PENGUINS SNAP BEARS' WIN STREAK WITH 4-2 WIN

December 10, 2011

By Sarah Sechrist

PENGUINS END BEARS' WIN STREAK WITH 4-2 VICTORYRYAN POTULNY AND TOMAS KUNDRATEK SCORE HERSHEY’S TWO GOALS

Coming into play on Saturday night, HERSHEY was in a three-way tie for first place in the East Division with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Norfolk; each with 31 points. With Norfolk in Binghamton and the Penguins in HERSHEY, odds were that the three-way tie could be broken before the evening was over. The BEARS jump-started the first period by drawing a power play just 31 seconds into the game, but they were unable to capitalize. It took until almost halfway through the second period for either team to get on the board. Ryan Potulny lit the lamp for HERSHEY at 7:38, with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that deflected off of a Penguins player in front and past netminder Scott Munroe. At 11:49, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Ben Street scored the equalizer, beating Braden Holtby to the short side.

Just 46 seconds into the third period, Eric Tangradi backhanded a shot past Holtby off of a defensive zone turnover to give the Penguins a 2-1lead. Then at 3:50, Bryan Lerg completed a strong Penguins cycle by converting a Colin McDonald pass while in the slot. McDonald was then credited with a goal at 17:55, as HERSHEY’S Graham Mink knocked the empty net from its posts after Holtby was pulled for an extra attacker. Tomas Kundratek rounded-out the scoring with a wrist shot from the center point with just 40 seconds remaining.Holtby took the loss and fell to 7-6-1, making 23 saves. Munroe improves to 4-2-2, stopping 33 of 35 shots. The BEARS ended the night 0-for-5 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. The BEARS saw their record drop to 13-7-3-2 on the season. Stars of the Game:1.) Eric Tangradi, WBS

2.) Scott Munroe, WBS

3.) Bryan Lerg, WBS

Notes: The bears are back in action at Giant Center tomorrow afternoon against the Norfolk Admirals at 3 pm. They then hit the road to face Norfolk in their barn on Friday, and come back home to duel the Bridgeport Sound Tigers next Saturday at 7 pm. Tickets are on sale at the Giant Center box office, or by calling (717) 534-3911. Scratches for the BEARS on Saturday night were: Kyle Greentree (injury), D.J. King (injury), Zach Miskovic (healthy), Garrett Mitchell (healthy) and Danny Richmond (vet). Giant Center attendance for Saturday night’s game was 9,758. Shots on goal totals were 35 (HERSHEY) to 27 (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton). Tomas Kundratek extended his point streak to five games with his third-period goal, while Chris Bourque saw a 10-game assist streak and 12-game point streak come to an end.