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AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Perfect At Home In 2014

January 6, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The Hershey Bears Hockey Club posted its strongest weekend of the season, picking up five of a possible six points. The team was unable to score a goal on Friday on the road against the Adirondack Phantoms, yet still managed a standings point. Goaltender Riley Gill - in his Hershey debut - stopped all 31 shots he faced in regulation to match counterpart Cal Heeter's 29-save effort and send the game into overtime. Jason Akeson's power play goal was the lone blemish, and sent the Phantoms to a 1-0 overtime win.

The team returned home to face the Rochester Americans on Saturday after a long night of travel. After allowing the first goal to Joel Armia, the Bears rattled off five unanswered tallies - three on the power play and one shorthanded - en route to a 5-1 win. Brandon Segal picked up two of the power play goals and assisted on Cameron Schilling's first goal of the season, an even-strength marker. Casey Wellman added a power-play goal, and Matt Watkins sealed the win by hitting the empty net during a Rochester six-on-four situation late in the game.

Segal and the Bears did it again on Sunday, blasting the Manchester Monarchs by a 6-3 score. Segal scored at even strength, as well as set up the first Bears goal by Dustin Gazley and another man-advantage goal from Ryan Stoa. He also assisted on Nicolas Deschamps' second shorthanded goal of the season. Peter LeBlanc and Wellman added goals for the Bears, who put together their second straight 3-for-5 showing on the power play and their second night in a row with a shorthanded goal. David Leggio won both games in net this weekend, and now has wins in three consecutive starts.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

VERSATILE SEGAL: RW Brandon Segal put on an offensive clinic over the weekend, posting seven points (3-4-7) in his last two games to run his team-leading point total to 24 (7-17-24). He scored twice on the power play and added an assist in Saturday's win over Rochester, and then followed up with a four-point effort (one goal, three assists) on Sunday in a win vs. Manchester. Segal tied the Bears' season high for points in a game, last set by Dmitry Orlov in a win at St. John's on October 19. The native of Richmond, BC posted four power-play points (2-2-4), one shorthanded point (0-1-1) and two even-strength points (1-1-2) on the weekend.

SHORTHANDED? NO PROBLEM: C Matt Watkins scored an empty-net shorthanded goal on Saturday to cap off a win over Rochester, a tally which moved the Bears into the AHL lead for shorthanded goals scored on home ice (five). LW Nicolas Deschamps then followed that up by netting his second shorthanded goal of the season on a second-period breakaway - a goal which ended up as the game-winner. It was the first time this season that the Bears scored shorthanded goals in consecutive games, and now have an AHL-best six on home ice. The club ranks second in overall shorthanded goals (seven). Deschamps and John Mitchell lead the Bears with two shorthanded goals each and both are tied for third in the AHL.

PLAYING WELL AGAIN: RW Casey Wellman recorded two consecutive two-point games in wins over Rochester and Manchester, and moved into second place on the Bears in scoring (9-10-19). Three of his four points came on the power play.

NOT GILL-TY: G Riley Gill, MVP of the 2013 Kelly Cup Playoffs and backstop of the Reading Royals' championship team, made an outstanding debut in his first career complete AHL game on Friday at Adirondack. He stopped all 31 shots in regulation to earn the game's number two star.

LEGG WORK: G David Leggio picked up his third consecutive victory with a 32-save performance on Sunday night against Manchester. His save total has climbed to 643 on the season, tied for fourth among AHL goaltenders.

POTENT POWER PLAY: The Bears recorded two consecutive 3-for-5 power play performances on the weekend, both on home ice. After scoring two power play goals in their previous seven games, the Bears have six in their last two and now rank 16th at home (19/109=17.4%) and 19th overall (28/170=16.5%).

OUT OF THE GATE: The Bears have scored 35 first-period goals this season, tied for second in the AHL.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2014


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