Sports stats

AHL Hershey Bears

Rookies Keep Rolling

February 23, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The Hershey Bears Hockey Club picked up two of a possible four points on their light Week 20 schedule, maintaining second place in the Atlantic Division.

The Providence Bruins came to Chocolatetown to play a set of back-to- back games. The doubleheader began on Saturday, three nights after the Bruins saw their league-best 16-game point streak snapped at Hartford. The Bears scored once in each period and got a big effort in goal from Dan Ellis, and went on to a 3-2 victory. Sean Collins opened the scoring 12:22 into the game, beating netminder Jeremy Smith on a partial breakaway. Connor Carrick set up the play with his 14th helper of the

season. The Bears earned a power play early in the second period, and rookie Riley Barber connected on a setup from Scott Gomez and Chris Bourque at the 3:19 mark, giving Hershey a 2-0 lead. Providence then came out of the gate strong in the third period, scoring just 27 seconds in on a tally from Austin Czarnik. Nathan Walker would net the necessary insurance goal, heading down the slot and ripping a feed from Barber past Smith at 4:55. Providence would make a valiant attempt to come back, pulling Smith with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. The move paid off when Brandon DeFazio deflected a waist-high shot down and into the net at 19:03, but the Bears hung on from there for the win. Ellis stopped 24 shots for his 17th win, including 13 of 14 shots in the third

period. Hershey's penalty kill went 2-for-2 against the league's top power play as well.

The Sunday rematch featured more offense and a tight score through two periods before Providence netted three in the final frame, taking a 6-3 victory. Seth Griffith started off a big night by scoring a power play goal at 10:02 of the opening period. Hershey responded just under three minutes later on a Liam O'Brien goal. Travis Boyd gave the Bears the lead at 16:19, depositing a feed from Dustin Gazley in behind goaltender Zane McIntyre. But Griffith would strike again on a bad bounce, beating Justin Peters with 1:07 left in the opening period to tie the score. Hershey had what appeared to be the go-ahead goal on a second-period power play, but the officials overturned the goal, deeming the puck had been gloved by McIntyre. Providence would then cash in on the first of two on the night from Frank Vatrano. Ryan Stanton's sharp-angle shot 2:21 into the third knotted the score again, but Colton Hargrove capitalized on a turnover for the eventual winner. Vatrano added his second before Tommy Cross found the empty net with 1:17 left to play.

The Bears have their sights on moving up with a key head-to-head matchup with the division leaders tonight at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

HERSHEY BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

BOURQUE ON TOP: For the third time this season, Chris Bourque orchestrated an eight-game point streak (2-12-14), but it was snapped on Sunday. He maintains the overall AHL points lead (22-35-57), ranks second in assists and tied for fifth in goals. Bourque has moved past Roger DeJordy and Mitch Lamoureux into seventh place in Hershey history with 450 career points (153 goals, 297 assists). He ranks 14th in all-time team goal scoring and

seventh in all-time Hershey assists. Clicking over a point-per-game average in his Bears tenure, his 443 career games with the Bears ranks 21st all-time.

RILEY'S ROLLING: Winger Riley Barber produced a goal and two assists on the weekend, and now owns the team's longest point streak of the season (nine games, 9-9-18). Barber has moved into second place on the Bears - and a tie for fifth among AHL rookies - in points (17-22-39). He ranks second among AHL rookies in shots on goal (124) and is tied for fourth among rookies in power play points (5-10-15).

GREAT SCOTT: Veteran Scott Gomez saw a five-game point streak (2-9-11) snapped on Sunday. Gomez has already moved into 10th on the Bears in scoring with 22 points (4-18-21) in 15 games played.

MARV-ELLIS: Goaltender Dan Ellis turned aside 24 shots on Saturday to pick up his 17th win of the season. Ellis has just two regulation losses in calendar year 2016 and has two shutouts in a span of 12 games (9-2-1).

WINNING WITH WALKER: Forward Nathan Walker's third-period goal on Saturday was his first since February 7 at Binghamton, and it ended up as the game-winner - the first of his AHL career. He also became the 14th different Bears player to record a game-winning goal this season.

BEARS BULLETS: Troy Mann picked up his 75th regular-season victory as head coach on Saturday...The Bears lead the AHL in home points after Saturday night's win (42)...The Bears' 18 home wins rank tied for second-most in the AHL...The Bears lead the league in overtime games played (17) and shootouts played (10)...The Bears rank third in goals per game average (3.37)...Hershey has scored 67 goals in second periods this season, most in the AHL...Hershey leads the league with 107 goals scored at home...The Bears lead the Atlantic Division and rank third in the league with 182 goals scored...The Bears rank fifth in shots allowed per game (28.09)...Hershey is now 4-0-0-1 in games in which shots on goal are tied, following Saturday night's win... Hershey is 2-2-2-2 in non-weekend games...The Bears are 21-0- 0-0 when allowing two or fewer goals...The Bears are a league-best 7-5-1-3 (18 points) when trailing after one period...Hershey paces the AHL attendance chart, totaling 276,998 fans (average 9,552) through 28 home games.

Check out the Hershey Bears Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 23, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Hershey Bears Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central