Bears dig deep to win fourth straight
Published on December 29, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
With a depleted lineup going up against a hot Albany club, the BEARS dug deep to rally for a 4-2 win Friday night at Pepsi Arena. The win was HERSHEY'S 23rd of the season, giving the club an AHL best 53 points. Goaltender Daren Machesney won his first AHL game in his first start, making 27 saves.
The River Rats managed to score the only goal of the first period, and it came from a familiar face. Former BEARS winger Shane Willis scored his 11th goal of the season on a rebound from HERSHEY goaltender Daren Machesney. Assists were granted to Ryan Bayda and Jakub Petruzalek at 11:51 to give the Rats a 1-0 lead. Albany fired 11 shots at Machesney in the first period, while the BEARS countered with eight against Albany goaltender Justin Peters.
The BEARS and Rats would battle through the second period, with HERSHEY finally breaking onto the scoreboard before intermission. Kyle Wilson scored his fourth goal in three games by picking up the power play marker at 15:58. Joey Tenute and Chad Wiseman assisted on the goal. Machesney stopped Albany's Willis on a breakaway late in the period to keep the score tied at one heading to the third period.
Albany wasted almost no time in taking an early third period lead. Former BEARS defenseman Johnny Boychuk did an end-around the HERSHEY defense to score his sixth goal of the season just seven seconds into the period. The rally for the visitors would begin with Tenute's seventh goal of the season at 8:00 from Louis Robitaille and Dean Arsene. Tenute would strike again for what turned out to be the game-winning goal at 12:42 from Robitaille and Vandermeer. Alexandre Giroux would add his 23rd goal of the season into an empty net at 19:54. The win for the BEARS was the 17th straight over Albany, an unofficial American Hockey League record for most consecutive wins over a single opponent.
Notes: Defenseman Jeff Schultz, assigned to HERSHEY Thursday by Washington, missed the game due to illness. The Capitals recalled center Dave Steckel and defenseman Jamie Hunt Friday morning. Both players traveled directly from Albany to play for Washington Friday night at New Jersey. The game was the final road game of 2006 for HERSHEY. After home games Saturday and Sunday against Norfolk and Providence, the BEARS embark on a season-high five game road trip. The game was the fourth of eight meetings between the two clubs, with Albany traveling to central Pennsylvania next on January 14. Lawrence Nycholat scored his first NHL goal Friday in the first period for Washington at New Jersey. The goal was assisted by Alex Ovechkin and Dainius Zubrus. Nycholat later added an assist on a Brooks Laich goal in the second period.
American Hockey League Stories from December 29, 2006
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