AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Bears defeat Tigers

March 28, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


Hershey, PA - Alexandre Giroux set the Hershey Bears' record for goals in a season, with his 53rd and 54th tallies, to help the Bears cruise to a 7-2 win over the Sound Tigers. Keith Aucoin also had a big night for Hershey with five points, two of them coming as goals in the first period. Chris Bourque, Graham Mink and Andrew Gordon each had goals in the contest for Hershey to round out the scoring. Trevor Smith padded his team lead in goals with his 29th and Andrew MacDonald also had a tally, his eighth of the season. The Sound Tigers record drops to 44-22-3-5 leaving them with 96 points and second place in the East Division.

Aucoin opened the scoring for the Bears 7:24 into the first period with his 24th goal of the season. Tyler Sloan came in on a two-on-one with Aucoin, who was stationed in the left circle. The Hershey defenseman threaded a pass through the slot to the league's leading scorer where he one-timed the puck over the right pad of Lawson, giving Hershey the 1-0 lead. Alexandre Giroux also had an assist on the game's first tally. A minute later, Bourque upped the Bears' lead to 2-0 when he slammed his 20th goal of the season under Lawson while the Bears were on the power-play. Aucoin had the initial assist and Giroux picked up his second helper of the game on the goal. With less than two minutes remaining in the opening frame, Aucoin would snap his second goal of the period over the glove of Lawson, to give Hershey the commanding 3-0 lead. Graham Mink had the only assist on Aucoin's 25th marker of the year.

Four minutes into the second period, Mink would continue the Bears' onslaught with his 32nd goal of the season, coming on the power-play. Hershey starting goalie, Simeon Varlamov settled the puck behind his net for Sami Lepisto to collect and rip a pass, springing Mink at the far blue-line for a breakaway on Lawson. Mink snapped the puck past Lawson's blocker to give the Bears the 4-0 lead. The Sound Tigers would finally get on the board at the 5:17 mark of the middle frame when Smith jammed his team leading 29th tally of the season past Varlamov to cut Hershey's lead to 4-1. Andrew MacDonald fired a shot from the top of the right circle that the Bears' net-minder made the initial save on but the rebound fell behind him for Smith to slam into the open net. Junior Lessard also had an assist on the Sound Tigers' first tally of the game. Giroux would regain the four-goal lead for the Bears while shorthanded, 12:44 into the middle frame. Aucoin and Bryan Helmer had the assists on his league leading 53rd goal of the season. The Sound Tigers would counter four minutes later when MacDonald scored his eighth tally of the season while the Sound Tigers were on the man-advantage. Mike Iggulden and Chris Lee played catch along the blue-line before Lee slid to the left boards and fed a pass to MacDonald at the center-point where he blasted a slap-shot off the right post and in, to make it a 5-2 game. Giroux sitting at 53 goals, which tied him for the Bears' all-time mark, would surpass that number while his team was on the power-play, recording his 54th to set a new Hershey record for goals in a season with three minutes to play in the second. Aucoin and Bourque had the assists on the record setting goal giving, the Bears a 6-2 lead.

Peter Mannino would replace Lawson at the start of the third period but would not fair any better as Gordon would chip his 21st tally of the season over a sprawled out Mannino to give the Bears the 7-2 lead. Bourque and Kronwall had the assists on Gordon's goal, coming on the power-play.

Lawson finished the game with 11 saves on 17 shots while Mannino turned aside eight of the nine shots he faced in the third period. Varlamov finished the game with 38 saves to earn his 19th win of the season. The Sound Tigers finished the game 2-for-8 on the power-play and 3-for-7 on the penalty-kill.

The Sound Tigers will jump on their bus and travel east to Massachusetts for their Sunday evening game at the Paul E. Tsongas Arena against the Lowell Devils. Face-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Sound Tigers will take on the Albany River Rats in a make-up game from earlier in the month when the River Rats' bus flipped on its side, injuring many of the players. The Sound Tigers' final road game of the season is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. On Friday, April 3, the Bears will pay their final visit to Arena at Harbor Yard at 7 p.m. For tickets or information about playoff packages, contact the team's front office at (203) 334-GOAL or e-mail info@soundtigers.com.

Check out the Bridgeport Islanders Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central