
Game Preview: Bears Head to Belleville Looking for Third Straight Win
February 17, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release
(Belleville, ON)- The Hershey Bears go for a third straight victory tonight as they visit the Belleville Senators. Tonight is the Bears first ever visit to Belleville, and the final meeting between the two clubs this season. Hershey is 3-7-0-0 over the past 10 games, while the Senators are 3-6-1-0. Tonight's contest is the middle game of a three-game road trip to Canada. Hershey will finish the swing north of the border Monday in Toronto.
Hershey Bears (20-25-3-4) at Belleville Senators (21-28-1-3)
Saturday, February 17, 2018, 7 p.m.
Yardmen Arena
RADIO: WQIC-100.1 FM, Fox Sports 1460-AM
LISTEN LIVE: Fox Sports AM-1460 Stream
WATCH LIVE:Â AHLLive.com
LAST TIME OUT: The Bears won the club's first ever meeting with the Laval Rocket, 6-3, on Friday night at Place Bell. Travis Boyd had the best individual effort of his American Hockey League career, scoring four goals for the Chocolate and White. Liam O'Brien also added a pair of goals for Hershey, scoring two shorthanded markers in the win. Hershey's penalty kill was a perfect 4-for-4, while the Bears went 1-for-4 on the power play. Vitek Vanecek made 17 saves to earn the win for Hershey, while the Bears outshot the Rocket, 27-20. The Senators also played last night, earning a strong 3-1 victory on home ice over the league's best team, the Toronto Marlies. Danny Taylor was sharp in goal, stopping 25 shots, while Tyler Randell, Ben Sexton, and former Bear Jim O'Brien scored for Belleville.
LAST TIME VS. SENATORS: Tonight marks the second meeting between the Bears and Senators this season. The two clubs met in Hershey's home opener on Oct. 14, with the Senators spoiling the party with a 5-2 win. Chandler Stephenson opened the scoring for the Bears just 4:24 into the game, but two goals by Ethan Werek gave the Senators a lead. After a Chris Bourque goal in the second period, Belleville rattled off three straight goals to secure the win. Chris DiDomenico, traded to the Chicago Blackhawks this week, had a goal and an assist in the contest. Belleville outshot Hershey 35-19, and Parker Milner took the loss in goal for the Bears with 30 saves.
BOYD'S BIG NIGHT: Last night was one to remember for Hershey forward Travis Boyd. Boyd's second goal last night was the 50th of his AHL career, but the Hopkins, Minn. native wasn't done. The hat-trick was the second of Boyd's AHL career, and his first since Feb. 6, 2016 when he struck three times in Hershey's 5-1 win over Lehigh Valley. However, his fourth goal put him in rare company. He became the only player in the AHL to score four goals this season in a single game, and he is the first Bear to do it since Paul Carey collected four markers in a win over Hartford on Mar. 18, 2017. Boyd now is second on the club in goals (14), and only trails Chris Bourque in assists (26) and points (40).
LIAM LIFTS OFF: Hershey's Liam O'Brien posted his second two-goal performance of the season last night, scoring the Bears first and last goals in the victory at Place Bell. For O'Brien, the shorthanded goals were the first two markers while a man down in his AHL career. Additionally, the goals were O'Brien's 10th and 11th goals of the season, helping him set a new personal high. O'Brien surpassed his plateau of 10 goals, a mark accomplished last season in a personal best 30-point year. O'Brien has 17 points on the 2017-18 campaign, and the Nova Scotia native has accumulated three goals over his past three games.
BACK ON TRACK: Last night's win helped Hershey get moving in the right direction in several different ways. The win was Hershey's first road win of 2018, snapping a six-game skid that dated back to a 4-2 win at Springfield on Dec. 29. Additionally, the contest was Hershey's first regulation win in 14 games. Prior to last night, Hershey's last regulation win was a 3-0 shutout win over Charlotte at Giant Center on Jan. 7. The win was also Hershey's second win in ten tries on a Friday this season. The Bears are now 2-7-0-1 this season on Friday's, with all games coming on the road. Lastly, the win moved Hershey out of last place in the Atlantic Division as the Bears jumped ahead of Springfield.
