AHL Hershey Bears

Bears' First Power Play Goal of Season Defeats Penguins

Published on October 8, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Keith Aucoin scored the BEARS' first power play goal of the season, a goal which helped HERSHEY to a 3-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

The BEARS got on the board first when Christian Hanson pulled the puck out of traffic along the right half boards and pushed it toward the net. Kyle Greentree collected it while unchecked, then deked Penguins netminder Brad Thiessen down and tucked the puck inside the right post to give HERSHEY a 1-0 lead at 11:27 of the opening frame.

With the visitors on a power play, Brian Gibbons stole a cross-zone feed and raced down the ice while wrapped up by a Penguins defender. Gibbons planted a wrist shot past BEARS backstop Dany Sabourin at 15:27, pulling the Penguins even at 1-1.

But just 20 seconds later, a harmless shot from the right half-wall from Matt Ford deflected off of Thiessen's left shoulder and into the net, giving the BEARS the lead again.

Trailing 2-1 in the second, the Penguins earned their fifth power play of the contest and capitalized when Colin McDonald fed Niko Dimitrakos on a two-on-one break. Dimitrakos slid the puck behind Sabourin at 1:06, again tying the score.

With the Penguins' Philip Samuelsson in the box for slashing, the BEARS went to work on an early third-period power play. Ryan Potulny took a feed from Patrick McNeill, drew two penalty killers to him and sent a saucer pass to the left circle for Aucoin. The BEARS' center had several seconds to wait Thiessen out, and send a shot over his glove at 3:33.

The Penguins would get Thiessen to the bench for an extra attacker, and in the game's final half-minute, Sabourin would rob the Penguins' Eric Tangradi with a right pad save and preserve the victory.

Sabourin finished with 23 saves to earn his first victory of the season and help the BEARS improve to 2-0-0-0, while Thiessen turned aside 20 of 23 BEARS shots in the losing effort. Each team was 1-for-6 on the power play.

The BEARS will wrap up their road trip with a visit to the Norfolk Admirals on Friday, October 14 for a 7:30 PM faceoff prior to opening at home.

The BEARS will face off against the Admirals in the team's home opener at Giant Center on Saturday, October 15 at 7:00 PM. Individual tickets for this and all regular-season home games are on sale now by calling (717) 508-BEAR, or by visiting ticketmaster.com.

HERSHEY BEARS season ticket plans are also on sale now by calling (717) 508-BEAR, with many different flexible plans still available. Season ticket plans start as low as $160.

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American Hockey League Stories from October 8, 2011


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