The Hershey Bears are on the road again, this time taking a trip to Cleveland for a pair of games against the Monsters. The two games will conclude Hershey’s regular season series against Cleveland, with the Bears taking the previous two matchups at Giant Center. Hershey trades one North Division leader for another, as their win over Syracuse last weekend helped Cleveland reclaim the division crown.
Hershey enters play on Friday with an 11-point magic number to clinch the Atlantic Division. Locking that in would officially clinch a first-round bye for the Bears from the play-in round (unlikely as it already is that the Bears would play in that round). The next best team in the Atlantic, the Providence Bruins, have a magic number of 41 to clinch the division. Hershey has a lead of 16 points over Providence going into play, and every two points the Bears earn will reduce that number further. Outside of Providence, only the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (47) and the Hartford Wolf Pack (51) are still alive in the race for the Atlantic Division crown. In contrast, every team in the North Division race is still eligible to win that division.
As mentioned, Cleveland recently retook the North Division lead courtesy of Hershey’s win over Syracuse. Their lead is small, just two points, but the games this weekend represent another test against a team hungry for points. Cleveland recently played a set of games against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, splitting a win and a loss. The Monsters have been heavily impacted by recalls by their NHL affiliate in Columbus. Players such as Trey Fix-Wolansky, Brendan Gaunce, Jake Christiansen, Carson Meyer, and Mikael Pyyhtia are all up with the Blue Jackets as of writing. Those players account for the top four scorers on their team and five of six overall.
That’s not to say it’s going to be a cake walk for the Bears by any stretch. When the Monsters are succeeding, they’ve been able to limit opposition’s offense to just two goals and getting enough of their own to win. On the flip side, they’ve had plenty of games get away from them where they’ve allowed a lot of goals and never quite recovered. Both of Hershey’s earlier wins against Cleveland saw the Bears rack up five and six goals at home. In order to win, Hershey’s offense must be on par with the effort seen this past weekend.
Coincidentally, the trip concludes all of Hershey’s play against the North Division this season. The Bears play just one other opponent outside of their division, the Iowa Wild, the first weekend in April. Otherwise, the Bears will be much closer to home after this trip to Cleveland, and Hershey’s trip to Hartford next weekend will be the only other time the team leaves the state of Pennsylvania. The end of the season is truly upon us!
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