By Wil Goldsholl
Hartford, CT, October 26, 2012 – The Connecticut Whale improved to 2-3-1-0 Friday with a win over the Hershey Bears at the XL Center. Leaning on their strong first-period play, Connecticut posted a 3-1 victory over the visiting Bears. Whale netminder Cam Talbot picked up his first win of the season in his first appearance of 2012.
The Whale opened scoring against the Bears when Marek Hrivik snapped the puck out of the corner and found an unmarked Brandon Segal backdoor. The opening tally 4:25 into the first was Segal’s fourth goal in the last four games.
Exactly two minutes later, Hershey’s starting goaltender Dany Sabourin was left alone again. As the Whale cleared the defensive zone, Julien Brouillette could not corral a tricky bouncing puck. Christian Thomas had momentum on his side and slid around Brouillette before swinging the puck across to Tommy Grant on the backdoor again. The goal was Grant’s second of the season.
Things looked grim for the Bears near the midway point of the first following Ryan Stoa’s tripping minor, but they survived the penalty kill without allowing any shots on goal.
With under five minutes to play in the first, Hershey generated a number of chances on broken plays but the Whale answered with a flurry of close range shots in the last two minutes. Sabourin stood strong and Connecticut took the 2-0 lead in to the break.
Hershey’s broken chances continued into the second period for several minutes before their attack stabilized. Talbot maintained control of his crease though, saying he had no trouble with the long-range shots. “The first few [shots] were from the outside; that helped me get in the game and settle down. I just tried to not let up too many rebounds and help [the defense] as well,” Talbot said after the game.
With 4:15 to play in the second period, Blake Parlett was called for tripping, and the man advantage allowed the Bears several scoring opportunities. Thirty-seven seconds after Parlett’s minor expired, Mike Vernace was sent off for slashing. At the end of the second period, the Whale still held a 2-0 edge and they killed the remaining seconds on Vernace’s penalty at the start of the third.
Sixty seconds in to the third, Connecticut had one more power play chance on Zach Hamill’s slashing minor, but could not convert. With 8:18 to play, Parlett delivered a check on the nameplate that earned him a boarding minor; his second minor penalty of the night. Towards the end of Hershey’s five-on-four, Dmitry Orlov rifled one from the point around teammate Boyd Kane’s screen and over Talbot’s stick side shoulder. That goal cut the deficit in half, but Connecticut’s Ryan Bourque would seal the game with an empty-netter with 75 seconds left to play.
The offenses were well matched, with Connecticut outshooting Hershey 29-27. The extra shot made the difference as Sabourin stopped 26 of 28 and Talbot earned the first-star turning away 26 of the 27 he faced. The Whale face the Providence Bruins at home on Saturday at 7 P.M. Tickets for that game, and all Whale regular season home games at the XL Center, are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, through TicketMaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.
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Hershey Bears 1 at Connecticut Whale 3
Friday, October 26, 2012 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Hershey 0 0 1 – 1
Connecticut 2 0 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Connecticut, Segal 4 (Hrivik, Jean), 4:25. 2, Connecticut, Grant 2 (Thomas, Pyett), 6:25. Penalties-Stoa Her (tripping), 9:37.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Parlett Ct (tripping), 15:45; Vernace Ct (slashing), 18:22.
3rd Period-3, Hershey, Orlov 1 (Kundratek, Sjogren), 13:25 (PP). 4, Connecticut, Bourque 1 (Gilroy), 18:45 (EN). Penalties-Hamill Her (slashing), 1:00; Parlett Ct (boarding), 11:42; Hamill Her (slashing), 16:03.
Shots on Goal-Hershey 9-8-10-27. Connecticut 12-10-7-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Hershey 1 / 3; Connecticut 0 / 3.
Goalies-Hershey, Sabourin 1-2-0 (28 shots-26 saves). Connecticut, Talbot 1-0-0 (27 shots-26 saves).
A-3,072
Referees-Geoff Miller (28).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Mike Baker (11).
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