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AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Defeat Penguins in Overtime, Advance to Eastern Conference Finals

May 16, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


HERSHEY,Pa. - Travis Boyd'sgoal with 9:03 left in overtime emptied the Hershey Bears' bench incelebration, as it stapled a 3-2 victory on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguinson Sunday night at GIANT Center and won the Atlantic Division Finals four gamesto three.

The Bears were looking for a fast startand they got it, when Erik Burgdoerfer sent a hard dump-in down the left wingboards. Penguins goaltender CaseyDeSmith came out to play the puck, but tipped it right to Dustin Gazley, whoworked a backhand shot into the net at 1:33 before DeSmith could recover.

But on the first Penguins power play ofthe game, the visitors tied the contest. Dustin Jeffrey one-timed a diagonal feed from Carter Rowney behindJustin Peters, but the puck didn't cross the line. Matthias Plachta crashed the traffic in front and stuffedthe puck in at 7:15.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton owned most of thepossession time in the second frame, outshooting Hershey 11-5 in theprocess. But on one of the finalHershey shots of the period, Carter Camper put on several stickhandling movesbefore beating DeSmith with a high backhander at 18:43, giving Hershey a 2-1lead.

The Penguins would not go away withouta fight, however, and got the equalizer at 3:53 of the third period. Daniel Sprong sent a shot from theright side off of the left post. The puck sat behind Peters but Madison Bowey was unable to extract hisstick from under Peters' pad, and Kael Mouillierat hurried the puck over thegoal line.

In overtime, the Bears began to takecontrol of the contest and were rewarded for their effort when Liam O'Brien collecteda pass from Bowey and went in on a puck-cycling shift in the right corner. Boydwould find a pass from behind the net, walk out of the left corner and send awrist shot into the upper-right corner of the net for the game-winner at 10:57.

Peters stopped 32 of 34 shots toimprove to 7-4 in the postseason. DeSmith ended with 21 saves on 24 shots and fell to 5-4. The Bears finished the night 0-for-2 onthe power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

With the win, the Bears will faceeither the Albany Devils or the Toronto Marlies, the two teams battling in theNorth Division Finals. Game sevenbetween the Devils and Marlies is set for Monday night at 7:30 PM inToronto. Information on theEastern Conference Finals will follow the conclusion of that game.

The first two games of the EasternConference Finals to be played at GIANT Center will be on Friday, May 20 andSaturday, May 21 at 7:00 PM. Tickets will go on sale upon determination of the opponent and followingthe final schedule announcement.

NOTES: Hershey won its ninth game sevenin franchise history, surpassing the Rochester Americans for most in AHLhistory...Hershey is now 9-8 all-time in game sevens...The Bears are 4-3 all-timein series against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton...Hershey went the distance in twoconsecutive series for the first time since 1997...Carter Camper's goal extendedhis point streak to six games (4-3-7)...The Bears won an overtime game for thefirst time in the postseason (1-2)...The Bears scratched LW Paul Carey, D ConnorHobbs, LW Dylan Margonari, LW Domenic Monardo, D Mike Moore, C ChandlerStephenson and D Colby Williams... The Penguins scratched D Niclas Andersen, LW TylerBiggs, LW Sahir Gill, C Adam Krause, G Sean Maguire, RW Pat McGrath, D Will O'Neill,D Harrison Ruopp and LW Dominik Uher.

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