AHL Hershey Bears

Veterans Of Tight Games

Published on November 12, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hershey Bears News Release


The HERSHEY BEARS Hockey Club began the weekend with their second win in as many tries against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on the road on Friday, a 3-1 final. Braden Holtby posted 38 saves in the victory while the BEARS netted all three of their goals (Boyd Kane, Zach Hamill, Jeff Taffe) on the power play. The club returned home for their first two games against Atlantic Division opponents and came up just short both nights. The St. John's IceCaps, with former HERSHEY captain Dean Arsene in the lineup, managed a goal at the end of a four-minute power play to go on to a 2-1 win on Saturday night to spoil a solid 25-save effort from Dany Sabourin. Barry Almeida netted his second goal of the season for the Chocolate and White. The team rounded out the weekend on Veteran's Day with a tilt against former HERSHEY enforcer Joel Rechlicz and the Portland Pirates, and came up on the short end of a 3-1 final score. Tomas Kundratek struck on the power play for the BEARS early in the first period, but the Pirates scored once in each period to wipe out the deficit and skate to victory. Holtby posted his fifth consecutive game with 30 or more saves, making 31 in the tough setback.

The BEARS will play their second consecutive weekend of three games in three nights, beginning with a Friday night visit to upstate New York to battle the Syracuse Crunch. The team returns to GIANT Center to host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday and Syracuse on Sunday.

BEARS NEWS AND NOTES

CAPTAIN & TENURE: Captain Boyd Kane appeared in his 303rd game with HERSHEY on Sunday against Portland. On November 3, Kane became the 41st BEARS player with 300 or more games in Chocolatetown to his credit, and is now just six games behind Andre Gill and "Mr. HERSHEY BEARS Hockey" Frank Mathers on the BEARS' all-time games played list. Kane now has spent the same amount of games in a HERSHEY sweater as he did in his other longest-tenured stay with the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms.

DiSALVATORE ONE AWAY: RW Jon DiSalvatore posted an assist on Sunday against Portland. DiSalvatore needs one more point to reach 500 in his AHL career (208-291-499). The veteran winger is also just ten games away from 700 in the AHL.

TAFFE TALLYING: C Jeff Taffe picked up a power-play assist in Sunday's game against Portland, and has now strung together points in three consecutive games (1-3-4). His assist also vaulted him into the team lead in scoring (4-8-12).

"O" FROM THE "D": Two of the BEARS top three scorers are defensemen (2nd - Garrett Stafford 1-10-11, 3rd - Tomas Kundratek 3-6-9). The BEARS defense corps has contributed 30 points (7-23-30) through the first 12 games, with Kundratek pacing blueliners with three of the seven goals.

HARD-WORKING HOLTBY: G Braden Holtby has registered 30 or more saves in each of his past five starts. He is 3-2-0 in that span with a save percentage of .951 (174 saves, 183 shots) and a goals-against average of 1.78. Holtby's cumulative .940 save percentage ranks tied for fifth among AHL goaltenders, and his goals-against average of 2.15 ranks 12th among goaltenders who have played four or more games.

TIGHT GAMES: Eight of the BEARS' first 12 games have been decided by one goal, tied for the most in the AHL.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 12, 2012


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