BEARS GO FOR 14TH STRAIGHT HOME WIN TONIGHT

January 23, 2010

Winners of 13 straight home games, the BEARS conclude a two-game series Saturday with the Manitoba Moose at Giant Center. Face-off is set for 7:00 p.m. Eight different goal scorers found the back of the net Friday as HERSHEY walloped the Manitoba Moose 8-3 at Giant Center. Jay Beagle finished the scoring with a short-handed goal in the third period, as goaltender Braden Holtby won his 14th game of the season against just two regulation defeats. The eight goals on Friday gave HERSHEY a total of 29 goals scored in the last four games. The win also extended the team’s franchise record for consecutive wins at home to 13 games in a row. Longtime NHL defenseman Mathieu Schneider was assigned to Manitoba on January 8 and has played extensive minutes for the Moose every game since. Former BEARS blueliner Lawrence Nycholate also skates for Manitoba this season, as well as former HERSHEY goaltender Daren Machesney. Manitoba is ten points behind first place Hamilton in the North Division standings after Friday’s loss in Hershey. It’s a busy night in the AHL, with 13 other games on the schedule Saturday. Texas plays the second of a two-game series Saturday in Cleveland against the Lake Erie Monsters at Quicken Loans Arena, Houston skates at Abbotsford, Albany heads up I-87 to face Adirondack at the Glens Falls Civic Center, and Norfolk visits Manchester as part of a New England road trip. Elsewhere, it’s Lowell at Portland, Hamilton skates at Toronto, Bridgeport visits Binghamton, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton travels to Rochester to face the Americans at Blue Cross Arena, and Hartford heads north to face Springfield at Mass Mutual Center. The remainder of the schedule has Worcester in Syracuse on Saturday night, Milwaukee is on the road at San Antonio to play the Rampage, Grand Rapids is at Rockford, and Chicago is downstate to play Peoria at Carver Arena. Saturday’s game can be heard via the BEARS Radio Network (100.1 FM and www.Sportsjuice.com) beginning at 6:40 p.m. John Walton, Ed Coffey and Jim Jones have the call of the action from Giant Center.