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AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Cruise Past Comets, Claim Division Lead

February 28, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


HERSHEY, Pa. - Dan Ellis turned in a 32-save, first-star performance while five players hadmultiple-point games as the Hershey Bears cruised to a 5-1 win over the UticaComets in front of a crowd of 10,626 on Sunday evening at GIANT Center. With the win, the Bears moved into theAtlantic Division lead.

Comets backstop Richard Bachmanmade several big saves to keep the Bears off of the scoreboard in the first period,but couldn't stop Nathan Walker with 1:08 left in the frame. Collecting a pass from Scott Gomez,Walker skated out of the right corner and fired a shot short-side past Bachmanfor his 13th goal of the season.

Travis Boyd added to the leadjust 52 seconds into the second period, finishing a perfect long cross-ice passfrom Jakub Vrana for his 18th goal of the season.

Later, the Comets cashed in ona power play when Alexandre Grenier deflected a shot from Ronalds Keninsthrough Ellis' pads. The Cometsmade it a 2-1 game with that goal at 12:09.

But the Bears answered rightback using their speed. RileyBarber completed a slam-dunk play at the top of Bachman's crease for his 19thgoal of the season just 51 seconds later and the Bears led 3-1.

Chris Bourque then gave theBears a 4-1 lead with 20 seconds remaining in the second period. He collected a long cross-ice pass fromVrana, skated into the left circle and fired a snap shot into the top-leftcorner for his 24th goal of the season.

Zach Sill put a strangle-holdon the game, burying a goal on a shorthanded breakaway at 10:25 of the third.

Ellis improved to 20-7-4 withhis third consecutive win. Bachmanmade 29 saves on 34 shots and fell to 11-9-4. Hershey finished the night 0-for-3 on the power play and2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Hershey hits the road to beginthe new month with a 7:05 PM face-off against the Binghamton Senators onFriday, March 4. Fans may catchthe broadcast beginning at 6:25 PM on the Bears Radio Network of affiliatesWQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, WOYK-AM 1350, via the iHeartRadio App (Fox Sports1460 Harrisburg) and online at FoxSports1460.com. Fans may watch the game for a small fee at AHLLive.com.

The Bears return home to takeon the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday, March 5 at 7:00 PM. The first 5,000 fans will receive at-shirt courtesy of Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Individual tickets are available at theGIANT Center box office, by calling (717) 508-BEAR or online atTicketMaster.com.

NOTES: Hershey improved to3-0-0-0 against Utica in the season series and has outscored the Comets by a12-4 margin...The Bears posted a record of 8-2-0-1 in February...Chris Bourque'stwo-point game ensured his sixth career 60-point season in the AHL...Travis Boydpicked up his second game-winning goal of the week with his second-periodmarker, and became the third Bears player to exceed 40 points on the season...TheBears scratched C Carter Camper, LW Paul Carey, D Christian Djoos, D TylerLewington and C Chandler Stephenson...The Comets scratched C Wacey Hamilton, CBlair Jones, D Jon Landry and D David Shields.

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