category. Never takes a shift off.
LW Nikita Kashirsky (17) - He has been a goal scorer on other levels and had 6 in 19 games for the Stingrays this season. Now he needs a shot in Hershey. What better time than the present?
Checkers:
C Jonathan Matsumoto (10) - The former Phantom is averaging a point a game this season for Charlotte including 2 goals last night. Overall he has 7 goals and 11 assists in 18 games.
RW Jerome Sampson (17) - 4th in the league in points and first on the team with 32. Tied for 2nd in the league in goals with 16. And he has 4 goals and 4 assists in 6 December games.
C Zac Dalpe (19) - Tied for 3rd on the team in goals with 12 and 6th on the team with 20 points. 3 goals and 3 assists in his last 5 games including a goal and 2 assists last Sunday vs Hershey.
LET'S GO BEARS!!!
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