Conner Shines as Bears Blast Senators
December 13, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
HERSHEY, Pa. - Chris Conner tallied four points on the night, while linemates Tim Kennedy and Chris Brown each registered a goal and two assists, as the Hershey Bears cruised past the Binghamton Senators by a 5-2 score on Saturday night at GIANT Center.
The Bears came out flying in the first period, scoring the game's first goal for the 19th time this season. It came after a review, as a Conner centering pass caromed behind Senators goaltender Andrew Hammond off of Brown's skate. The official ruled that it was not kicked, and the goal stood at 6:03. Kennedy earned his 22nd assist of the season, extending his assist streak to a league-best eight games.
Philippe Cornet bounced a loose puck behind Hammond in a goal-mouth scrum just 1:25 later, putting the Bears ahead by two and forcing the Senators to burn their timeout.
Binghamton got on the board in a penalty-filled second period when Derek Grant tipped a Shane Prince centering pass around the blocker of Bears goaltender Pheonix Copley at 7:51.
Just 31 seconds later, the Bears responded with a power play goal of their own. Stanislav Galiev took a pass from Conner, and with time and space in the middle slot, let a snap shot fly that beat Hammond over the glove.
At 9:58, Kennedy cleaned up a backhand pass from Connor Carrick with the teams skating four-on-four, giving the Bears a 4-1 lead.
Grant's second of the game brought Binghamton to within two, just 1:06 into the third. Finding a skating lane down the right wing, Grant flew toward the Hershey net and chipped a shot inside the left post.
Conner capped off his night with a tally into the empty net with just less than one minute remaining in the period.
Copley made 18 saves to improve to 5-3-0 on the season, while Hammond stopped 27 of 31 shots and fell to 6-9-2.
The Bears head back on the road to take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tomorrow, December 14, with face-off from Mohegan Sun Arena set for 4:05 PM. Fans may listen to the M&C Foreign Car Parts Pre- game Show beginning at 3:25 on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460 and via the iHeart Radio app for smartphones (1460 AM).
The Bears return home to face the Springfield Falcons on Saturday, December 20 at 7:00 PM. The third class of the Hershey Bears Hockey Club Hall of Fame will be inducted in a pre-game ceremony. The team will also wear special Hall of Fame Night jerseys to be auctioned off live following the game. Individual tickets for this and all remaining home games are available at the GIANT Center box office, online at TicketMaster.com or by calling 717-508-BEAR.
NOTES: The Bears scratched D Erik Burgdoerfer, D Mike Moore, C Kris Newbury, C Chandler Stephenson, LW Aaron Volpatti and D Patrick Wey...The Senators scratched C Ryan Dzingel, D Michael Sdao and F Garrett Thompson...The Bears finished the night 1-for-6 on the power play and 7-for-8 on the penalty kill... RW Stanislav Galiev extended his home goal-scoring streak to six games, matching the longest in the AHL this season...C Tim Kennedy extended his assist streak to eight games, also tied for the longest in the AHL this season...Three stars: 3-Kennedy, 2-Galiev, 1-Conner.
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