Defensemen made difference for Bears

With an ice pack on the shoulder he’d injured in Game¤3 of the East Division finals, the veteran Hershey defenseman helped his teammates revel in their 5-4 overtime victory Tuesday over the Portland Pirates in the deciding game of their AHL Eastern Conference championship series.

“Nice win,� he said. “We stuck in there. We got down 2-0 early, but we kept fighting, and we managed to win in OT.�

Then, with an even bigger grin, he said, “You know what? We knew we were gonna win the hockey game.�

It was seven defensemen who made the difference Tuesday — Wotton, Mike Green, Lawrence Nycholat, Dean Arsene, Marty Wilde, Jakub Cutta and J.F. Fortin. Hershey coach Bruce Boudreau made the decision to dress seven defensemen and 11 forwards for the game, and in making that decision, essentially out-coached Portland’s Kevin Dineen.

Fortin, coming back from sports hernia surgery and playing for the first time in more than two months, saw action primarily on the power play, but his presence helped take some of the pressure off Green and Nycholat, the biggest minute-munchers among the defensemen on the power-play.

That meant fresher legs at the blue line, and since Hershey’s forwards were dishing out all sorts of punishment to Portland’s defensemen down low in the offensive zone, it meant the Pirates didn’t get the kind of puck movement they needed to spring Dustin Penner, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf for quick rushes.

Dineen’s decision to dress the “Anaheim Three� — who joined the team Monday after Anaheim, Portland’s NHL parent club, was eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs — meant he had to bench players. Dineen sat his checking line. Trevor Gillies didn’t dress. Nor did Garett Bembridge or Igor Pohanka.

Although there was no denying the skill of the “Anaheim Three,� there was also no question there wasn’t as much physical pressure on Hershey’s defensemen. Portland’s defensemen also drew six of the nine minors in the game, resulting in a lot of extra ice time for the rest of the Pirates’ defense.

“That was the difference,� said Green.

“When we went into Portland, they were all over us as defensemen, and it’s hard to get out of the zone. You get tired. Our forwards did unbelievable tonight.�

“I think their defense got tired,� said Hershey forward Graham Mink. “They were playing only five defensemen, and it was part of our game plan to make those guys earn every inch of ice, physically hit them and try to slow them down. I think it started to wear on them toward the end, especially killing penalties. It’s hard for any team to do, and it gave us the momentum.�

Portland’s “Anaheim Three� did score three of the four goals, but one was on a power play, and one was a short-handed breakaway setup by a coverage breakdown. They couldn’t get close to the net for rebounds.

Mink’s game-tying goal, with 2:09 left in regulation, came from the doorstep, and Eric Fehr’s game-winner came on a rush in which Portland’s tired blueliners just couldn’t get back to slow.

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