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).
American Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2016
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