Mathieu Perreault

Hershey Scores 5 Unanswered Goals. Win Game 3, 6-3!

Above: Chris Bourque skies in the air to keep the puck on his stick. Top: Bourque and Andrew Gordon celebrate the GWG. (Photos by Chris Knight, The Patriot-News)

After an absolutely dreadful start which saw the Bears take a 3-1 deficit into the first intermission, even the most optimistic of Bears fans would have thought that the chances of Hershey coming back in this series were slim. But Head Coach Mark French showed confidence in his players and made the necessary adjustments. He allowed Michal Neuvirth to return in net for the second period, despite witnessing last year’s playoff MVP flub a clearing attempt on a first-period powerplay. Neuvy’s whiff led to Texas’s second goal of the night, an unassisted short-handed goal by Francis Wathier. French then subtlety tinkered with his forward combinations promoting Chris Bourque to the top line and dropping the 2008-09 AHL MVP, Alexandre Giroux, to the second. It paid immediate dividends.

Hershey went on to score five unanswered goals, punctuated by two third period tallies by Andrew Gordon which included the eventual game-winning goal. The Hershey Bears win 6-3. The high-octane offense has returned!
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By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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Texas Takes Game 1 Of The Calder Cup Finals. Beat Bears 2-1.

Despite Michal Neuvirth making 24 saves tonight, the Bears fall to the Stars 2-1 in Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals.

Francois Bouchard and Mathieu Perreault do the Bears only celebrating of the night after Bouchard's second period tally. (Photo by Kyle M.)

The hockey gods must be playing a cruel trick on us. Why? Because for the first time in the postseason and the second time in 39 games this year, the Hershey Bears lost in front of their home fans at Giant Center. (And no, we weren’t there to curse them!)

Yet before you hit the panic button and start considering doomsday scenarios, we must acknowledge that this was the first time the Bears had played a game in 11 days. During that period, celebrities Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper died, May turned to June, BP ruined the entire Gulf of Mexico three times over, Team Russia was humbled in another International Tournament and Bret Michaels nearly died from a brain hemorrhage, recovered and then won Celebrity Apprentice. So rust obviously could have been a factor tonight. It’s hard to have your mojo going after that long of a layoff.

The first 30 minutes of tonight’s Calder Cup Finals exhibition played out much to that effect as both teams treated the first half of the game like a chess match. Both clubs tried desperately not make the game’s first, crucial mistake. However despite being outshot 12-2 after one period of play, the Bears were the ones to score the game’s first goal in the second period. The ever-darty and creative Mathieu Perreault found Francois Bouchard wide open in front of the Stars’ net and the Sherbrooke, Quebec native buried it past Texas Goaltender Matt Climie. Yet, Texas was unfazed. Tonight was the 11th straight game they had given up the game’s first goal and during that span they are 7-4.

5 minutes after Bouchard dented the twine, Stars’ center Greg Rallo responded by beating Michal Neuvirth glove side with a sick wrist shot from the top of the circles. Then in the third, Scott McCulloch backhanded home what turned out to be the eventual game winning goal on a semi-breakaway. As Bears’ Radio Announcer John Walton so eloquently put it, the Bears turned it on too little, too late tonight. Hershey falls 2-1. To the bullets!!

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By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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Hershey Advances To The AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals

Mathieu Perreault praises God after scoring the game winning goal in OT. (Photo by The Patriot-News)

Tonight, the Hershey Bears rallied to win 5-4 in OT and swept the Albany River Rats in their second round series four games to none. With the thrilling victory, the Bears now advance to the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals for the fourth time in five years! HERSHEY ~~RUSSIAN~~ MACHINE NEVER BREAKS!

Left Wing Chris Bourque accumulated a third of his 15 total points in the playoffs tonight, as he scored or assisted on every Bears goal. He finished the game with 2 goals, 3 assists and 5 points. Bourque scored at 8:23 in the first period and then again 59 seconds into the second frame. However, the River Rats answered each of Bourque’s talleys with two goals of their own, and entered the third with a commanding 4-2 lead.

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By 11 years ago

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Caps Get Elusive Win #50. Beat Thrashers 2-1.

