BEARS WRAP UP JANUARY SUNDAY AT HOME

January 31, 2010

The BEARS look to put an exclamation point on a terrific month of January Sunday, taking on the Binghamton Senators at 5:00 p.m. HERSHEY has won seven in a row, posted a 12-1-0-0 record in January, and has won 19 of its last 20 games heading into Sunday action. For the fourth straight game, HERSHEY lit up the scoreboard and bludgeoned another team into submission on Saturday night, this time dispatching the Albany River Rats 8-3. Alexandre Giroux was named the game’s number one star, scoring two goals and assisting on two others, Keith Aucoin picked up his 26th and 27th goals of the season and Chris Bourque scored a goal and assisted on four others. Goaltender Jason Bacashihua, giving Braden Holtby a much deserved rest, picked up his ninth win of the season. Coupled with a 10-4 win over Albany on January 15 at Times Union Center, the BEARS have outscored the River Rats 18-7 over the last two meetings. Goaltender Justin Peters has allowed 14 goals himself, and was pulled in both games. HERSHEY has scored 32 goals in its last four games, and 53 lamp-lighters in its last seven dating back to March 15. The BEARS have scored eight goals in a game four times in a row, the first time in franchise history that has ever happened. Kyle Wilson’s first period goal on Saturday was the team’s 200th of the season. As a matter of comparison, the Hamilton Bulldogs are second in the AHL in goal scoring this season with just 161. Winners of nine straight games, the Capitals are back at the rink Sunday at Verizon Center, taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Michal Neuvirth has won Washington’s last two games, defeating Anaheim Wednesday and Florida on Friday. Former BEARS defenseman Mike Green begins serving a three-game suspension today for an incident in Friday’s win over Florida. Washington is the top team in the Eastern Conference with a 36-12-6 record and a 22-point lead over second place Atlanta. The lead is the biggest the Capitals have ever had in franchise history. It has been tough sledding for former BEARS forward Don Nachbaur and his Senators this week, dropping back-to-back games to Adirondack before succumbing to the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday. Binghamton allowed four first period goals to Syracuse to eventually fall 5-1 Saturday at the War Memorial at On Center. No Binghamton player has more than two goals against HERSHEY in five games this season, whereas Alexandre Giroux has six in five games against the Senators in 2009-10. The month of January wraps up around the American Hockey League on Sunday with eight other games dotting the schedule. Norfolk concludes a long but successful New England trip in Bridgeport Sunday afternoon before hosting the BEARS Wednesday night in Hampton Roads. Manitoba wraps up a two-game weekend series with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Sunday, while Lowell visits Worcester, Lake Erie heads to Toronto and Springfield takes on Providence at Dunkin Donuts Center. Hamilton visits Milwaukee on Sunday at the Bradley Center in Wisconsin, Adirondack heads down the Thruway to face Rochester at Blue Cross Arena, and Texas plays at Peoria. Sunday’s game can be heard via the BEARS Radio Network (100.1 FM and www.Sportsjuice.com) beginning at 4:40 p.m. John Walton and Jim Jones have the call of the action from Giant Center.