First Period

(Thanks to technical difficulties, I’ve missed the first 18 minutes of the first. OOPS. Score’s nothing nothing, though, so it looks like I didn’t miss much of anything.)

Mathieu Schneider in #24. He looks good wearing the antlers.

Penalty to the Hershey Bears, Moose going onto the man advantage, their first of the game. Bears PK is #1, though, so the Canucks look like they’ve got their work cut out for them.

Schneider on the first unit PP. Well, at least he won’t be complaining about icetime.

Feed from Baumgartner sends Grabner in. Shot and a save.

Moose not doing a whole lot, getting pushed back into their own end. Penalty’s almost over.

2 on 1 chance for the Bears shorthanded. Salcido does a good job of taking away the pass and Schneider makes sure nothing happens.

Schneider with a blast from the point. Looks like he’s played almost the entire powerplay so far.

Moose continue to be hemmed into their own end. PP is not looking good. Only real chances so far have come off of shots from the D.

That does it for the first 20 minutes. Strange, it didn’t feel like 20. Oh, right.

Second Period

Right off the bat, Andrew Gordon skates in and roofs it high glove past Schneider. Eww.

Moose with another powerplay and it’s very much a replay of their first man advantage: Moose having a hell of a time finding their way into the zone, Bears showing why they’re the AHL’s #1 PK squad. Ugh.

Keane playing D due to the last minute callup of Evan Oberg.

Marty Murray with the best scoring opportunity that I’ve seen so far as he gets a pass from behind the net and gets promptly double teamed by Bears defenders. Yeah, just because it’s the ‘best’ opp doesn’t mean it’s a good one.

Bears corral the puck and dump it in, changing. Moose come back with their first bit of sustained pressure thanks to some savvy moves from Mike Keane. Several shots on net, but nothing doing.

Bears come roaring back blasting one at Cory Schneider, who struggles a bit with holding onto the puck. We finally have a whistle after what seemed like 7 or 8 minutes of action without a whistle.

“You know it’s bad when Tim Horton’s is two blocks away, which probably has the best coffee on the planet, and you don’t want to go.” Hershey announcer talking about the weather. I don’t mind this, compared to the Houston dude from last week’s games.

Back to the game, Grabner turns on the jets and wins the race to the puck along the boards in the Bears end. Lobs it out to Shirokov but it’s just out of reach for him.

Moose starting to come on. Schneider with another heavy shot on net, goalie juggles the puck, having some trouble. Well, at least he’s being useful somewhere.

This is pretty cool: Hershey’s announcer is interacting with the fans on the Bears Facebook page, answering questions and joking around. I wonder if we’ll be seeing more of this as social media continues to proliferate.

This game is pretty dull, no real pace or flow going on. I’m starting to wonder if this is a trait of this year’s version of the Moose (keep in mind I’ve only started following them since mid-December or so.)

Keane gets some action going, leading to shots from Desbiens and Schneider, attempting to beat Bears goaltender Holtby. Keane tries to jam one in, but no dice. Best pressure from either team so far in the second.

WOOP WOOP! Pope dishes it to Matt Pettinger, who manages to sneak past the Bears defenders and beats Holtby. TIE GAME.

I really hope this opens things up now.

Oh geez. Mathieu Schneider coughs up the puck, leading to a breakway for Perreault. Schneider’s defensive partner has to hook him and we get a penalty shot.

Perreault dances in, tries to fake going forehand, but Schneider isn’t fooled as he sticks with him and denies him. Still a tie game.

MTS Center buzzing a bit. Shirokov with the puck and dancing in. Hadn’t seen much of that so far this game from him. Looks like the team is responding well to that save by Schneider.

NOW things are heating up, with about a minute left to go in the second. Things going back and forth now, Aucoin with a weak shot and Schneider makes the sprawling save.

Some nice pressure from the Bears to close things out, but Schneider stands tall. Tie game after 1.

Third Period

Final frame is now underway.

First minute or so has had the Bears all over the Moose. Moose doing a great job at keeping them pressed up against the boards (sometimes literally.)

Pettinger gets the puck and he’s off to the races. Shot, but no goal. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind signing this guy next year to stick with the Canucks to bolster our bottom six. Love the jump in this guy’s game and thought he didn’t look out of place in his short stints with the Canucks. He should come cheap, too, given no one was interested in him this past off-season.