April Fools? Matt Bradley scores the game winning goal. (Photos by Nick Wass)

After spending the last few days discussing if the Capitals are coasting to the playoffs or not, one thing was certain: Washington needed a win in a bad kind of way tonight. With three straight losses under it’s belt and a Capitals Blogosphere filling with doubt for the first time all year, somebody had to step up and yell “Пора взять быка за рога” (It’s time to take the bull by the horns) . And lucky for the Caps, ~~Alex Ovechkin~~ Matt Bradley was equal to the task. Caps THRASH Atlanta 2-1.

Me so punny:

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By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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The Curse! Sens Beat Caps 5-4 (OT)

Our view of tonight's disaster

Tonight the Capitals played one of their worst games all year. Miserable on offense and defense alike; at least they’re consistent. We had some bright spots from Alex Semin and Mathieu Perreault, but a systemic problem cannot have an exceptional solution. The Senators beat the Capitals with 18.9 seconds left in overtime– 5-4.

Unfortunately, attending tonight’s game precludes us from writing a full recap, so we’ll try to sate you with some tweeple giving us a hard time for being unlucky.

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By Peter Hassett 11 years ago

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First period choke. Flames beat Caps 5-3.

In my foosball house rules, this goal doesn’t count. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Two things tend to bug the Caps: early games and Canadian teams. Up against both in today’s match with the Calgary Flames, the Washington Capitals dug themselves a hole in the first period and failed to climb out. The Flames scored four goals in the first period –a dominating performance that the Caps have not seen in a long time. The home team woke up in the third period, but the distance was too great. In a rare regulation loss, the Caps lose to the Flames 5-3.

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By Peter Hassett 11 years ago

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Hershey Bears Continue Dominance With Weekend Sweep

Mathieu Perreault Scores on a Penalty Shot

The Hershey Bears concluded a brutal stretch of four games in five mornings/nights today, as they took on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 1:00 p.m. The game, originally scheduled for 3PM, was bumped up two hours early to accommodate the Gold Medal Game between the United States and Canada.

In his first start since returning from the Russian National Team in the Olympics (and eating McDonald’s everyday), Semyon Varlamov played splendidly against the Baby Pens stopping 30 shots and thwarting three consecutive opportunities in the shootout as the Bears prevailed 2-1. After falling behind 2-0 in the shootout, clutch goals by Keith Aucoin, Alex Giroux and the previous night’s hero (more on that later) Mathieu Perreault allowed Hershey to win the shootout 3-2. Kyle Wilson scored Hershey’s lone goal of the game during regulation, despite the Bears peppering Baby Pens goalie Brad Thiessen with 33 shots. The win was Hershey’s 46th on the season.

Bruce Boudreau and Bears President Doug Yingst take in the 9-2 Beatdown (Photo Kyle M.)

Bruce Boudreau and Bears President Doug Yingst take in the 9-2 Beatdown (All Photos by Kyle M.)

Saturday night with Bruce Boudreau in attendence for a pregame book signing, the Hershey Bears pushed their incredible AHL Record home winning streak to 21 with a resounding 9-2 victory over the New York Islanders farm team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Hershey jumped out to a 5-1 first period lead on the heels of a first period hat trick by everyone’s favorite miniature-sized-center Mathieu Perreault.

Perreault ended the night with an incredible four goals, including one on a penalty shot in the second period. Other crazy stats accumulated during the night? Prepare yourself:

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By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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Semyon Varlamov Finally Rehabs Again With The Hershey Bears

Semyon Varlamov Rehabs with the Hershey Bears

Hershey's Mathieu Perreault celebrates his Hat Trick Goal (Photo by: Sean Simmers, The Patriot-News) (Photo Above: RMNB Correspondent Kyle M)

First, it was his groin. Then after a rehab start on January 3rd with the Hershey Bears – a start in which Oskar Osala crashed into him while he was in net – it was his knee. And now after another long month on the shelf, Washington Capitals number one goaltender Semyon Varlamov is finally healthy again. Varly returned between the pipes today as the Hershey Bears took on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Giant Center.

