AHL Hershey Bears

Bears sweep season series with Portland, win 3-2

Published on March 10, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The BEARS scored early and then found the game-winner late Saturday night, as HERSHEY claimed a 3-2 road victory at Portland against the Pirates.

Despite nearly 11 minutes in penalties in the first period, the BEARS scored twice in the first twenty minutes. With Louis Robitaille out of the game with a five-minute major and a game misconduct at 2:45, Dave Steckel scored a short-handed marker for his 24th goal of the season. The goal was assisted by Alexandre Giroux at 4:00 to give the BEARS a 1-0 lead. Late in the frame, Giroux put a move on Portland's Greg Amadio and scored from short range at 19:08. The goal was Alexandre's 36th of the season, and it gave HERSHEY the 2-0 lead after one. The BEARS fired 13 shots at Portland's Sebastien Caron in the first 20 minutes, while Jeff Pietrasiak stopped all nine shots he faced.

The teams battled through the second period, with the Pirates scoring late to get on the scoreboard. Eric Weinrich blasted a right point shot that eluded Pietrasiak at 18:09 of the second to pull Portland within a goal Pietrasiak would face 11 shots in the second period, while Caron for Portland would face just six from HERSHEY skaters. The BEARS would score the game-winner midway through the third period when Kyle Wilson scored his 17th of the season at 11:35. Pietrasiak would hold on the rest of the way for his second win in a HERSHEY uniform, making 24 saves.

Notes: The start for Pietrasiak was his first since February 24 against Philadelphia, and his third with HERSHEY this season. Tim Wedderburn returned to the lineup after missing one game due to injury. Wedderburn replaced Donny Grover in the lineup. The game marked the first visit by the BEARS since May 24, 2006 when HERSHEY played the Pirates in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The BEARS will play the third game of the current four-game road trip Sunday afternoon in Bridgeport against the Sound Tigers. Face-off is at 3:00 p.m. The road trip concludes next Friday in Worcester against the Sharks. HERSHEY will return home next Saturday to face the Philadelphia Phantoms at 7:00 p.m. Tickets for the game are available at the GIANT Center box office, or by calling (717) 534-3911. The team will wear St. Patrick's Day jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game that night. The short-handed goal by Steckel in the first period was the first short-handed marker for HERSHEY since Quintin Laing scored a goal with Portland on the man advantage on February 7 against the Pirates at GIANT Center. The win was HERSHEY'S 21st road win of the season, establishing a new franchise record for road victories in a single campaign.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 10, 2007


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