BEARS SCORE FOUR TO SHAKE OFF START, WIN AT BINGHAMTON

January 14, 2012

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Christian Hanson and Ryan Potulny each scored twice in the third period and Braden Holtby came on in relief to stop all nine shots he faced, pushing the HERSHEY BEARS to a 6-4 victory on Saturday night at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

The night appeared to be off to a great start for the visitors as Graham Mink walked out of the right corner and spun a backhand shot underneath Binghamton backstop Robin Lehner just 29 seconds into the game, off of the first helper of the year for defenseman Phil Oreskovic. The Senators later tied the score at 16:39, when Stephane da Costa fired a slap shot from the right circle that beat Dany Sabourin low to the stick side.

Matt Ford grabbed the rebound of a point shot from Patrick McNeill at 17:12 to put the BEARS back on top, but the Senators began an offensive onslaught immediately afterward, scoring three times in 1:23 to claim a 4-2 lead at the end of the first. Da Costa’s second of the period came from nearly the exact same spot on the ice, after Corey Locke earned his 500th career point in setting up the rookie at 18:24 for the tying goal. Eric Gryba’s slap shot from the right half wall then got through Sabourin at 19:15 to give Binghamton the lead, and the hosts would tack on an insurance goal with 13 seconds left in the period when Andre Petersson stickhandled down the left wing and beat Sabourin with a high backhand shot.

The BEARS outshot Binghamton in the second period by a 13-5 count, but neither team was able to score.

HERSHEY then put on their comeback beginning at 8:26 of the third period. Hanson, parked at the goal crease, waited while Kyle Greentree’s feed to Mink was shot off of the shoulder of Lehner. The puck dropped right to Hanson for a slam-dunk goal to bring the BEARS to within a goal. At 9:58, the BEARS drew even when Danny Richmond intercepted a Binghamton clearing bid, and promptly fed Potulny in the slot for a one-timer that sailed past Lehner’s glove hand. Just ten seconds later, Hanson backhanded a feed from Mink underneath Lehner to give the BEARS a lead they would not relinquish.

Potulny completed the scoring by firing another one-timer from the same left hash mark off of a pass from Jacob Micflikier.

Holtby earned the win and improved to 14-8-1 on the season in 39:40 of work. Sabourin stopped seven of 11 shots in the first period and earned no decision. Lehner drops to 6-13-1, turning aside 33 of 39 shots.

The BEARS finished the night 0-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.

With the win, the BEARS improve to 24-8-4-3 on the season (55 points) and maintain a six-point lead at the top of the East Division.

The BEARS will return to the Southern Tier to take on the Binghamton Senators again on Friday, January 20 at 7:00 PM. The team returns home on Saturday, January 21 for a 7:00 PM faceoff against the Manchester Monarchs. Individual tickets for this and all regular-season home games are on sale now by calling (717) 508-BEAR, or by visiting ticketmaster.com.

Game Recap: http://theahl.com/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=1009199

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