Hershey, PA, April 8, 2012 – Hershey, PA, April 8, 2012 – Cam Talbot made 24 saves for his second shutout in his last three starts Sunday, as the Connecticut Whale defeated the Hershey Bears, 1-0, at Giant Center.  Defenseman Pavel Valentenko’s second-period goal was the only score of the game.

The Whale victory, combined with the Adirondack Phantoms’ 4-2 home loss to the Rochester Americans, clinched a playoff spot for the Whale.

“It was a great game, back and forth, I thought,” said Talbot, who also blanked the Adirondack Phantoms last Saturday night in Hartford, with 26 saves in a 3-0 win.  “Both teams had some good chances, but I thought we did a great job eliminating their top guys from a lot of scoring chances, (AHL leading scorer Chris) Bourque and (Kyle) Greentree and their first line.  They were around the net but really didn’t get a whole lot of quality scoring chances.  I think the defense did a great job of clearing out rebounds for me and boxing out when I needed to see the puck.”

The victory improved the Whale’s record to 36-25-7-5 for 84 points, and moved them to within three points of idle Bridgeport for the Northeast Division lead.

An evenly-played first period ended scoreless, with the best chance for either team coming near the 12:00 mark, when Bourque sent the puck up the slot to Mike Carman, but Carman’s deflection went off the goalpost to Talbot’s right.

Hershey ended up with an 8-7 shots advantage coming out of the first, helped by a pair of late penalties against the Whale that gave the Bears’ league-leading power play (25.9% coming into the game) two closely-spaced chances.  Talbot held strong, however, denying a pair of close-in bids by Greentree just before the end of the period.

The Whale finally broke the scoreless deadlock at 7:59 of the second period.  After Kelsey Tessier won a faceoff from Hershey’s Andrew Carroll, linemates Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Casey Wellman combined to deflect the puck back to Valentenko at the right point, and Valentenko’s slapshot beat Hershey netminder Dany Sabourin (25 saves) to the stick side.

The Whale and Talbot, who notched his fourth shutout of the year and ran his record to 14-14-0, made that lead stand up the rest of the way.  The Whale got a break with 6:57 left in the third, when Carman received a major penalty for spearing Connecticut defenseman Tim Erixon, but they never threatened on the long power play.  Then, with Sabourin on the bench for an extra attacker, Valentenko was called for kneeing at 19:33, but the Whale were able to survive that, despite the Bears having a six-on-four skater advantage with the goaltender pulled.

“It’s a load off the guys’ minds, to clinch a playoff spot with three games to go and we can kind of relax on that,” Talbot said.  “But we have to remember that there are still two teams trying to catch us for sixth (in the Eastern Conference).  We obviously want to stay in that sixth spot and not move down, so we still have three more games to go and hopefully six more points.”

“We’re obviously excited,” added Whale head coach Ken Gernander.  “We’ve got one week left in the season to fine-tune a few things and get cranking here, but we’re definitely excited to clinch a playoff spot.”

The Whale’s next action is Wednesday night in Portland against the Pirates, a game that faces off at 6:30 PM (“The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, www.ctwhale.com).  The last Whale home game of the regular season is this Friday, April 13, as the Manchester Monarchs return to the XL Center for a 7:00 game.  That is Fan Appreciation Night, and the first 5,000 fans receive a green Whale bracelet presented by Xfinity.  Also, $5 Family Value combo meals are available.  For tickets visit www.ctwhale.com.  CT Whale action is presented by the Connecticut Lottery and sponsored by Aetna, CBT and St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center.

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Connecticut Whale 1 at Hershey Bears 0
Sunday, April 8, 2012 – Giant Center

Connecticut 0 1 0 – 1
Hershey 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Greentree Her (tripping), 7:33; Thuresson Ct (roughing), 16:35; Hrivik Ct (bench minor – too many men), 19:00.

2nd Period-1, Connecticut, Valentenko 5 (Audy-Marchessault, Wellman), 7:59. Penalties-Wellman Ct (cross-checking), 8:54; Schilling Her (holding), 17:35.

3rd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-McNeill Her (tripping), 7:30; Bell Ct (high-sticking), 7:56; Valentenko Ct (roughing), 8:56; Vernace Ct (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:56; Kundratek Her (interference), 8:56; Mitchell Her (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:56; Rechlicz Her (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:56; Carman Her (major – spearing, game misconduct – spearing), 13:03; Valentenko Ct (kneeing), 19:33.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 7-10-9-26. Hershey 8-9-7-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 4; Hershey 0 / 5.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 14-14-0 (24 shots-24 saves). Hershey, Sabourin 18-12-5 (26 shots-25 saves).
A-8,753
Referees-Graham Skilliter (48), Chris Ciamaga (24).
Linesmen-Scott Pomento (25), Scott Adams (20).

