Current Conditions
37°F - CLEAR
(213) (202) (164) (66) (60) (57) (45) (38) (35) (21) (13) (12) (6) (3) (2) (2) (2)
If Giroux hadn't had Keith Aucoin as his center, he might not have half that total.
Sunday night, it was Giroux's turn to set up Aucoin. Indirectly, anyway.
Standing to the side of the net in the third period, Aucoin corralled a bounce off the backboards and slid the puck past Manitoba goalie Corey Schneider for the eventual game-winner, as the Hershey Bears defeated the Moose 2-1 to take a three games to one lead in the Calder Cup finals in front of 10,739 at the Giant Center.
In the dying seconds of a Hershey 5-on-3 power play, Giroux took a shot from the right point that missed the goal. It came off the boards to Aucoin, who popped the puck past Schneider before he could adjust.
The Bears can capture an AHL-best 10th Calder Cup championship in Game 5 on Tuesday night back at the Giant Center.
Only three teams out of 32 who trailed 3-1 in a finals series came back to win the series, the last being the Providence Reds in 1949.
Sunday's game mirrored Saturday's in that it was taut throughout and testy much of the time. The Moose scored the game's first goal only to have the Bears tie it in the second.
Then Aucoin knocked in the go-ahead goal with 12:43 to play in regulation.
"It felt good," said Aucoin, an eight-year veteran. "It's probably one of the biggest goals in my career."
With Manitoba's Nolan Baumgartner in the penalty box after hooking Steve Pinizzotto, the Moose were whistled for too many men on the ice. That penalty gave Hershey a 5-on-3 power play for 1:05.
Manitoba had nearly killed Hershey's two-man advantage when Giroux took his shot from the point. Normally a fairly accurate shooter, Giroux was wide with the shot.
But the bounce was fortuitous.
"I think the puck hit the boards and came off (Manitoba defenseman Maxime) Fortunas' stick to my stick," Aucoin said.
Offense is a big part of Aucoin's game but he's usually doling out passes. He had a league-leading 71 assists during the regular season.
Sunday night, he worked for more scoring chances.
"Ray Bourque told me to shoot more," said Aucoin, who had dinner with the Hall of Fame defenseman (and teammate Chris Bourque's father) on Saturday night. "I thought I'd better do it so he didn't yell at me after the game."
As big as Aucoin's goal was the play of Hershey rookie goaltender Michal Neuvirth. Coming off a shutout win Saturday night, Neuvirth turned in another solid performance, making 30 saves for his 15th postseason win.
His play was best in the third period's last five minutes (the Moose had 13 of the game's final 14 shots), and particularly in the final seconds when Manitoba had a five skaters to three advantage, thanks to a Hershey penalty and the Moose having pulled their goalie.
Neuvirth made a save on Jason Krog's shot from the left wing and then slid over to stop Michael Grabner shooting from the right wing.
"That was probably the longest five minutes of my career," Neuvirth said. "My teammates did a great job blocking shots. That was a huge penalty-kill for us."
Neuvirth could not stop a shot from Raymond Sawada midway through the first period. Sawada, in the deep slot, one-timed a pass from Jason Jaffray that beat Neuvirth over his blocker.
The Bears, however, tied the game in the second. Andrew Gordon entered the Manitoba zone with some speed and sent a short, nifty pass to Kyle Wilson, who weaved his way around one defenseman and lifted a shot over Schneider's glove from close range.
Aucoin put Hershey ahead at 7:17 of the third but many anxious moments remained for the Bears. Hershey had trouble getting the puck out of its own zone in the face of ramped-up Manitoba pressure.
But Hershey, with Neuvirth the final line of defense, hung on.
Now, the Calder Cup is within Hershey's grasp. If the Bears can win Tuesday, it will prevent a return trip to Winnipeg and mark the first time the Bears have won the Calder Cup at home since 1980.
"We're going to give it every ounce of energy we've got to get it done," said Hershey coach Bob Woods. "I know we're going to see the best Manitoba team we've seen all series. But our guys want to win it here. They want to win it in front of the home crowd."