Varlamov made 26 saves in a thrilling 5-4 Bears victory, but gave up three goals in the first period – two of which were softies and likely would have been stopped if he were at the top of his game. After the first period however, Varlamov settled in, much like the rest of his teammates. How bad was the first period though? The Bears got outshot 17-4.

Anyways, thanks to a hat track by Mathieu Perreault and a game winning goal by everyone’s-favorite-minor-league-defender Bryan Helmer, Hershey went on to win it’s 17th straight game at home, 5-4. At this point, the Bears have won 10 straight and 22 of 23 overall. That’s crazy.

When asked about Varlamov’s performance after today’s game, Bears Head Coach Mark French had this to say: “I thought [Varly] got better as the game wore on. I don’t know what the game plan is. As far as I know, his health throughout the game was fine.” (Quote via Tim Leone of the The Patriot-News)

So yes Caps fans, Semyon Varlamov is one step closer to returning to the Big Club and also another step closer to joining Team Russia as it’s Third Goalie on the Olympic Roster (THANKS A LOT LISA HILLARY). Varly had no setbacks in today’s gamel! Yes, everything seems to be right in the world once again. Special thanks to Kyle M. for the photos and the report.

Below the jump check out some more photos of Varlamov wearing his new mask!
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By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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Russian Machine Sometimes Breaks: Your Daily Caps Injury Update

I hope you’re sitting down, because I’ve got some bad news: The Caps have injuries!

Unibrowed wonder Semyon Varlamov is out with a groin injury, which could keep him out for a week or longer (WP). Groin injuries are particularly troublesome to goalies, and this one could be even worse for an acrobat like Varly. Russian Machine has sent Varlamov detailed illustrated instructions on how to appropriately ice a groin. In the meantime, Jose Theodore will start in net and should be backed up by Mike Neuvirth. Jose Theodore has shown renewed gusto this season, manifested in a lightning-fast glove hand and multiple 30+ save games. We love Neuvirth like we love all of our Calder Cup-winning Bears, but the sooner he’s back above the Mason-Dixon line the better.

Brian Pothier (+11 plus/minus rating so far this year) left halfway through the Sabres game on Wednesday with an injury to his ribs. Tarik El-Bashir quoted coach Boudreau: “It’s one of those injuries that I don’t know how long he’s going to be out for. It could be one week [or] it could be six weeks. Rib injuries are so difficult to figure out. But he’s a tough kid and I know he’ll battle through it, and as quick as he can, he’ll be back.” Brian’s injury may force the Caps to depend even more on an already over-leveraged Mike Green.

If you were honestly expecting an update on Boyd Gordon today, I don’t even know how to talk to you.

Mike Knuble is expected to return tonight after nearly a month out of commission with a broken finger. If you recall, Kanoobie tripped over Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding, narrowly avoiding a faceplant at the cost of his shooting hand. Before that, Mike had done a terrific job assimilating into the team and filling the void left by Sergei Federov last Spring. When Sasha (Ovechkin) & Sasha (Semin) were having trouble producing goals earlier this season, Knuble stepped up and brought some offensive oomph! to the Caps. It will be interesting to see if Bruce Boudreau will keep the current top line (Ovechkin-Backstrom-Semin) in tact in light of the veteran’s return. There may also be increased scrutiny on Alexander Semin to convert his flashy moves into actual points lest he be brought down to the dreaded second line, usually populated by Brooks Laich and assorted upstarts from Hershey.

Speaking of the Bears, Mathieu Perrault (6 points in 16 games) will be back tonight after missing a couple of games due to food poisoning. In context of Knuble’s broken pinky finger and Varlamov’s chafed loins, the Capitals officially have the lamest injuries in the NHL right now.

And that’s where we stand. Expect an invigorated and motivated Caps team tonight. Knuble and Perrault’s return could be a shot of energy to a team that can sometimes look sleepy. Plus, the boys now have competition at the top of the NHL: the San Jose Sharks (44 points). And the Caps should be sufficiently rested tonight since they haven’t really played pro hockey since Monday. Zing!

Faceoff is at 7:00 PM. If you want Nachos from Applebees after the first period, try to sync your carryout order for 7:40.

By Peter Hassett 11 years ago

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