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AHL Hershey Bears

Bears Upend Crunch

January 29, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Dustin Gazley provided the game-winning goal in a four-on-four situation and Justin Peters turned in a 34-save, first-star performance as the Hershey Bears defeated the Syracuse Crunch by a 5-3 score on Friday night at the War Memorial Arena.

The Crunch would score on their first two shots of the game to open up a 2-0 lead. After Yanni Gourde made a poke-check behind the Hershey net, the puck popped out in front to an uncovered Tanner Richard, who backhanded a shot under Peters at 1:01.

On the first power play of the night, Richard would poke a pass from the slot to the bottom of the right circle, where Adam Erne lifted the puck into the net at 5:55.

The Bears earned their first chance on the man advantage and made it count as well. Paul Carey's pass from behind the net landed perfectly for Travis Boyd to one-time past Adam Wilcox short-side at 6:26.

Relentless forechecking by the Bears' checking line would end up giving the team the tying goal. Liam O'Brien rushed at Wilcox behind the Syracuse net and forced a turnover, which O'Brien turned into a backhand wraparound goal at 1:01 of the middle period.

Connor Carrick then made a nice play in the defensive zone to swipe the puck away from two Crunch players, and with the Crunch caught changing on defense, Garrett Mitchell collected Carrick's pass, skated in and ripped a shot into the upper-right corner at 5:08 for a 3-2 lead.

Hershey would get a chance to add the insurance on a power play, but Syracuse ended up tying the game on a shorthanded goal by Yanni Gourde at 8:48.

But the Bears grabbed the momentum right back with the teams skating four-on-four. Christian Djoos took aim from the center point and let a slap shot fly that hit Gazley and bounced in at 11:10 for a 4-3 advantage.

Syracuse was handed a power play chance in the waning minutes and got Wilcox off for a sixth attacker, but a Carrick poke-check allowed Sean Collins to pick up the puck and hit the empty net at 18:55 to round out the scoring.

Peters was called upon to make several key saves as the Crunch earned a six-on-three sitation in the final half-minute, and held tall for the victory. His 34 saves improved his record to 10-6-5, while Wilcox took the loss and fell to 5-5-1 with 21 stops. The Bears finished 1-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.

With the win, Hershey extends its point streak to nine games (5-0-2-1).

The Bears and Crunch will meet again tomorrow, January 30 at 7:00 PM at GIANT Center, in the final game before the AHL All-Star break. The first 4,000 fans through the gates will receive a Bears knit cap courtesy of PSECU. Tickets are available at the GIANT Center box office, by calling 717-508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2016


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