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AHL Hershey Bears

Hershey Weekly

December 8, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The Hershey Bears Hockey Club picked up five of six points on the weekend, thanks to thrilling wins over its in-state rivals.

On Friday, the Bears scored early to take a lead but had to score late to salvage a point in a 4-3 shootout setback against the Hartford Wolf Pack at XL Center. Nathan Walker buried his fourth of the season just 1:24 into the contest, beating Mackenzie Skapski from the slot. But Brady Skjei capitalized on a rebound just 2:46 later and Chad Nehring, who set up Skjei, would score four minutes after that to give the Pack a 2-1 lead after one. Connor Carrick tied the score in the middle frame, but Nick Tarnasky again restored the Wolf Pack lead before second intermission. A Wolf Pack delay of game penalty with one minute left in regulation gave the Bears a big chance, and with Justin Peters on the bench in favor of a sixth attacker, Skapski kicked a Carrick shot right to Chandler Stephenson who slammed the puck home with 43 seconds left in the game to force overtime. Both goalies came up big in the three-on-three and for the second time in the series, a shootout was necessary. Dustin Gazley scored for the Bears, but Brian Gibbons and Adam Tambellini also tallied to give the hosts the victory.

On Saturday, Lehigh Valley Phantoms goaltender Anthony Stolarz put on a 42-save clinic, keeping the Bears off the board while preserving a 1-0 lead on a first period goal by Nick Cousins. The Bears broke through when Gazley redirected a Paul Carey pass inside the right post at 10:23 of the third period, tying the score. With time winding down, Travis Boyd and Chris Bourque combined for a beautiful give-and-go that Bourque finished with 20.4 seconds left in regulation, sending the Bears to a 2-1 win. Dan Ellis stopped 14 of 15 shots in the victory.

Capping off the weekend, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins made their first visit of the season on Sunday and again were the opponent in the annual Teddy Bear Toss. Erik Burgdoerfer was the trigger man this season, beating Matt Murray 10:23 into the first period. The Bears dominated the league leaders in this game, getting the eventual game- winner from Carrick at 12:34 of the second period and empty-net goals from Walker and Bourque in a 4-1 victory. Peters stopped 22 of 23 shots in the game, allowing only an unfortunate deflection of a Tim Erixon point shot off of a teammate. The win was the Bears' sixth straight at home. With the five-point weekend, the Bears took over second place in the Atlantic Division and pulled .132 away in points percentage from the division-leading Penguins.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

BOURQUE CLIMBS BEARS LADDER: Chris Bourque added four points (2-2- 4) on a three-game weekend point streak, pushing his career total with the Chocolate and White to 412 points (139 goals, 273 assists). Sitting 10th all-

time in Bears scoring history, he is just nine points behind Frank Mario for ninth place. Bourque has posted the 412 points in 415 career games with the Bears, a total which ranks 24th in Hershey history - 20 games behind Mario and 24

behind the AHL's legendary all-time points leader Willie Marshall.

CONNOR'S ON: Defenseman Connor Carrick also posted four points (2-2-4) on the weekend, with three of those coming on Friday at Hartford (1-2-3). His other goal ended up as Sunday's game-winner against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, his second game-winner in his last eight contests. He is tied for first among AHL blueliners in game-winning goals (two) and is tied for 18th among defensemen in overall scoring (5-7-12).

STEPHENSON STRINGS ALONG: Chandler Stephenson assisted on the second Bears' empty-net tally on Sunday, becoming the third Bears player to record a four-point weekend. In the process, he extended his point streak to four games (1-4-5). He has seven points (1-6-7) in his last seven games.

SILL STEPS UP: Veteran center Zach Sill chipped in with three assists over the weekend and tied for a team-high plus-three rating in Sunday's win against his former team. Sill's next game will be the 300th of his American Hockey League career. He has 80 points (35 goals, 45 assists) in the AHL, and became the second Bears player to reach 300 AHL games over the weekend (Aaron Ness).

WALKING UP THE LEADERBOARD: Nathan Walker posted three points (2- 1-3) on the weekend, giving him six (3-3-6) in his last five games and bringing him one point shy of his rookie-year career best (5-6-11, 2013-14).

BURGDOERFER BURIES THE PENS: Defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer scored the Teddy Bear Toss tally in Sunday's win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and tied for the team lead with a plus-minus rating of plus-three. Three (2-1-3) of Burgdoerfer's four points have come against the Penguins in a span of three periods.

BEARS BULLETS: Hershey finished 13-for-13 on the penalty kill over the weekend, maintaining its top spot in the AHL in home penalty killing (94.1%)... 10 times this season, Hershey has scored a goal later than 4:00 left in regulation to either win or tie...Two goals this weekend came within the final 45 seconds...The Bears are 12-0-0-0 when allowing two or fewer goals...The Bears are the only team with a winning record at home trailing after two periods (2-1-0-1)...The Bears again pace the AHL attendance chart with 109,141 total fans through 12 games.

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