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AHL Hershey Bears

Defensive Play, Opportunistic Offense has Hershey Rolling

May 23, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The lower-seeded Hershey Bears Hockey Club made good use of its Eastern Conference Finals home games, and takes a two-games-to-none lead to Canada for a tough week ahead.

The third round began on Friday at GIANT Center, with the Toronto Marlies and Bears both coming off of nail-biting game seven victories in their respective division final rounds. Top prospect William Nylander would open the scoring at 9:04 of the first period, collecting a feed from rookie Kasperi Kapanen and backhanding it home. It would end up being the only shot to get past Justin Peters in the contest. A smothering defense and furious forecheck allowed the Marlies only 19 other shots on goal, and the offense capitalized for three unanswered goals in a 3-1 Bears victory. Carter Camper netted the equalizer early in the second period, collecting a pass in the high slot and firing the puck past a screened Antoine Bibeau for his fifth goal of the playoffs. In the third, Liam O'Brien would snap a shot from the right circle past Bibeau for the go-ahead tally, and Zach Sill would add a power-play goal for the insurance. Defenseman Aaron Ness finished with two assists, while Camper added a helper for first-star honors.

Game two of the series was played on Saturday, in front of a crowd of nearly 9,000. The Marlies played desperate hockey to try to even the series, but in the end, the red-hot Camper would burn the visitors once again, scoring the overtime winner in a 3-2 decision. Forward Connor Brown gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 6:33, setting up in the low slot to one-time a pass from Josh Leivo into the net. Chandler Stephenson answered at 14:06, scoring his first goal of the playoffs on a fast move down the left wing followed by a snap shot behind goaltender Garret Sparks. Stephenson's shot was just the Bears' second of two total shots in the period, while Brown's goal was one of 15 for Toronto. Peters turned away 14 others, allowing his team to run with the momentum and take the lead in the second period. Jakub Vrana sent a pass from the left side into traffic, and the puck would pinball past Sparks at 7:55 for a power-play goal. But this time, the Marlies wouldn't let the Bears take a two-goal lead. Instead, Mark Arcobello lunged at a long pass from Leivo and redirected the puck off of Peters' arm and just over the goal line with 2:18 left in the period. Neither goaltender budged in the third, with Hershey outshooting Toronto 8-7 in the frame. The Bears carried their third-period pressure into overtime, and the line of Nathan Walker, Camper and Dustin Gazley would eventually end the contest. A Walker steal set up Gazley for a carry around the net, and a centering pass came right to Camper for the slap-in at 9:09 of overtime.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

BOURQUE MOVING UP: Forward Chris Bourque continues to climb the playoff stats ladder. Among all AHL players, Bourque ranks eighth in all-time playoff games played (114). After tallying two goals in game three of the division finals, he became the seventh player in AHL history to record 100 playoff points and now ranks seventh in playoff scoring (28-75-103), tied with former teammate Alexandre Giroux for sixth all-time. Bourque registered an assist in game two and trails Jason Krog (76) for second in all-time playoff assists (75). In Hershey, Bourque ranks second in all-time playoff assists (53), and passed Giroux for second in all-time points (19-53-72). He needs just one point to tie Hershey's leader, the legendary Mike Nykoluk (13-60-73, 1958-72).

CLUTCH CAMPER: Forward Carter Camper now holds the longest point streak of the postseason, the longest home goal streak, and is tied for the longest overall goal streak after a two-point, first-star effort in Saturday's game two. Camper has points in eight straight games (6-5-11), goals in five straight at GIANT Center and goals in three straight overall. In 31 career playoff games, Camper has recorded 31 points (15-16-31). He has matched his single-season playoff high in points (8-5-13, 2013 - Providence).

PETERS IN THE PIPES: Goaltender Justin Peters continues to shine in the postseason, leading the league in wins (nine), shutouts (two), minutes played (802:57) and saves (345). He ranks second in goals-against average (1.72) and third in save percentage (.938).

VRANA'S ON: Rookie Jakub Vrana continues to pad his playoff career highs, scoring a power-play goal in Saturday's game two to pull his total to 10 points (5-5-10) in 14 games. Among AHL rookies, he ranks third in points, tied for second in goals and tied for the lead in power-play goals (two).

THINK POSITIVE: Forward Dustin Gazley assisted on Saturday's overtime winner for a three-game point streak (1-2-3). Gazley also now leads the AHL in postseason plus-minus (+8).

PLAYOFF BULLETS: The Bears, who lead the AHL in scoring the game's first goal (eight), allowed the first goal in both games of the Conference Finals but won both...Hershey is 7-1 when scoring first... The Bears have been outshot in nine of their 14 games and are 6-3 in those nine, holding the most wins in the AHL when outshot...The Bears have been shorthanded 63 times in the playoffs, most in the league...Hershey (17.14) and Toronto (12.33) rank second and fifth respectively in penalty minutes per game...Toronto ranks second in the postseason in goals per game (3.42), while Hershey ranks second in goals against per game (2.29)...Hershey's five-game home winning streak is the longest in the postseason among all teams...Hershey, which owned the AHL's third-best offense in the regular season, has won seven of its nine games by scoring just two or three goals...Hershey's first game against Toronto was the 600th all-time playoff game for the franchise... The Bears are now 325-276 in their playoff history...Hershey won its second consecutive overtime game on Saturday, improving to 2-2 in 2016 and 62-53 in 115 franchise games.

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