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AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Piling Up Goals And Points

February 16, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The Hershey Bears Hockey Club picked up points in two of their three games last week, solidifying second place in the Atlantic Division with a weekend homestand on the way.

A wild offensive battle slipped away from the Bears on Wednesday against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but Hershey did earn a point in a 7-6 shootout setback. Scott Gomez led the way for the Bears with four assists, Jakub Vrana scored twice and added a helper, and Riley Barber had one goal and two assists. Bridgeport's Bracken Kearns scored twice for the Sound Tigers, while Andrew Rowe - the captain of Hershey's ECHL affiliate in South Carolina - scored the game-tying goal and the shootout winner.

Hershey then traveled to face the Providence Bruins on Friday. The Wednesday shootout loss earned the Bears a point in their 13th consecutive game, and the Bruins were lying at home in wait with a 14- game point streak of their own. Chandler Stephenson struck just 2:56 into the game, off of assists from Chris Bourque and Christian Djoos. But the Bruins claimed a 2-1 lead at the intermission on goals from Tommy Cross and Andrew Cherniwchan. The Bears played strong defense in the middle frame, but Seth Griffith scored on one of eight Providence shots and gave the hosts a 3-1 lead heading into the third. The Bruins' top-ranked power play was held at bay on their first two opportunities, but Ben Youds and Frank Vatrano capitalized on two more Hershey penalties in the third period to open up a 5-1 lead. Gomez buried a power play goal with two minutes left in regulation, producing a 5-2 final score.

On Saturday, the Bears played their season series finale against the Springfield Falcons, and for the third consecutive time in the series, the game required more than 60 minutes to complete. The Bears found themselves trailing 2-0 on first-period power play goals by Laurent Dauphin and Greg Carey, while goaltender Niklas Treutle stopped all 14 Hershey shots. The Bears had a late-period momentum swing, however, and that carried into the middle period - in which the Bears scored three straight to take a 3-2 lead. Barber, Travis Boyd and Bourque all scored in a span of 7:48. But Springfield's Philip Samuelsson would knot the score with 5:12 remaining in regulation, and a thrilling overtime period followed. Justin Peters was the star of overtime, making four good saves to force a shootout. He was perfect there as well, turning away Carey and Dustin Jeffrey. The Bears only needed two rounds for the win as Connor Carrick and Djoos would beat Treutle, sending Hershey to a 4-3 victory.

The Bears host the red-hot Bruins for a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

BOURQUE ON TOP: Chris Bourque enters this week on a seven-game point streak (2-11-13), one shy of his season high of eight games, reached two times. He maintains the overall AHL points lead (22-34-56), ranking second in assists and tied for third in goals. Bourque has now moved past Roger DeJordy and Mitch Lamoureux into seventh place in Hershey history with 449 career points (153 goals, 296 assists). Clicking over a point-per-game average in his Bears tenure, his 441 career games with the Bears ranks 21st all-time.

GREAT SCOTT: Veteran Scott Gomez had an incredible week, posting seven points (1-6-7) over the Bears' three games. He has points in four consecutive games (2-8-10), and has already moved into 10th on the Bears in scoring with 21 points (4-17-21) in 13 games played.

RILEY'S ROLLING: Winger Riley Barber produced two goals and three assists in the Bears' three-game week, extending his point streak to seven games (8-7-15). He has eight goals in his last seven games, and has moved into third on the Bears - and a tie for sixth among AHL rookies - in points (16- 20-36). He ranks third among AHL rookies in shots on goal (120).

BOY OH BOYD: Forward Travis Boyd saw a six-game point streak snapped on Friday, but he bounced back with a goal and an assist on Saturday and shows points in 18 of his last 22 contests. He is tied for fourth among AHL rookies and ranks second on the Bears in overall points (15-22-37). Also among AHL rookies, his six power-play goals rank tied for fourth, and his 15 power-play points rank fourth.

SHOOTOUT SPECIALISTS: Defenseman Connor Carrick picked up his third shootout goal and second shootout winner on Saturday at Springfield. Both lead all AHL defensemen and tie for second overall. Christian Djoos also scored in the shootout on Saturday, and ranks second among defensemen in shootout goals and in shootout percentage (66.7%).

BEARS BULLETS: Hershey's 13-game point streak that ended on Friday is the third-longest in the AHL this season...The Bears' 40 home points rank second in the AHL...The Bears lead the league in overtime games played (17) and shootouts played (10)...The Bears rank third in goals per game average (3.38)...Hershey has scored 66 goals in second periods this season, most in the AHL...Hershey leads the league with 101 goals scored at home...The Bears lead the Atlantic Division and rank third in the league with 176 goals scored...The Bears rank sixth in shots allowed per game (28.04)...Hershey picked up its league-best seventh win when trailing after the first period on Saturday...The Bears have scored a power play goal in five consecutive games, and have 10 total in that span...The Bears are 20-0-0-0 when allowing two or fewer goals...Hershey paces the AHL attendance chart, totaling 266,372 fans (average 9,513) through 28 home games.

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