OVERTIME GOAL OVERSHADOWS COMEBACK

POST-GAME AUDIO: Todd Richards

HERSHEY, PA – Talk about your wild mood swings.

Chris Minard tipped home his second goal of the evening with 18 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, only to see Alexandre Giroux post his second of the night 20 seconds into the extra frame, giving the Hershey Bears a 3-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Game Four of the East Division Semifinals Wednesday night at the Giant Center.

The Penguins lead the best-of-seven series by a three games to one margin, with Game Five set for 7:00pm Friday night in Wilkes-Barre.

Much like Game One, also played in the Bears’ den, Game Four was a battle of the netminders.  Frederic Cassivi rebounded from a sub-par effort in Game Two to make 32 saves for the win, while John Curry turned aside 30 shots in his first professional postseason defeat.

“Both goaltenders played really well.  It was an exciting game, it really was,” said head coach Todd Richards.  “It was fast, it was physical.  They came out hard, much like we had anticipated.  And John made some great saves to keep the crowd out of it.”

Curry was nothing less than spectacular in the first period.  He snuffed a one-on-one chance by Andre Gordon nine minutes into the game, then made a sprawling save on Chris Bourque from close range with less than two minutes to go in the opening frame.

Cassivi’s biggest stop of the early going came 4:30 into the game when Connor James picked up a loose puck and scooted down the right side of the ice while shorthanded.  He made a hesitation move right in front of the Hershey backstopper, only to have Cassivi hold his ground and stuff the shot.

The game remained scoreless until the nine minute mark of the second.  Curry kicked away an Eric Fehr shot off a three-on-two rush, only to see Giroux pick up the puck and deposit it into a virtually empty net while the Pens goaltender attempted to recover from the initial save. 

Cassivi stopped Minard from point blank range with three minutes to go in the second, and the Pens failed to capitalize on a five-on-three power play towards the end of the second, allowing Hershey to take a 1-0 lead into the final 20 minutes.

That’s when things got interesting.

Bourque was whistled for hooking 3:32 into the third, allowing Minard to one-time a Tim Brent feed behind Cassivi 10 seconds into the infraction to tie the score.  The first Pens goal came on the team’s 29th shot of the evening.

Curry continued to dazzle, and his toe save on Steve Pinizzotto at 6:20 could feature on any highlight reel.

But a holding call on Brent with less than five minutes to play in regulation gave the Bears their fifth power, and Jonathan Paiment was able to squeak a shot off Curry’s left pad to give the Bears the late lead.

It looked like that would be the final outcome as time wound down.  But, with Curry pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Ben Lovejoy ripped a shot that Minard tipped down, picking up his fourth tally of the postseason to force overtime.

But a failed clear out of the defensive zone gave the Bears life, and Giroux was quick to pounce on a puck in the slot for his second goal of the evening.

“We played hard, battled for the full 60 minutes, scored a goal in the final 18 seconds to tie it.  Then we come out in [overtime] and we turn the puck over off of a dump,” lamented Richards.   “We have a defensive lapse, and you have Giroux with the puck on his stick in the slot.  He’s much like our Minard; you can’t give him that opportunity.  He had a few in the game and John made some great saves on him.  But you give a goal scorer opportunities, more and more opportunities, eventually they’re going to get one.”

Despite the defeat, the Penguins can still close out the first round series on Friday in front of the Wachovia Arena crowd.

“There’s a lot of good things we can take out of this game,” said Richards. “Obviously it stings a little right now and it’s disappointing, but we’re up three games to one and we’re going home for Game Five.”

NOTES:  Luca Caputi made his professional debut in the game, going scoreless and even…Tim Brent stretched his point scoring streak to four games with an assist on Minard’s first goal...Last year’s playoff series between the Penguins and Bears saw Hershey take the first three games, before dropping Game Four in overtime, the exact opposite of how the 2008 series has gone so far.