Four More Points Vault Bears Into Top Eight
Published on January 20, 2014 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
The Hershey Bears Hockey Club grabbed four out of six points on the weekend, and jumped into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. The club first suffered a 3-2 loss on the road against the Syracuse Crunch on Friday. Chay Genoway scored to tie the game in the first period, but second-period goals from Vlad Namestnikov and former Hershey winger Jon DiSalvatore gave the Crunch enough of a cushion. Michael Latta scored a third-period marker but Syracuse was able to hold on for the win.
On Saturday, another strong effort from leading scorer Brandon Segal (two power play goals, one assist), a three-point effort from Jeff Taffe and a 29-save performance from Riley Gill led the Bears to a 5-3 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Ryan Stoa opened the scoring before Riley Wetmore and Pierre-Marc Bouchard pushed the visitors in front. Taffe and Segal then answered late in the second period, but Bridgeport's Mike Keenan scored with 9.3 seconds left in the period to make things interesting. Gill then stopped all 11 third-period shots, while Segal scored his power-play winner with 2:57 left to play. Cameron Schilling ensured the win with a late empty-net goal.
The Albany Devils came in on Sunday, and shook off an early Dustin Gazley goal by scoring three unanswered tallies to take a 3-1 lead that held up halfway through the third period. Ryan Potulny netted his first of the season to draw the Bears closer, and David Kolomatis provided the heroics by scoring the tying marker with 3:04 left in regulation. Casey Wellman, Potulny and Gazley scored in the shootout, while David Leggio stopped three of four Albany shooters to help complete the comeback.
HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES
SIZZLING SEGAL: RW Brandon Segal notched four more points on the weekend to move into a tie for 16th in overall AHL scoring. Segal has recorded 33 points (13-20-33) in 34 games, with 16 of them (9-7-16) coming in a seven-game streak from January 4-18.
TAFFE TALLYING: Hershey's 2012-13 most valuable player, C Jeff Taffe, is finding his stride once again. Taffe picked up five points (1-4-5) in the three games on the weekend, and extended his point streak to five games (2-6-8). The Hastings, MN native leads the Bears with six power play goals and ranks second on the team in scoring (9-17-26).
A LATTA EFFORT: C Michael Latta added an assist in Sunday's win over Albany on the late game-tying goal. Since returning from the Washington Capitals on January 11, Latta has produced points in all five games he has played (1-5-6) along with a plus-four rating.
KOLOMATIS HEROICS: After not appearing in the Bears' lineup in six of the past seven games, D David Kolomatis returned on Sunday and scored the game-tying goal with 3:04 remaining in the contest against Albany. Kolomatis leads all Bears defensemen in scoring (6-11-17).
NOT GILL-TY: G Riley Gill made his third appearance of the season for the Bears on Saturday, and made 29 saves in helping the team defeat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In three games, the MVP of the 2013 Kelly Cup playoffs has a 2-1-0 record, with a goals-against average of 1.66 and save percentage of .948.
STAR GAZING: On Sunday, RW Dustin Gazley netted his fourth goal of the season in his ninth game with the Bears. Gazley shows (4-1-5) since being summoned from the ECHL's Reading Royals. The Bears have won all four games in which Gazley scored.
LEGG WORK: G David Leggio won his fourth consecutive shootout when he stopped three of four Albany opponents in Sunday's 4-3 victory. Leggio ranks second in the AHL in saves (753) and is tied for second in shootout wins (four).
POTULNY HITS MILESTONE: C Ryan Potulny scored a power-play goal in Sunday's win over Albany. The goal was the 300th point of his AHL career. Potulny has 148 goals and 152 assists in 380 AHL games.
BEARS BULLETS:
- The Bears rank fifth in the AHL in goals per game average (3.21).
- The Bears rank third in goals scored in first periods this season (41).
- The Bears lead the AHL in shorthanded goals scored at home (six) and are tied for second overall (seven).
- The Bears remain perfect at GIANT Center in 2014 (5-0-0-0) and have won six straight overall on home ice.
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