NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Hershey Bears

Bears Pull Away Late, Defeat Comets

January 10, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


HERSHEY,Pa. - Sean Collins'shorthanded goal with 2:41 remaining in regulation ended up as the game-winner,capping off a two-goal, one-assist game for both him and Chris Bourque as theHershey Bears dismissed the Utica Comets by a 6-3 score on Sunday evening. A sellout crowd of 10,982 was on handat GIANT Center.

The Bears drew first blood in this gameon a nice play by Christian Djoos. The rookie blueliner knocked the puck away from a Comets forward andturned it into a perfect curl pass to Bourque. The winger then skated along the blue line and let a wristshot go that sailed past Comets goalie Joe Cannata at 3:22 for his 15thof the season.

But Utica would tie the game just overthree minutes later, when forward Mike Pereira fired a low shot from the rightcircle that eluded Dan Ellis at 6:30.

The Comets would take the lead at 11:17of the second, when Hunter Shinkaruk hustled to catch up to a puck kicked outby Ellis. Shinkaruk fired quicklyinto the upper-left corner for a 2-1 lead.

But that lead lasted just 23seconds. Bourque and Collins tookoff two-on-one, with Collins holding and beating Cannata with a snap shot overthe glove.

Moments after a four-on-four turnedinto a Hershey power play, Liam O'Brien would drop a shot pass to Djoos, whoripped the puck off of a defender and under Cannata's glove at 16:59 to tie thegame.

The tie game held for most of the thirdperiod, until Utica was handed a glorious power play opportunity with 3:28 leftin regulation. A misplayed puck byJordan Subban allowed Dustin Gazley to break out down the right wing. He found Collins cutting to the netwith a perfect pass, and the puck was tapped in for a shorthanded goal at 17:19and a 4-3 lead.

Bourque and Garrett Mitchell wouldtally empty-net goals to round out the scoring.

Ellis made 28 saves and improved to11-6-3. Cannata stopped 34 of 38shots and fell to 9-8-2. Each teamfinished 1-for-5 on the power play.

The Bears head to Allentown to take onthe Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday, January 15. Face-off from PPL Center is at 7:05. Fans may catch the broadcast beginningat 6:25 on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460 oronline at FoxSports1460.com. Fansmay also watch the game for a small fee at AHLLive.com.

Hershey then returns home to host theSpringfield Falcons for a pair of games, this Saturday, January 16 at 7:00 PMand Sunday, January 17 at 5:00 PM. Tickets are available at the GIANT Center box office, by calling717-508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.

NOTES: The game featured the first visit by a Utica franchise sinceMarch 29, 1993, when the Utica Devils were defeated 7-4 by the Bears at HersheyparkArena...The Bears scratched RW Riley Barber, D Mike Moore, C Chandler Stephensonand LW Jakub Vrana...The Comets scratched C Blair Jones, LW Ronalds Kenins, DJon Landry and D David Shields...With his three points, Chris Bourque enters thenew week tied for the AHL scoring lead (16-20-36) and has extended his pointstreak to six games (6-4-10)...Garrett Mitchell's empty-net goal extended hispoint streak to five games (4-3-7).

Check out the Hershey Bears Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central