The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Hershey Bears didn't have much to play for in Sunday's season finale when it came to implications in the standings.
The Bears had already locked up the North Division title and the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL's regular season champions before the game. And with the AHL not having a postseason, the two points wouldn't have made any real difference on the Penguins' season.
The game ended up being more physical and feisty of any of the other nine matchups this season between the two in-state rivals. Though the Penguins came away from the battle with a 5-2 loss, the team still comes away feeling good about the finish to their season.
"I told the guys that I'm just really proud of them," head coach J.D. Forrest told me of what he said to the team after the game. "How they conducted themselves the whole season, and how they were competing every single day, whether it was practice or a game, we were just proud to be their coaching staff. It was a really good team to be a part of, to be around, and we just let them know that we were proud of what we were able to do this season."
There were 23 penalties called in the game, with four fights throughout the game. The first came at 4:28 in the first period, when Penguins defenseman Jon Lizotte dropped the gloves with Hershey's Kale Kessy:
The Bears took a two-goal lead into the first intermission with two power play goals, one from Connor McMichael and another from Matt Moulson (for one final time this season: yes, that Matt Moulson). It was a rare weak night for a usually strong Penguins penalty kill.
Hershey extended that lead with a goal 63 seconds into the middle frame. The game's second fight came at the 5:47 mark, when Kasper Bjorkqvist dropped the gloves for his first professional fight with Shane Gersich:
The Penguins got a power play out of the scrum, and some new some life after Bjorkqvist's bout, and got on the board with a power play goal from Drew O'Connor set up by Cam Lee and Nick Schilkey:
Just under a minute and a half later, Lee scored a goal of his own -- his second of the year -- to make it a one-goal game:
Later in the period Lee completed the Gordie Howe hat trick by dropping the gloves with Mason Morelli after Morelli interfered with Penguins goaltender Brett Brochu, making his professional debut.
It was Lee's second professional fight, with his first coming just the day before in Lehigh Valley.
"He's been defending really hard," Forrest said. "I think he just irritates people. Then they had a couple of bumps on our goalie there, and Cam wasn't too happy with it. I'm glad he went to Brochu's defense. (Lee) has played really well for us down the stretch, much more consistent and has learned a lot this season. His growth as a player and a teammate has been fun to watch."
Captain Josh Currie dropped the gloves with Kessy in the opening minutes of the third period, the fourth fight of the game and the second involving Kessy.
Forrest was asked about the feistiness of the game afterward, and he threw some shade in the Bears' direction in his answer.
"Hockey is a physical game," Forrest began. "You're going to get hit, and you're going to give hits. For whatever reason, I think (the Bears) feel like they're not allowed to be hit. Every little thing is complained about. That's just the way it goes, that's the way they conduct themselves. So that's fine, we just continue to play. It's part of the rivalry. It's always going to be competitive. But it is interesting to see that I guess some teams feel they should have a different set of rules."
Hershey extended its lead to two goals exactly 10 minutes into the third period, then put the game out of reach with their third power play goal of the game in the final three minutes, handing the Penguins their final loss of the year.
"It's a weird feeling," Forrest said of the season coming to a close. "It's such an abrupt stop to the season, and an abbreviated season at that. It feels like there should be more."
Wilkes-Barre finishes the season with a .500 record of 13-13-4-2, ranking fifth in the seven-team North Division. After a slower start to the season, they put together a good to end the year, including a 6-3-1 run in their final 10 games.
"We clawed back from that," Forrest said. "We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole there, but all along I thought we still had good efforts and some solid games there that we were talking about where we just didn't see results. ... It was nice to finish the way we did. ... We'll take that. Like I said, we're proud of our team and our players and how they responded toward the end of the year."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Brochu making his debut is the last feel-good story of the year. Usually, players out of juniors can't play in the AHL until they're 20 years old because of the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, though they are allowed to join AHL teams on a tryout basis following the conclusions of their junior seasons, and then return to their junior team the following season if they're still young enough to do so.
With the three Canadian junior leagues either having delayed starts or no season at all, those players were able to join AHL teams this season and play there until their junior seasons began. The OHL never had a season, so any OHL players were able to stay in the AHL all season. That was the case for 18-year-old undrafted goaltender Brochu, who joined the Penguins in training camp on an amateur tryout agreement. Brochu had a record of 32-6 (no, that's not a typo, it's really 32-6) with the London Knights last season, with a 2.40 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.
Brochu practiced with the team all season, but with the glut of goaltenders come through Wilkes-Barre -- Max Lagace, Alex D'Orio, Emil Larmi, Tommy Nappier and Shane Starrett -- there wasn't an opportunity for him to get any games in.
"He's been great," Forrest said of working with Brochu in practice throughout the year. "He'll stay out there and take 1,000 shots with the guys. Whether he's on the ice for three and a half hours or 30 minutes depending on the kind of day we have, he's just non-stop, enthusiastic, and he has that young energy. I know he's really grateful to be able to go out on the ice with us every day as opposed to being at home and not being able to get that experience. We've really liked having him around, I know the guys love having him around."
Brochu's opportunity finally came in the last game of the season, with Lagace, D'Orio, and Larmi all up in Pittsburgh, Starrett down in Wheeling, and Nappier backing up. He made 31 saves on 36 shots in the loss, which was his first game in 14 months.
"I thought he handled it really well," Forrest said of the challenge of stepping into this game. "He had some really nice saves. They had a couple there where we could have helped him out a bit better. But he hasn't played a game in a really long time, a lot of three-on-three with the coaching staff and other players. We're really proud of what Brochu did tonight and happy he could get a game in."
Since Brochu is only 18, he'll go back to the OHL for next season and return to his London Knights.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Video highlights
• AHL scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Giant Center:
1. Connor McMichael, Bears
2. Brett Leason, Bears
3. Eddie Wittchow, Bears
THE INJURIES
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren left the first preseason game after sliding into the boards and underwent successful shoulder surgery. He was out for the entire season.
• Defenseman Zach Trotman is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
• Forward Kyle Olson is week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
• Defenseman Kevin Czuczman left the game Sunday "for precautionary reasons" and is still being evaluated. Obviously the season is over, but Czuczman still has to be evaluated to be a potential Black Ace for Pittsburgh.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest’s lines and pairings:
Tim Schaller-Josh Currie-Anthony Angello
Drew O'Connor-Jonathan Gruden-Nick Schilkey
Kasper Bjorkqvist-Jordy Bellerive-Jan Drozg
Justin Almeida-Chase Berger-Felix Robert
P.O Joseph-Jon Lizotte
Cam Lee-Billy Sweezey
Kevin Czuczman-Will Reilly
And for Spencer Carbery's Bears:
Mason Morelli-Connor McMichael-Brett Leason
Joe Snively-Will Graber-Matt Moulson
Shane Gersich-Alexei Protas-Damien Riat
Kale Kessy-Eddie Wittchow
Alexander Alexeyev-Paul LaDue
Andrew Nielsen-Cameron Schilling
Rob O'Gara-Macoy Erkamps
THE SCHEDULE
It's over. Cleanout day is Monday. Some players will come up to Pittsburgh as Black Aces in the coming days, others will go home for the summer.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
