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AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Look For Strong February Finish

February 24, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


Following a perfect three-day span last weekend, the Hershey Bears Hockey Club came up without a point in two recent contests against the Syracuse Crunch.

On Saturday night, third-string goaltender Allen York made 39 saves - including 20 in the second period alone - helping Syracuse win the game 5-0. It was the first home shutout suffered by the Chocolate and White since December 22, 2012, and was also the team's largest margin of defeat in the 2013-14 season. The Bears also saw their AHL-best 12- game home winning streak snapped.

The two teams took to the ice of the Bears' parent Washington Capitals on Sunday, in the second Washington AHL Showcase. A predominantly Bears-backing crowd watched as the Crunch, playing as the host team, killed off six of seven Hershey power plays en route to a 5-2 victory. Vlad Namestnikov finally beat a solid Philipp Grubauer late in the opening 20 minutes, as Grubauer stopped all 13 shots he faced in the first period before a rebound eluded him. Jeff Taffe netted his ninth power play goal of the season early in the second, chipping a rebound past Cedrick Desjardins to break the Crunch's weekend shutout streak against Hershey. Richard Panik would later score the go-ahead goal, the second of four points on his night. Mike Angelidis opened up a two-goal Syracuse lead before Nicolas Deschamps scored on a late second-period wraparound to cut the Bears' deficit to one goal. The Crunch, however, would tack on goals from Dana Tyrell and Jon DiSalvatore in the third to solidify the win.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

TAFFE TAKES OVER: Bears C Jeff Taffe took over the team's goal- scoring lead when he netted his 15th goal of the season in Sunday's loss in Washington, DC. The goal was also his ninth power play goal of the campaign, a statistic which also leads the Bears. Taffe's 35 points (15-20- 35) rank second on the squad. Of Taffe's 35 points, 22 (9-13-22) have come on the power play.

STOA STEPS UP: Bears C Ryan Stoa became the third Bears player to record 30 points this season, after recording an assist on Taffe's power play goal on Sunday. Stoa played in his 46th game of the season on Saturday, matching his total games played in Hershey in an injury- shortened 2012-13. He has recorded 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in this campaign, with his goal total one shy of last year (11-8-19).

NICE GOAL FOR NIC: LW Nicolas Deschamps netted his 12th goal of the season on Sunday, his first tally since completing a string of five points in three games on January 11 vs. Springfield. Deschamps is just two points away from matching the second-highest point total of his AHL career, when he recorded (7-23-30) in 40 games with the Toronto Marlies in 2011- 12. Deschamps' career best was (15-32-46) in all 80 games with the Syracuse Crunch in his rookie year of 2010-11.

KOLOMATIS PACES THE D: Bears' leading defenseman scorer David Kolomatis produced his fifth consecutive 20-point season in the AHL when he recorded an assist on February 15 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He added an assist in Sunday's setback against Syracuse, and shows 22 points (6-16-22) in 42 games. Kolomatis is two goals shy of his career best, reached three times with the Manchester Monarchs (2009-10, 2010- 11 and 2012-13).

BEARS BULLETS:

- Hershey plays its only Tuesday game of the season this week - and first mid-week game since December 26 - which happens to be the 12th and final meeting against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Bears have won their last five games against the Penguins and six of the last seven, and are 6-4-1 in the season series after starting 0-3-1.

- The Bears are 4-2-0-0 in non-weekend games in 2013-14.

- The Bears will wrap up their schedule against the Western Conference this weekend, hosting the Charlotte Checkers in a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday. The Bears outscored the Checkers 13-4 in their two-game sweep in the Queen City back on November 13 and 14. Hershey is 3-1-0-0 against the West.

- The Bears are 20-0-0-1 when scoring four or more goals.

- The Bears are 11-1-0-0 at GIANT Center in calendar year 2014, and are 16-6-1-0 overall in 2014.

- Hershey recorded its 29th win this season on February 16, exactly one month earlier than the 29th win of 2012-13.

Check out the Hershey Bears Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 24, 2014


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