AUCOIN SCORES TWICE, BEARS WIN THIRD STRAIGHT

December 4, 2011

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Keith Aucoin continued his solid play by scoring two goals, one shorthanded, and Braden Holtby made 34 saves to help the HERSHEY BEARS to a 3-2 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Webster Bank Arena.

For the second consecutive game, the opposition would strike first. With 2:15 remaining in the opening period, Trevor Frischmon carried the puck over the BEARS’ blue line, cut to the high slot and let a wrist shot fly that sailed through a screen and over Holtby’s glove.

The BEARS would then open things up offensively in the middle frame, beginning with a play early in the period started by Chris Bourque. The BEARS’ winger fed the right point from the half wall for Tomas Kundratek, who fired a slap shot through traffic that was padded to the side by Sound Tigers netminder Kevin Poulin. The rebound kicked right to Aucoin, who buried the puck from the bottom of the left circle, tying the score 1-1 at the 2:50 mark.

HERSHEY would take a penalty nearly immediately after the tying goal, but it was Aucoin who took over the play. Blocking a defense-to-defense pass at the blue line, the league’s leading scorer broke in alone from center ice, deked Poulin and slid a backhand shot home for the BEARS’ third shorthanded goal of the season and a 2-1 lead at 4:49. Jacob Micflikier gave the BEARS needed insurance when he converted a cross-crease pass from Ryan Potulny at 14:21.

With 1:01 left in the game, Frischmon gave the hosts life when he beat Holtby with a net-front score off of a Tim Wallace feed, pulling the Sound Tigers within a goal. Poulin got to the bench for an extra attacker and Bridgeport thought they had the tying goal when Justin DiBenedetto jammed a puck underneath Holtby with 14 seconds remaining, but the referee ruled that Holtby had the puck covered.

Holtby improves to 7-5-1 on the season, while Poulin drops to 6-7-0 in making 29 saves in a losing effort.

The BEARS finished the night 8-for-8 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play.

The win moves the BEARS’ record to 12-6-3-2, pulling the club into a first-place tie in the East Division.

The BEARS are on the road next Friday, December 9 for a 7:00 PM faceoff against the Connecticut Whale, and will return home on Saturday, December 10 for a 7:00 PM matchup with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The first 5,000 fans will receive a flashlight courtesy of Capital BlueCross.

Individual tickets for this and all regular-season home games are on sale now by calling (717) 508-BEAR, or by visiting ticketmaster.com.

HERSHEY BEARS season ticket plans are also on sale now by calling (717) 508-BEAR, with many different flexible plans still available. Season ticket plans start as low as $160.

Game Recap: http://theahl.com/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=1008972

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