Oooh, Maxwell with a shot on goal now. Moose are starting to come on now. LABRIE tries for the rebound but, well, he’s LABRIE.

Bears come roaring back. Shot on net that Schneider smothers.

Rosa and Grabner pass to each other to gain the zone. Bears force turnover and things go back the other way. Wow, are we actually getting some flow into this game? This is nice!

Moose come back now. Shirokov pressuring Holtby and he swats the puck over the glass and out of play. Hershey PBP guy insisting it hit the glass. Suuuure. Powerplay Moose.

Annnnd of course we go right back to the Moose end of the rink. Geez, the Bears are great at killing penalties.

Moose finally get set up, but aren’t getting any shots on net. Shirokov’s back nesting on the sideboards this game. Dishes it to Baumgartner on the point who has the best opportunity so far.

Schneider already getting worked into the Moose’s promos, as he’s part of some ‘Autograph Alley.’ Hehe.

Schneider been logging a lot of icetime so far tonight, 22:05, to be exact. Other than that penalty shot giveaway he’s been looking good. Penalty over.

Ellington also on the roster, haven’t noticed or seen him at all tonight.

Bourque with a HUGE giveaway right in front of the Bears net. LABRIE was the man forechecking and was unable to convert. DANG, talk about your golden opportunities…

Bears now with a great chance. Nothing doing, though.

One thing I haven’t really talked about is how good Bliznak’s skating is. Combined with his ability to receive the outlet pass and he’s been helping gain the zone. Small thing, but it’s the little things that can add up.

WOW, Bears with another HORRIBLE giveaway in front of the Bears net. Desbiens almost beats Holtby. Mike Keane is sniffing for a rebound. Keane draws a crowd, Desbiens and Aucoin with offsetting minors for roughing.

Hershey commentator angry about an article Tim Campbell wrote. I’m going to have to check this out. He’s been going on almost nonstop for 2 minutes now, stopping only to call the penalties. Haha.

Ooh, Ellington with a giveaway, Beagle is all over it but Schneider with a deft poke check diffuses the situation.

Another opportunity, this time Giroux with blast at Schneider, who continues to look impressive.

And another. Boyd with a slapshot and Schneider flashes the leather, shutting things down.

Things are slowing back down now, reverting back to the earlier pace in this game. Sigh.

Some nice pressure from the Moose, with Pettinger getting in on the action. Clearly been the best Moose forward tonight.

Oh my. Gordon with a near buzzer beater on Schneider with about 4 minutes left.

Overtime

Shirokov gets dragged down, no call. Ridiculous. Bears come roaring back with an opportunity of their own, but Schneider with a spectacular save.

Wilson dances in, trying to catch the Moose changing. Schneider with a HUGE pad save.

WHY COULDN’T THIS GAME HAVE THIS AMOUNT OF LIFE EARLIER?! Augh!

As fun as this was, that does it for overtime. Time to go to the shootout.

Shootout

Kyle Wilson set to go first. Goes backhand and fools Schneider. 1-0 Bears.

Marco Rosa up for the Moose now. Fakes going to backhand and instead slides it between Holtby’s legs. 1-1.

Keith Aucoin up now. Skates in, tries to go fivehole, Schneider stops him.

Grabner up now. Backhands it all the way to the roof and makes Holtby look foolish. 2-1.

Alexander Giroux skates in fans, shoots again and completely beats Schneider. Speaking of making goalies look foolish…2 all.

Mike Keane up, but is stopped.

Bouchard up and beats Schneider five hole. 3-2.

Sergei Shirokov up and it seems like they’ve got the book on Holtby, going fivehole and scoring. 3-3.

Chris Bourque up now and Schneider gives him nothing, looming over him.

Marty Murray with a chance to win it, tries to replicate Grabner’s goal. Bears still alive. 3-3

John Carlson, gets the Bronx Cheer from Moose fans. Goes skating in and tries to slide it past, but Schneider gets the pads down. 3-3

Pettinger up now and nothing.

Andrew Gordon now, with the head fake. 4-3.

Pope to keep the Moose alive, tries to get five hole but nothing doing. Bears win.

Frustrating loss for the Moose, as the Bears continue to stick it to them. Hopefully they’ll have better luck tomorrow!