Can anyone stop the runaway train that is the Hershey Bears?
That would be no.
Another display of scoring depth and stingy defense had the Bears chalking up their eighth straight victory Sunday night in a 6-1 win over the Binghamton Senators at the Giant Center.
Hershey has now won a remarkable 20 of its last 21 games and has made the race in the American Hockey League's East Division laughable with a 19-point lead over second-place Albany.
"Depth is why they are the best," said Binghamton coach Don Nachbaur, who played for the Bears for five seasons in the '80s. "They lose one or two pieces and they have other guys that they plug right in."
Alex Giroux had two goals and two assists and linemate Keith Aucoin had a goal and two assists to lead the Hershey attack. They are the top two point-getters in the AHL.
Making things worse for the Baby Sens was Hershey goalie Michal Neuvirth, who was sent to the Bears from the Capitals because he needs to be off the NHL roster for a certain period of time in order to play in Hershey during the Olympic break.
Neuvirth, 8-4 in the NHL and coming off a 35-save effort in a 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers, stopped 32 Binghamton shots.
"Binghamton goes to the net very well and Neuvy fought his way through traffic and battled hard to see pucks," said Hershey coach Mark French. "He's such a good positional goalie."
Hershey limited the Senators to four shots in the first period and got a goal by Kyle Wilson on a sweet feed from Boyd Kane to give Hershey a 1-0 lead.
Early in the second period, Kane was credited with a goal that ricocheted off Binghamton defenseman Brian Lee's foot and past goalie Chris Nolt. Just 37 seconds later, Giroux one-timed a perfect pass from Aucoin to make it 3-0.
That goal illustrated one of Hershey's strengths this season, which is the transition from the Bears' defensive zone to the offensive zone. Hershey's defensemen swiftly get the puck to the forwards but the key is, the forwards get into open spaces to take the passes.
"I think we have smart players who understand where the gaps and seams might be," French said. "They say you have seven seconds off a turnover to execute a transition and I think we do a good job of taking advantage of that seven seconds."
Aucoin set up Giroux again early in the third period for a 4-0 Hershey lead before Erik Condra ruined Neuvirth's shutout by sending a deflection off the post and past the Hershey goalie.
"We gave up some soft goals," Nachbaur said. "We've been pressing to score. We scored one goal Friday night, one (Saturday) night, one (tonight). We're getting quality chances. But when you press, you leave your responsibilities and (tonight) we gave up too many odd-man rushes against a good hockey team."
The Bears have averaged seven goals per game over their last 5 games. One wonders whether they will come to the rink some night and figure winning is going to be automatic.
"I think we're coming to the rink confident that we're going to play well," Aucoin said. "We try not to talk about it and just go one game at a time and one period at a time. We've had a great stretch here and the thing is, we've kept level-headed the whole time."
Notes: Hershey is unbeaten in its last 16 games on home ice, tying a club mark set in 1987-88 (14-0-2). ... Aucoin recorded his 600th career point with a third-period assist, becoming the 47th player in AHL history to reach that mark. His mother, Diane, was at the game to see it. ... Aucoin and Giroux ran their point streaks to 16 games, best in the league this season so far.