BROUILLETTE BRINGS BOOST, BUT BEARS BEATEN 4-2

January 22, 2012

HERSHEY, Pa. – Stefan Legein scored a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal while Jeff Zatkoff made 29 saves to help the Manchester Monarchs to a weekend sweep of the HERSHEY BEARS with a 4-2 win on Sunday evening at GIANT Center.

The BEARS pressured for the first three minutes of the contest, but found themselves near the defensive right corner at 3:29, when Dwight King’s attempted centering pass banked behind Braden Holtby off of a skate blade in the crease.

The hosts would pull even at 15:38, scoring just three seconds after a power play expired. Manchester attempted a hard clearing bid around the right boards, but Julien Brouillette made a nice stop at the right point. He then fired a snap shot through traffic and into the upper-left corner of the net behind Mancheter goaltender Jeff Zatkoff for his eighth goal of the campaign.

The BEARS were in position to take a late first-period lead when they earned a power play with 1:25 left, but Marc-Andre Cliche stepped up in the defensive zone and sent a headman pass to Legein. The Monarchs’ winger skated to the right circle and placed a wrist shot under the crossbar behind Holtby with 49 seconds left in the period.

Legein scored on a power play with a wrist shot from the slot at 6:49 of the second, giving Manchester a 3-1 lead.

The BEARS later finally cashed in on their fifth man advantage of the game to pull within a goal. Jacob Micflikier poke-checked the puck toward the slot, and with a Monarchs defenseman unable to corral the puck, Keith Aucoin pounced on it and fired a turnaround shot that beat Zatkoff at 17:09.

The BEARS would trail 3-2 until the final ten seconds of regulation, but outshot the Monarchs 26-15 over the second and third periods. Manchester also hit the goal post twice behind Holtby in the final frame, giving the BEARS opportunities to pull even. Zatkoff turned aside all 15 third-period shots he faced, preserving the win with help from Justin Azevedo’s empty-net tally at 19:51.

The BEARS drop to 24-11-4-3 (55 points) with the loss, and are now tied with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the East Division lead.

Holtby falls to 14-10-1 in making 15 saves on 19 shots. Zatkoff picked up the win, improving to 11-8-1.

The BEARS finished the night 1-for-7 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.

The BEARS will play their final games before the All-Star break next weekend, visiting the Norfolk Admirals on Friday, January 27 at 7:30 PM and Saturday, January 28 at 7:15 PM.

The team returns to GIANT Center on Saturday, February 4 for a 7:00 PM matchup against the Connecticut Whale. 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=1009258

###