AHL Hershey Bears

Bourque Keeps Rolling as Bears Net Five-Point Weekend

Published on January 19, 2016 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The Hershey Bears Hockey Club posted five of a possible six points on the weekend, and maintained third place in the Atlantic Division.

The string of three games in three nights began on Friday in Allentown as the Bears looked to snap a three-game skid against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. After a scoreless first period, Chris Bourque and Tyler Lewington staked the Bears to a quick 2-0 second-period lead. But in a matter of 2:51, the game would be tied on goals from Nick Cousins and Chris Conner. Liam O'Brien would restore the Bears' one-goal lead, and the Bears had a 3-2 advantage at the intermission. Lehigh Valley would then rip off 27 third-period shots, and allowed the Bears just one. However, the one would count. Dustin Gazley made it a 4-2 game, one- timing a Chris Brown feed past Jason LaBarbera. Colin McDonald would finally solve the brick-wall goaltending of Justin Peters with three minutes left to play, but the Bears hung on for a 4-3 victory. Peters' 42 saves was a season high for Hershey, and his 26 third-period saves is the AHL high for stops in one period.

The Bears then hosted the Springfield Falcons for a pair of games. On Saturday, Riley Barber factored into all of the regulation-time offense, scoring twice and setting up the tying goal by Bourque as the Bears and Falcons went to overtime tied 3-3. Dan Ellis and Springfield goaltender Marek Langhamer each made big saves in an entertaining overtime, but a shootout would be required. Connor Carrick and Christian Djoos netted goals in the fourth and fifth rounds, while Dustin Jeffrey was the only player to beat Ellis on five chances, and the Bears took another 4-3 decision.

In the Sunday rematch, Hershey again had to play come-from-behind. Falcons forward Greg Carey and defenseman Alex Grant would score to cancel Dustin Gazley's opening goal, and Springfield held a 2-1 lead into the third period. Travis Boyd would be the hero this time, backhanding a rebound out of mid-air past goaltender Niklas Treutle to tie the contest and force another overtime. This time, Springfield would end the game just 41 seconds into the three-on-three when Jeffrey jammed a loose puck over the goal line behind Peters, completing a two-point effort.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

BOURQUE CLIMBS TO TOP: Chris Bourque saw his overall eight-game point streak snapped on Sunday, but still scored in back-to-back games on the weekend to maintain his overall AHL points lead with 38 (18-20-38) in 38 games. He still has a road point streak alive that is the longest active in the AHL (eight games, 5-4-9) and he has produced points in 16 of his last 18 games (12-11-23). Bourque's 431 career points in Hershey (149 goals, 282 assists) now rank ninth all-time. Clicking over a point-per-game average in his Bears tenure, his 430 career games with the Bears is a total which ranks 24th in Hershey history - five games behind Frank Mario and nine behind the AHL's legendary all-time points leader Willie Marshall.

FLYING RILEY: Riley Barber posted his first career three-point game and second multiple-goal game on Saturday night against Springfield to earn first- star honors. He ranks second among Bears rookies in scoring (7-11-18).

BOYD BOUNCING ALONG: Bears leading rookie scorer Travis Boyd posted points in all three games on the weekend (1-2-3), assisting on one goal in both Friday and Saturday's games and scoring the game-tying goal on Sunday. Boyd has points in seven of eight December games (2-6-8) and has points in nine of his last 11 games (3-7-10). He ranks 13th among all AHL rookies in points (7-17-24).

LOTS OF DJOOS ON THAT ONE: Christian Djoos became the second Bears defenseman and third in the AHL to record a shootout-winning goal with his tally on Saturday night against Springfield, joining Connor Carrick. It was the first shootout opportunity in his AHL career.

NOT REALLY A ROOKIE: Two-time Stanley Cup champion Scott Gomez made his Bears debut on Saturday night, the first American Hockey League game for the 16-year pro after 1,066 regular-season NHL contests.

BEARS BULLETS: Hershey's 14 home wins are tied for second-most in the AHL...After going 1-4-1-1 in games allowing three goals, the Bears have won three such games in a row...Hershey has won two consecutive shootouts after going 0-5 in its first five...The Bears have played the most shootouts in the AHL (seven)...Hershey has scored four or more goals in six of its past eight games to rank seventh in goals per game (3.07)...The Bears are 6-11-1-3 when trailing after two periods, producing the most points when doing so (16)...The Bears are the only team in the AHL with a .500 record when trailing after two periods at home (5-5-1-1), and have the most wins when doing so...The Bears are the first team in the AHL to go over 200,000 fans this season (215,880), and lead the league with an average of 9,386 fans through 23 home games.




American Hockey League Stories from January 19, 2016


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