BURGY THE FORMER BEAR: When the Belleville Senators take the ice tonight, they'll feature a familiar face. Former Bear Erik Burgdoerfer is in his first season anchoring the Belleville blue line. He spent two seasons with Hershey, appearing in 132 games and collecting seven goals and 20 assists. He also helped lead the charge as Hershey advanced to the 2016 Calder Cup Finals. Burgdoerfer, who also played for Troy Mann as a member of the ECHL's Bakersfield Condors, played with Rochester last season and made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 5, 2016. In 52 games with Belleville this season, Burgdoerfer has 13 points (five goals, eight assists).
BEARS-SENATORS FAST FACTS: Hershey's Riley Barber has been suspended for tonight's game after he received an instigation penalty in the last five minutes of last night's game. The penalty carried an automatic one-game suspension. Barber set a personal high for penalty minutes in a game last night with 17. He received a fighting major, instigating minor, and a game misconduct last night for an instigator in the last five minutes. It was his first professional fight...Belleville's roster features veteran and former Bear Jim O'Brien. He spent the 2014-15 season wearing the Chocolate and White, skating in 32 games with Hershey and scoring 29 points...Three members of the Bears hail from Ontario (Anthony Peluso, Tyler Graovac, and Tommy Hughes)...Two assists for Joe Whitney last night gives him five points over his last two games (one goal, four assists)...Hershey has only won three straight games once this season (Nov. 5-11).
American Hockey League Stories from February 17, 2018
- Condors Overcome by Tucson, 5-4 - Bakersfield Condors
- Heat Hold off San Jose for Weekend Sweep 2-1 - Stockton Heat
- Moose Fall Flat against Grand Rapids 5-0 - Manitoba Moose
- Wolves' Franchise-Record Home Win Streak Halted at 13 Games - Chicago Wolves
- San Antonio Defeats Chicago 2-1 in Defensive Battle - San Antonio Rampage
- Amerks Blanked by Devils in Overtime - Rochester Americans
- Penguins Fall to Comets in Overtime, 5-4 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Wolf Pack Rally to Tie, Fall in Shootout - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Phantoms Point Streak Stretched to Six Straight in Shootout - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Kearns Scores in OT for Devils' 1-0 Win over Amerks - Binghamton Devils
- Agostino's Quick Overtime Strike Breaks T-Birds Hearts - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Agostino Scores Six Seconds into OT to Give P-Bruins a 3-2 Win - Providence Bruins
- Comets Freeze Penguins in Overtime in Wild Affair - Utica Comets
- Copley Perfect as Bears Blank Senators, 3-0 - Hershey Bears
- Senators Shutout by Hershey - Belleville Senators
- Monsters Streak Past IceHogs, 5-2 - Cleveland Monsters
- Nedeljkovic Blanks Crunch to Extend Winning Streak - Charlotte Checkers
- Crunch Suffer 2-0 Shutout to Checkers - Syracuse Crunch
- Springfield Thunderbirds, MGM Springfield to Host 2019 AHL All-Star Classic - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Colorado Avalanche Reassign Forward A.J. Greer to San Antonio - San Antonio Rampage
- Springfield Thunderbirds to Host 2019 American Hockey League All-Star Classic - AHL
- Blue Jackets Assign Ryan Murray to Monsters for Purpose of Conditioning - Cleveland Monsters
- Hurricanes Recall Wallmark from Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- Canucks Reassign Reid Boucher to Comets - Utica Comets
- Iowa Wild Recalls Goaltender Steve Michalek from Rapid City Rush - Iowa Wild
- Hammond Returns to Colorado - Belleville Senators
- Heat Look to Build off Comeback Win - Stockton Heat
- Game Preview: Bears Head to Belleville Looking for Third Straight Win - Hershey Bears
- American Hockey League Announces Suspension - AHL
- Hogs Return to Action Seeking Bounce-Back Win against Monsters - Rockford IceHogs
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Gets Taylor, Zink and Schulze from Wheeling - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Flames Recall Morgan Klimchuk; Place Marek Hrivik on IR - Stockton Heat
- 'Canes Reassign Brown to Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- Wolf Pack Sign Goaltender Drew Fielding to PTO - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Game Day Build-Up: Senators vs. Bears, February 17 - Belleville Senators
- Road Trip Continues against Rocket - Toronto Marlies
- Furious Comeback Effort Leads Heat to 5-4 OT Win over San Jose - Stockton Heat
- Four Boyd Goals Lead Hershey to 6-3 Victory over Rocket - Laval Rocket
- Amerks Offense Explodes for 12-3 Win over First-Place Penguins - Rochester Americans
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