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AHL Hershey Bears

Burakovsky, Bears Best Pirates in Overtime

March 20, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


PORTLAND, ME - Andre Burakovsky buried his first AHL goal 3:26 into overtime, helping the Hershey Bears claim a 3-2 victory over the Portland Pirates on Friday night at Cross Insurance Arena.

The Bears grabbed the first goal of the game, and it again came off of the stick of Tim Kennedy. The forward skated around the right circle after taking a pass from Mike Moore, and headed toward the net. He fired a snap shot that eluded Pirates goaltender Mike McKenna over the glove hand at 10:34 for his eighth goal of the season.

Hershey had another great chance to move ahead on their second consecutive power play chance, but the Pirates would be the team gaining momentum. Galiev tried to collect a cross-ice feed high in the Portland zone, but the puck bounced wildly off the sideboards behind him and was grabbed by Jordan Martinook. The forward took off on a two-on-one rush and slid a pass toward the slot after entering the Bears' zone. Alexandre Bolduc picked it up and lifted a shot over Philipp Grubauer at 15:09, tying the game.

Moore would factor into another go-ahead goal for the Bears at 8:12 of the second frame. The blueliner threw a shot on net from the left point, and Kris Newbury would get a stick on the puck at the last second, tipping it by McKenna for a 2-1 advantage.

Portland would again claw back, after Patrick McNeill began an in-zone cycle from the left point. Martinook collected a pass from McNeill and sent a feed to Bolduc in the left circle. Bolduc snapped a shot through traffic and over the glove of a screened Grubauer at 13:00, tying the contest.

The first three minutes of overtime were fairly uneventful, and before the session could shift to the three-on-three, Moore led Burakovsky into the Portland zone. The winger weaved across the high slot and fired a low shot from the top of the left circle that sailed past McKenna for the winner.

Grubauer finished with 25 saves and improved to 25-14-4 on the season. McKenna took the overtime loss and fell to 24-14-3 with 21 saves.

With the win, Hershey improved to 39-18-5-2 (85 points), opening up a six-point lead in the East Division and reducing the magic number to clinch a postseason berth to 13 points.

The Bears and Pirates face off once more tomorrow, March 21 at 7:00 PM. Fans may listen to the M&C Foreign Car Parts pre-game show beginning at 6:20 PM on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, WOYK-AM 1350 and via iHeart Radio (1460 AM).

Hershey returns home to host the Manchester Monarchs on Friday, March 27 at 7:00 PM. All fans in attendance will receive a complimentary ticket to the ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup practice on June 6 courtesy of Pocono Raceway. Individual tickets for this and all remaining home games are available at the GIANT Center box office, online at TicketMaster.com or by calling 717-508-BEAR.

NOTES: The Bears scratched LW Dane Byers, LW Philippe Cornet, D Tomas Kundratek, C Chandler Stephenson, LW Aaron Volpatti and D Patrick Wey...The Pirates scratched D James Melindy, C Greg Miller, D Evan Oberg and D Jordon Southorn...C Justin Hodgman was recalled to Arizona earlier in the day... The Bears finished the night 0-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill...Hershey scored its league-leading 41st first-goal, and is now 29-9-3-0 when scoring first...C Tim Kennedy extended his road point streak to five games (2-3-5) with his goal...The Bears improved to 16-12-2-1 on the road...Hershey improved to 4-4 in four-on-four overtime.

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