Wilkes-Barre, PA, April 7, 2012 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender Scott Munroe shut out the Connecticut Whale for the third time on the season, and second in just over a week, Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, making 27 saves in a 3-0 Penguin win.

Munroe also blanked the Whale last Friday night in Hartford, with 32 stops in another 3-2 verdict.

Rookie defenseman Simon Despres had the game-winning goal and an assist for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which also got goals from Bryan Lerg and Geoff Walker.  Chad Johnson made 24 saves in the Whale net, including one on a Nick Petersen penalty shot at the end of the second period.

The loss dropped the Whale to 35-25-7-5 on the year and, combined with Adirondack’s 5-3 win at Albany, kept Connecticut’s magic number for clinching a playoff spot at three points.

The only goal of a fast-paced first period came at the 12:16 mark, when Despres scored his fifth of the year for the Penguins.  Cal O’Reilly fed a pass out of the right-wing corner to Despres high in the slot, and he snapped a shot past Johnson, who was screened by Penguin forward Paul Thompson.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had a big early edge in shots in the first, but by the end of the period, the Whale had an 11-10 advantage in that department.

The Penguins upped their lead to 2-0 only 49 seconds into the second frame, as Lerg scored on a breakaway for his 26^th of the season.  A Kris Newbury pass got away from Brendan Bell at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton blueline to allow Lerg to break in alone, and he slipped a backhander just past Johnson’s left skate.  Then, on their first power play of the game, the Penguins scored again at 5:18, only eight seconds after Andre Deveaux was whistled for hooking.  Former Whale Jason Williams found Walker with a seeing-eye pass from the right-wing boards, and Johnson had no chance to stop Walker’s tap-in from the left side of the goalmouth.

Johnson prevented the Penguins from coming out of the second period up 4-0, when he stopped Petersen’s penalty shot opportunity with no time left on the clock.  Referee Graham Skilliter awarded Petersen the penalty shot as time expired, when he was hooked off the puck on a break-in by Jonathan Audy-Marchessault.  It was the second penalty shot Johnson has faced on the year, and he has stopped both.

The Whale were not able to build on that effort, despite outshooting the Penguins 12-6 in a scoreless third period.

The game featured the pro debuts of forwards Christian Thomas, a second-round New York Ranger draft pick in 2010, and Shane McColgan, who was taken in the fifth round by the Rangers in 2011.  Both players joined the Whale Wednesday from the Canadian Junior ranks, Thomas from the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals and McColgan from the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.

The Whale finish up a three-game weekend Sunday in Hershey against the Bears (5:00 PM faceoff, “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, www.ctwhale.com).  The Whale’s last home game of the regular season is this Friday, April 13, as the Manchester Monarchs return for a 7:00 game.  That is Fan Appreciation Night, as the first 5,000 fans receive a green Whale bracelet presented by Xfinity.  Also, $5 Family Value combo meals are available.  For tickets visit www.ctwhale.com.  Presented by the Connecticut Lottery, sponsored by Aetna, CBT and St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center.

To continue reading, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Connecticut Whale 0 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3
Saturday, April 7, 2012 – Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

Connecticut 0 0 0 – 0
W-B/Scranton 1 2 0 – 3

1st Period-1, W-B/Scranton, Despres 5 (O’Reilly, Thompson), 12:16. Penalties-Bortuzzo Wbs (kneeing), 13:28; Tanski Ct (fighting), 16:06; Grant Wbs (fighting), 16:06.

2nd Period-2, W-B/Scranton, Lerg 26 0:49. 3, W-B/Scranton, Walker 18 (Williams, Despres), 5:18 (PP). Penalties-Deveaux Ct (hooking), 5:10; Samuelsson Wbs (hooking), 6:08; Nightingale Ct (high-sticking), 9:05; Petersen Wbs (hooking), 11:55; Deveaux Ct (tripping), 13:34.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-O’Reilly Wbs (tripping), 0:30; Deveaux Ct (roughing, misconduct), 8:26; Nightingale Ct (fighting), 8:26; Bortuzzo Wbs (fighting), 8:26; McDonald Wbs (cross-checking, misconduct), 8:26; Bell Ct (hooking), 18:24.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 11-4-12-27. W-B/Scranton 10-11-6-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 4; W-B/Scranton 1 / 4.
Goalies-Connecticut, Johnson 22-18-5 (27 shots-24 saves). W-B/Scranton, Munroe 19-9-3 (27 shots-27 saves).
A-7,901
Referees-Graham Skilliter (48).
Linesmen-Francis Trempe (56), Alex Stagnone (7).

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