BRUINS POWER PLAY HELPS SNAP BEARS' WIN STREAK

March 7, 2015

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Paul Carey and Seth Griffith scored power-play goals against the top penalty kill in the league, and the Providence Bruins withstood an energetic comeback attempt by the Hershey Bears in a 2-1 decision on Friday night at Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
 
Hershey would get the first scoring chance of the game, when a turnover behind the Providence net came directly in front.  Bruins goaltender Jeremy Smith was able to kick aside the all-alone chance by Chris Conner to keep the Bears off of the score sheet.
 
The Bears’ penalty kill was put to the test twice in the opening period, but after a successful kill on the Bruins’ first chance, Carey would strike to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.  Joe Morrow took a center-point slapper that deflected into Philipp Grubauer.  The rebound kicked directly to Carey in the right circle for a slam-dunk at 12:45.
 
Providence increased their lead at 6:17 into the second on a tough bounce against Hershey.  A clearing bid would hit forward Joel Broda in the skate and deflect right into the slot.  Alexander Khokhlachev tipped the puck to Griffith, who in turn waited and fired a snap shot into the upper-left corner.
 
The Bruins would then go on their second penalty kill of the game, and Hershey would take 10 seconds to cash in.  Stan Galiev would pass from the left half-wall across the slot to Tim Kennedy, who skated in and snapped a shot over Smith’s arm at 9:53 to put the Bears on the board.
 
In the third, the Bears held the Bruins to just three shots on goal.  The visitors had a chance in the final 10 seconds, but Conner’s shot from the right circle was stopped by Smith and poked behind the net until the horn sounded.
 
Grubauer suffered just his second defeat of the calendar year, falling to 23-11-4 with 23 saves on 25 shots.  Smith stopped 29 of 30 to improve to 15-8-4.
 
The Bears’ record now stands at 35-15-5-2 on the season (77 points).
 
Hershey now takes a short ride to take on the Hartford Wolf Pack tomorrow, March 7. Face-off from the XL Center is at 3:30 PM.  Fans may listen to the game on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, WOYK-AM 1350 and via the iHeart Radio app (1460 AM).
 
The Bears return home to host the Portland Pirates on Sunday, March 8 at 5:00 PM.  Individual tickets for this and all remaining home games are on sale at the GIANT Center box office, by calling (717) 508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.
 
NOTES: The Bears scratched LW Dane Byers, D Tomas Kundratek, D Jon Landry, C Jim O’Brien, C Chandler Stephenson and D Patrick Wey… The Bruins scratched F Spencer Asuchak, Anthony Camara, D Tommy Cross, LW Matt Lindblad and RW Bobby Robins…LW Aaron Volpatti made his return to the Hershey lineup after clearing waivers earlier in the week…The Bears ended the night 1-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-3 on the penalty kill.