AHL Hershey Bears

Atlantic Tightens Up

March 22, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The Hershey Bears Hockey Club picked up one of a possible four points on their weekend against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and look to reclaim the Atlantic Division lead heading into a set of three games in Week 25.

On Saturday, the Bears headed to Mohegan Sun Arena to wrap up a four- game string of road contests. Unlike the rivals' last matchup in Wilkes- Barre, the opening period featured much less offense - thanks in large part to goaltender Dan Ellis. The backstop made 13 saves in the opening 20 minutes, allowing only a five-on-three power play goal to Tom Kostopoulos. The Bears answered right back too, when Riley Barber jammed the rebound of a Travis Boyd shot behind Tristan Jarry. In the middle frame, Penguins defenseman Barry Goers took a wrist shot into traffic, and Dustin Jeffrey got a stick on it to deflect it past Ellis. The goal would be the eventual game-winner, as neither netminder would budge the rest of the way. With Ellis pulled in favor of a sixth attacker, the Penguins would tack on two empty-net goals and claim a 4-1 victory, snapping a four-game losing skid to the Bears.

In the Sunday rematch at GIANT Center, both teams were able to find their offense. A back-and-forth tilt, marred by 70 minutes in penalties, eventually went to the guests in a 6-5 overtime decision. A lacrosse-style goal by Kael Mouillierat opened the scoring for the Penguins 1:51 into the game after lengthy video review. Hershey then took the lead on goals by Madison Bowey and Sean Collins. Dustin Jeffrey tied the game in the second, and despite earning five power plays in the middle frame - including two separate two-man advantages - the Bears could only grab one goal. Jakub Vrana deflected a pass from Travis Boyd behind Jarry at 16:57, putting Hershey in front 3-2. With more power play time available to them, the Bears couldn't cash in again. Instead, Adam Krause scored a shorthanded goal to tie the contest heading into the third. Hershey came out flying and got two goals in a span of 32 seconds, one each from Ryan Stanton and Zach Sill. But the Penguins again made it a game when Jean-Sebastien Dea scored just 1:15 after Sill, cutting the deficit to 5-4. With 6:01 left in regulation, Kostopoulos knotted the score, grabbing the rebound of a double-post hit from Steve Oleksy and slipping it into the net. Will O'Neill ended the game when another goal-post rebound, this time off of a Kostopoulos shot, banked right to him for the put-back.

Hershey officially holds second place in the division heading into the final week of games in March.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

BOURQUE HOLDS THE LEAD: Forward Chris Bourque maintains the overall AHL scoring lead (26-42-68) after recording two assists on Sunday. He currently ranks second in assists, tied for third in goals, tied for second in power-play assists (19) and second in power-play points (27). In Hershey, Bourque has recorded 461 points (157 goals, 304 assists), ranking seventh in all-time points and assists and 13th in all-time goals. Clicking at over a point- per-game in his career, Bourque ranks 21st in Hershey games played (453).

Saturday night at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was Bourque's 700th professional game.

SILL THRILLING: Forward Zach Sill added another goal on Sunday, his fourth point in seven March games (3-1-4). Three of Sill's seven goals have come this month, which includes one game-winner.

CONSISTENT COLLINS: Forward Sean Collins picked up a goal on the weekend, pulling his point total to 37 (15-22-37) in 63 games. Collins is three assists, four points and four games shy of his AHL career-best totals in 2013- 14 (16-25-41, 67 GP), and is two goals shy of his 2014-15 single-season high.

TAKE A BOW: Defenseman Madison Bowey posted the best statistics of the game on Sunday, scoring a goal and adding an assist for second-star honors. Bowey leads all Hershey defensemen in scoring (4-19-23) and leads the team in plus-minus (+19).

ADVANTAGEOUS: Rookie Travis Boyd has pulled into a tie for fifth among AHL rookies in power-play points (7-11-18) with his assist on Sunday. He ranks fifth among rookies in power play goals and eighth in overall rookie scoring (18-27-45).

MAGIC NUMBER: The magic number for the Bears to clinch a playoff berth is down to 16 points entering week 25.

BEARS NEWS AND NOTES: The Bears recorded another five-goal game on Sunday, solidifying the third-best offense (3.42 goals/game) in the AHL... The team has the third-best offense despite taking the second-fewest shots per game (28.52)...The Bears' 123 goals scored at home rank second in the AHL...The Bears' 219 total goals rank third overall... Hershey moved into fourth in the AHL in shots allowed per game (27.95)...The Bears' 82 second- period goals rank second in the AHL...The Bears are tied for the second-most overtime games played (18) and are tied for the AHL lead in shootouts played (10)... The Bears are tied for the most out-of-division wins by a team (16 vs. North)...The Bears have a total attendance of 319,810 (average 9,691) to again pace the AHL.

Check out the Hershey Bears Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from March 22, 2016


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