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AHL Hershey Bears

All-Stars Succeed in Syracuse; Barber's Hat Trick Caps off January

February 3, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The Hershey Bears Hockey Club posted six of a possible ten points in a busy finish to January.

The club played its snowstorm make-up game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Monday, and the in-state rivals made it a fun one. Mike Moore, Madison Bowey and Paul Carey scored in succession to give the hosts an apparent comfortable 3-1 lead in the middle frame. But the Phantoms wiped that out and went ahead 5-3 just 4:14 into the third. Hershey mounted another comeback, with Travis Boyd and Chris Bourque tying the contest and forcing overtime. With no scoring in the three-on- three, Phantoms forwards Taylor Leier and Nick Cousins answered Bourque's shootout tally and claimed a 6-5 victory in the game. Justin Peters stopped 26 shots for the Bears.

On Wednesday, Hershey took its only trip to New York's Capital District to face the Albany Devils. After winger Mike Sislo gave the hosts a 1-0 lead, Erik Burgdoerfer tied the game in the middle frame and Riley Barber put the Bears in front with a nice third-period effort. But with Devils backup goaltender Yann Danis on the bench in favor of a sixth attacker, Raman Hrabarenka would beat Dan Ellis with 76 seconds left in regulation, setting the stage for Reid Boucher's overtime goal and a 3-2 Albany comeback victory. Despite the back-to-back losses of a point, Hershey's unbeaten streak stretched to seven games.

The weekend wrapped up with a home-and-home set against the stubborn Syracuse Crunch. At the War Memorial Arena on Friday, Hershey exorcized the demons of the venue with a 5-3 win, the team's first since January 24, 2014. Boyd, Liam O'Brien and Garrett Mitchell answered two opening goals on two shots by Crunch forwards Adam Erne and Tanner Richard. After Crunch winger Yanni Gourde netted a shorthanded goal to tie the game, Dustin Gazley deflected a slapper by Christian Djoos behind Adam Wilcox, putting Hershey in control 4-3. Sean Collins eased the stress of late penalty-killing by scoring a shorthanded empty-net goal and sent the Bears to victory. Peters stopped 34 shots and was named the game's first star.

In the Saturday rematch, Hershey played a much more convincing game and dispatched the Crunch by a count of 5-1. Video replay would confirm a goal scored by Crunch forward Andrew Yogan, and Syracuse led 1-0 late in the first period. But Nathan Walker would tie the game before the intermission, and Carter Camper netted the eventual game-winner. Barber took over the show from there, netting three consecutive goals - one at even strength, one on the power play and the empty-net clincher - helping to move Hershey back into second place in the Atlantic Division.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR: Chris Bourque followed up an incredible January with a tie for the Atlantic Division All-Star Team scoring lead. Bourque tied Portland's Rob Schremp with four points (2-2-4), two days after finishing the month with 17 points (10-7-17). Bourque's 437 career points in Hershey (151 goals, 286 assists) rank ninth all-time. Clicking over a point-per-game average in his Bears tenure, his 435 career games with the Bears ties Frank Mario for 24th all-time.

CARRICK'S A PLUS: Hershey's other All-Star, defenseman Connor Carrick, posted one assist for the Atlantic Division last weekend in Syracuse. He leads the Bears' defensemen in scoring (9-13-22) and leads the team in plus-minus (+18).

BARBERSHOP QUARTET: Rookie Riley Barber became the first player this season to record a four-point game with his first-star effort in Saturday's win over Syracuse. Barber tallied the Bears' first hat trick since Casey Wellman's three-goal effort in Game Four of the 2015 Eastern Conference quarterfinal series vs. Worcester last May 1st , and the first regular-season hat trick since Wellman's trifecta on November 14, 2013 at Charlotte. Barber tallied four goals and three assists in the Bears' four-game week and now ranks fifth on the team in scoring, and tied for 16th among AHL rookies (11-14-25).

TRAVIS TOTALS 12: Rookie Travis Boyd contributed offense in all but two January games, recording 12 points (5-7-12) in 13 contests. He ranks third on the team in scoring and tied for sixth among AHL rookies (10-18-28).

WILLING TO HELP: Veteran center Scott Gomez enters the new month with points in five straight games. All of his points (1-8-9) have come on the streak.

BOW DOWN: Rookie defenseman Madison Bowey produced the most points among Hershey defensemen in January, contributing eight points (1-7-8) and adding a plus-10 rating. Bowey ranks second among Bears blueliners in points (3-14-17).

MARV-ELLIS: Goaltender Dan Ellis finished up his best month of the season, going 6-1-1 in eight January starts with two shutouts, a goals-against average of 2.06 and save percentage of .928.

BEARS BULLETS: The Bears are tied for the league lead in home games played (25) and have 35 points on home ice, tied for second in the AHL...Hershey has played the most overtime games (15) and most shootouts (eight) in the AHL...The Bears scored 17 goals last week and have climbed to their highest ranking of the season in goals per game (3.20, fourth)...The Bears rank sixth in shots allowed per game (28.43)...The Bears' current nine-game point streak is the second-longest active streak in the league...Hershey is 17-0- 0-0 when allowing two or fewer goals...The Bears lead the AHL in attendance with 235,894 fans (average 9.436) through 25 games.

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