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AHL Hershey Bears

Hershey Weekly

October 27, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The franchise-record five-game road start to the Hershey Bears' season finally wrapped up this weekend, with the team returning to the friendly confines of GIANT Center for a pair of contests on Saturday and Sunday. Hershey won both home tilts, and is back in the East Division lead heading into the AHL's fourth week of play.

The Bears played their first-ever regular season game at Allentown's PPL Center against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday. The club was six minutes away from taking a victory when the Phantoms exploded for three goals in a span of 1:53 to take a 4-2 win from Hershey. Kris Newbury scored his fourth goal of the season to open the scoring, but Darroll Powe would answer in the second period with the first of two goals on the night.

Casey Wellman's power play goal put Hershey in the lead shortly afterward, a lead that held until 5:59 was left to play in regulation. Taylor Leier deflected a shot past Philipp Grubauer to tie the game, and Powe's second goal came just 57 seconds later, a slam-dunk from an Andrew Gordon takeaway. Petr Straka put the contest on ice, scoring with 4:06 left to play.

The Bears were greeted by their fans for the first time on home ice on Saturday, and following an emotional pre-game ceremony to welcome back the team and coaches, Hershey jumped all over the visiting Wilkes- Barre/Scranton Penguins. Buoyed by three power play goals, a perfect penalty kill and a successful penalty shot, Hershey cruised to a 4-1 win over their rivals. Grubauer made 26 saves in a superb bounce-back effort, Tomas Kundratek set a season high with three assists, Wellman struck on the power play for the fourth straight game, and Dustin Gazley gave the Bears two successful penalty shot goals in their last two attempts against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltenders. Matt Murray took the loss for the Penguins, stopping 24 shots. Jayson Megna was the lone goal scorer for the visitors.

The Phantoms came to Hershey on Sunday, seeking a third win to add to their perfect weekend to date. But the Bears had something to say about that, as rookie Pheonix Copley turned aside all 22 shots he faced for his second consecutive shutout. Philippe Cornet tallied Hershey's first goal, Chandler Stephenson netted the Bears' first shorthanded goal of the season, and Gazley hit the empty net with time ticking down to seal the win. Newbury assisted on Gazley's goal, locking him into the top spot on the AHL scoring leaderboard.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

#11 IS #1: C Kris Newbury continues his reign over the AHL, as his four points over the weekend (1-3-4) give him a league-leading 11 points (4-7-11) through three weeks of play. Newbury also leads the league in power-play assists (five) and is tied for the lead in power-play points (0-5-5). He is one point away from becoming the 88th player in AHL history to reach the 500-point milestone.

RISE OF THE PHEONIX: Rookie G Pheonix Copley turned in a first-star performance on Sunday, stopping all 22 shots faced in a 3-0 win over Lehigh Valley, his second consecutive shutout. Copley, who blanked the Hartford Wolf Pack with 15 saves last Sunday, improves to 3-0-0 in his young pro career with a goals-against average of 0.67 and save percentage of .971. Copley has the third-best GAA and save percentage in the AHL, and his two shutouts rank second.

OH WELL, HE'S STILL ON TOP: RW Casey Wellman's good run came to a halt on Sunday as the forward was held scoreless for the first time in his last four games. However on that streak, Wellman put up the league's longest span of games to date with at least one goal scored. He also posted a power- play goal in those four consecutive games, and has the AHL lead in man- advantage tallies (four).

FURTHER-MOORE...: Veteran D Mike Moore picked up his first two assists in a Hershey sweater on Sunday, the only Bears player to post a multiple-point game in the win over Lehigh Valley.

KUNDRATEK'S BACK:

Already reaching the number of games he played in an injury-shortened season last year, D Tomas Kundratek has recorded six assists in his seven contests - a number which is tied for the AHL lead among defensemen.

BEARS BULLETS:

- The Bears are tied for the AHL lead with nine first-period goals scored.

- Hershey is ranked seventh in goals per game average (3.29) and fourth in goals against per game average (1.86).

- Hershey is ranked eighth in shots per game (32.86) and fourth in shots against per game (23.29).

- The Bears are tied for the AHL lead with five power play goals scored on the road, and tied for second with eight power-play goals scored overall.

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