HERSHEY, PA – Part two of the battle of Pennsylvania is about to begin. The Hershey Bears and the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, two teams separated by almost 130 miles, will renew their rivalry in round two of the Calder Cup playoffs. Last season the two teams met in the first round of the playoffs with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton having home-ice advantage. The Penguins won that series in five games. This time around it is Hershey who will have home-ice advantage and will begin the series at home on Saturday.
Series overview
The Penguins won the season series 7-3 and finished the regular season two points behind Hershey and Bridgeport in third place (49-25-3-3, 104 points). Hershey tied with Bridgeport in points with a record of 49-23-2-6.
Both teams bring the league’s top two offenses into the series. The Bears were the league’s best offense with 296 goals while Scranton was second overall 274. The Penguins allowed 212 goals, good for fifth overall in the AHL while Hershey allowed 240. The Bears outscored Philadelphia 14-6 to sweep the Phantoms. The Penguins outscored Bridgeport 18-14 in their five game series with the Sound Tigers.
Hershey was the league’s fifth best power play unit during the regular season, while Scranton finished sixth overall. The Penguins are tops during the playoffs scoring nine out of 21 chances. Hershey is third scoring seven out of 27 chances.
Scranton however was the league’s twelfth rated penalty killing unit, while Hershey finished last overall. So far Hershey has not allowed a power play goal while Scranton has allowed three in 24 chances. Hershey – The Bears high-powered offense is led by AHL MVP Alexandre Giroux, who had 97 points, one more point then teammate Keith Aucoin for the league-lead in points. Giroux also led the league in goals with 60.
Giroux is the fifth player in AHL history to score 60 goals in a season and set a league record for goals in a season by a left wing. So far in the playoffs Giroux has two goals and four assists. No Bears defenseman had more points than Sami Lepisto who had 38 assists and four goals to lead the team. Rarely does a team who has the conference’s best record doesn’t have a goaltender in the top 20 in goals against average and save percentage.
Despite Hershey’s high goals against average, rookie goaltender Michal Neuvirth led the Bears with a 2.70 goals against average, and a .913 save percentage during the regular season. So far in the playoffs he is third in goals against average and third in save percentage. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton – There are four Penguins players that are in the top 20 playoff scorers. Chris Minard leads the team in goals scored with five, second overall. He is tied for sixth overall in points with teammates J.M. Daoust and Jeff Taffe with seven points each. During the regular season Janne Pesonen led the team in scoring, fourth overall, with 32 goals and 50 assists.
Goaltender John Curry is having another stellar season finishing eighth overall in goals against (2.38) and tied for thirteenth in save percentage (.916). In the playoffs he is eleventh in goals against average, and seventh in save percentage.
Prediction: Hershey in 7.
Contact the author at BJennings@prohockeynews.com Catch all the playoffs at Intotheboards.net
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