Ellis Stellar, Offense Lights Up as January Rolls On
Published on January 4, 2016 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
The Hershey Bears Hockey Club split its four-game week and begins a road-heavy schedule as January rolls on.
The Syracuse Crunch paid their second visit of the season to GIANT Center last Tuesday. Netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy brought a 5-0-0 record against the Bears to Chocolatetown in this game and frustrated the club again, turning aside 29 of 30 shots to stay perfect and help the visitors to a 3-1 win. Carter Camper scored a power-play goal for the only Hershey tally.
On New Year's Eve, the Bears hosted the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and again could only muster one goal as Jason LaBarbera turned away 27 of 28 shots in a 3-1 Phantoms victory. Christian Djoos broke up LaBarbera's shutout bid with his third goal of the season with 2:35 left in regulation. Justin Peters was equally good, making 32 saves on 34 shots and earning the game's third star.
2016 didn't have the feeling of a good start when the Binghamton Senators came to town on Saturday and jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Nathan Walker answered an opening shorthanded goal by Ryan Penny before Matt Puempel gave the Sens a 2-1 lead at the first intermission. Two goals separated by 38 seconds would end Peters' night and bring Dan Ellis on in relief. Ryan Dzingel would barely beat Ellis on a wraparound try, a goal that required video replay to confirm, and the Bears found themselves down 5-1. What followed was a comeback of epic proportions, which the crowd of 9,209 certainly didn't expect but definitely helped the Bears execute. Walker's second of the game was a hard snap shot that beat Chris Driedger over the glove. Travis Boyd scored from a similar spot on a similar shot to make it 5-3 with 24 seconds left in the middle period. In the third, Sean Collins blocked Driedger's view with a screen and tipped a Madison Bowey shot into the net, cutting the deficit to one with 7:53 left on the clock. After some difficulty the Bears would get Ellis moving to the bench for a sixth attacker with two minutes remaining. On the ensuing breakout, Walker hit Garrett Mitchell in stride and the captain ripped a shot past Driedger to tie the contest with 1:12 left to play. In overtime, Chris Bourque hunted down a Bowey pass, skated in and beat Driedger with a backhander to cap off a 6-5 victory. Ellis made 20 saves on 21 shots in the win, closing out the team's seven-game homestand in style.
Ellis and Bourque were again part of the story on Sunday at Bridgeport, as the netminder stopped all 32 shots he faced and the star forward netted two goals in a 5-0 win over the Sound Tigers. Mitchell scored late in the first period for the eventual game-winner; Bourque (power play) and Collins tallied in the middle frame; and Bourque and Dustin Gazley found the net behind Stephon Williams in the third to round out the scoring. Travis Boyd picked up two assists, while the defense pair of Connor Carrick and Tyler Lewington were a season-high plus-four on the night.
HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES
BOURQUE IN BEARS' TOP 10: Chris Bourque ripped off another three-game point streak on the weekend, scoring three goals and adding two assists. His team-leading point total (13-18-31) places him in a tie for fourth in overall AHL scoring. Bourque's career numbers in Hershey (144 goals, 280 assists) now rank tied for ninth all-time, as the winger has matched the 424 points produced by Frank Mario (1941-52). Clicking at a point-per-game average in his Bears tenure, his 424 career games with the Bears is a total which ranks 24th in Hershey history - 11 games behind Mario and 15 behind the AHL's legendary all-time points leader Willie Marshall.
100...AND 101...AND COUNTING: Pressed into action on Saturday, goaltender Dan Ellis backstopped the Bears to the come-from-behind victory over Binghamton. The win, his ninth of the season, was the 100th of his AHL career. Ellis followed that up with his 101st win - which was also the 15th shutout of his AHL tenure - on Sunday at Bridgeport.
MITCHELL ON THE MONEY: Captain Garrett Mitchell scored Saturday's game-tying goal, and followed that up with the game-winner on Sunday at Bridgeport. With an additional assist registered on Saturday, Mitchell (5-5-10, 20 GP) has bypassed his season point total from last year (4-4-8, 64 GP).
AUSSIE MEGA: Nathan Walker was named Saturday night's first star after a two-goal, one-assist effort against Binghamton. It was Walker's first two-goal game since November 14, 2013 at Charlotte. The Australian has already set career highs in goals (seven), assists (nine) and points (16) in 34 games.
BOY OH BOYD: Travis Boyd pulled into a tie for 15th among AHL rookies in scoring after his three-point weekend. He scored the second of the Bears' five- goal comeback against Binghamton on Saturday, and assisted on both of Chris Bourque's goals on Sunday. Boyd shows 19 points (6-13-19) on the campaign.
BEARS BULLETS: Hershey's 11 goals on the weekend helped the team move into ninth place in the AHL in goals per game average (2.97)...Hershey's 12 home wins rank tied for third in the AHL...The Bears' four overtime wins are tied for second in the league...The Bears have five come-from-behind wins when trailing after two periods, tied for most in the AHL...The Bears' four come-from-behind wins when trailing after two periods at home are tops in the AHL...The Bears' 5-0 win at Bridgeport gave the club a three-game sweep of its set of road games against the Sound Tigers...With 20 games played, Hershey is one of just two teams to have begun the second half of its home schedule...The Bears continue to pace the AHL in attendance, with 184,750 fans (average 9,238) through 20 games.
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- Sound Tigers Sign Cullity to PTO - Bridgeport Islanders
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- Ellis Stellar, Offense Lights Up as January Rolls On - Hershey Bears
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