The Hershey Bears are set to take on the Adirondack Phantoms Friday night in Philly at Citizens Park. The game is set to begin at 7:00 pm and will be broadcasted locally on the Comcast Network. The Bears and Phantoms have met once this year in Glens Falls, New York as Adirondack defeated Hershey 2-1 on October 29th.
The Hershey Bears enter this game following a 3-2 shootout victory over the Norfolk Admirals. Braden Holtby stopped all the shots in the overtime period and Keith Aucoin netted the game winning goal in the shootout at the top of the fifth round. Hershey has a record of (19-8-6), compiling 44 points giving them a tie for the division lead with the Norfolk Admirals who have played one more game than Hershey.
Adirondack comes into the Outdoor Classic at Citizens Bank Park following a 2-1 victory over the Albany Devils in the extra overtime period as Mike Testwuide banked in a rebound off an Erik Gustaffson shot. Adirondack enters this contest with a (17-14-2) record, and 36 points trailing the Connecticut Whale by four points for the division lead.
The Hershey Bears display a fantastic power play unit lead by All Star Captain, Boyd Kane and fellow all-stars Keith Accoin and Chris Bourque. Hershey’s power play is producing at 32% and their penalty kill is not bad either at 85.9%. The units are first and third in the American Hockey League respectively. Braden Holtby is the scheduled starter in goal for the contest with a (11-7-3) record with 2.57 goals against and a .902 save percentage.
The Adirondack Phantoms will have former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Michael Leighton in net who comes in to this game with a (11-10-0) record, a 2.44 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. Leighton is the only selection for the American Hockey League All Star Game this year in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Phantoms are led by 21 year old rookie, Jason Akeson who has 26 points from 9 goals and 15 assists on the campaign.
This game is expected to break the AHL record for highest attended game as a sellout is quite possible. With this being an outdoor game at night, dirty goals are expected as the ice is not the same as an indoor game. The puck often bounces are stretch passes are difficult to complete. This should be a low scoring game with good goaltending. I am predicting a 2-1 Hershey Bears victory over the Adirondack Phantoms on Friday Night at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
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