AHL Hershey Bears

Hershey Weekly

Published on December 26, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The Hershey Bears Hockey Club took four out of six possible points last week, helping the team move into fourth place in the East Division and into ninth place in the Eastern Conference at the holiday break. The team began with a thrilling, come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday, a game which required an 11-round shootout to finalize. Evan Rankin stole the show for Syracuse, starting off a hat trick by scoring 31 seconds into the game. Nicolas Deschamps began his solid week by tying the game at the 5:16 mark. But Rankin added his second goal halfway through the opening period, and then completed the hat trick at 7:49 of the second. Crunch captain Mike Angelidis assisted on all three goals. But the Bears had the answer, getting a late second-period goal from David Kolomatis and the tying marker from Brandon Segal with 3:02 left to play in regulation. Ryan Stoa and Stanislav Galiev staked the Bears to a 2-0 lead in the shootout, but Rankin and Cedric Paquette would beat David Leggio in succession. Leggio and Syracuse netminder Kristers Gudlevskis would then deny their next seven opponents. John Mitchell provided the heroics for the Bears, scoring in the 11th round and getting help by a final save from Leggio on Dmitry Korobov.

Buoyed by a three-point effort from Freddie Hamilton, the Worcester Sharks came to town and defeated the Bears in a 3-2 decision on Saturday. But Deschamps was again the Bears' bright spot, setting up Julien Brouillette's power play goal and scoring his own at even strength.

In the Sunday rematch against the Sharks - behind a season-high 44 saves from Leggio, a two-goal performance from Mitchell and the third straight game with a goal from Deschamps - the Bears entered the holiday break with a 4-0 victory.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

DESCHAMPS IS AHL'S BEST: LW Nicolas Deschamps earned CCM/AHL Player of the Week honors, the first Bears player this season to be lauded. Deschamps scored a goal in all three Hershey games last week, adding two assists and a plus-four efficiency rating. Overall, he has a five-game point streak featuring 10 points (five goals, five assists) and a plus-eight rating. Deschamps ranks tied for second on the Bears in overall scoring (8-7-15).

SEGAL TOPS TEAM: RW Brandon Segal took over the Bears' scoring lead with his third-period assist on Sunday against Worcester. He shows 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 22 games played. His 12 helpers lead the team.

GETTING CROWDED UP HERE: Along with Deschamps, C Peter LeBlanc and D David Kolomatis pulled into second place on the Bears' scoring list. LeBlanc and Kolomatis both picked up helpers on Josh Brittain's game-winning goal on Sunday.

SCHILLING + STRACHAN = SUCCESS: D Cameron Schilling registered a team-high plus-three rating in Sunday's win over Worcester. His overall plus-nine rating is tied with D Tyson Strachan for tops on the Bears.

LEGG WORK: G David Leggio posted his first shutout in a Hershey sweater on Sunday. His season-high 44 saves topped the 42 he posted in regulation plus overtime on December 1 vs. Providence, helping his save percentage climb to .913 in 17 games played. Leggio now has a career AHL record of 95-70-5 in 173 games.

UP THE LADDER: The Bears scored 11 goals in their three games last week to move one spot up into seventh overall in AHL goals per game average (3.22). The Bears also climbed into fourth place in the East Division and into ninth place in the Eastern Conference with their Sunday win over Worcester.

DOWN A MAN: The second of LW John Mitchell's two goals came shorthanded in Sunday's win over Worcester, putting Mitchell on top of the Bears with two shorthanded goals on the season. Additionally, the Bears are now tied for first in the AHL in shorthanded goals scored at home (four), and tied for third in overall shorthanded goals scored (five).

UP NEXT: The Bears will visit the Binghamton Senators on Thursday night at 7:05 PM. The Syracuse Crunch return to GIANT Center on Friday night at 7:00 PM, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins round out the stretch of three games in three nights on Saturday at 7:00 PM.

Check out the Hershey Bears Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 26, 2013


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