BEARS POST BIG WIN OVER PENGUINS

December 6, 2015

HERSHEY, Pa. – Erik Burgdoerfer triggered a record-setting teddy bear toss while Nathan Walker, Chris Bourque and Sean Collins followed up with two points each as the Hershey Bears sent the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to their third straight defeat in a 4-1 win on Sunday evening at GIANT Center.

Burgdoerfer’s goal came on a hard forecheck by Zach Sill and Walker.  The duo forced a turnover and Burgdoerfer read the play, got open and snapped a shot low past Matt Murray at 10:23 of the opening period.  The goal resulted in the collection of a record 18,115 stuffed toys for charity.

Hershey added to their lead at 12:34 when Connor Carrick finished off a beautiful two-on-one rush with Collins.  Skating to the net, Carrick pulled to the backhand to deke Murray and deposited a shot high into the net for his fifth goal of the season.

Peters’ shutout bid was spoiled at 17:53 of the third period.  Stationed at the top right corner of Peters’ crease, Tom Kuhnhackl was locking up a Hershey defenseman, and a long point shot by Tim Erixon deflected into the net short-side, cutting the Bears’ lead to 2-1.

With Murray off for a sixth attacker, Collins would take a long shot at the empty net but missed.  Walker would surprise the Penguins by flying down the ice to beat the icing call, and then tucking the puck into the net for a 3-1 lead at 18:54.

Five seconds later, with Murray sitting on the bench during the faceoff, Chandler Stephenson won a clean faceoff to Bourque, who backhanded the puck home from center ice and capped off the win.

Peters improved to 6-3-3, with 22 saves on 23 shots faced.  Murray fell to 10-4-0 with 29 saves.  The Bears finished 5-for-5 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play.

The Bears travel to Allentown for another matchup with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday, December 9 at 7:05 PM.  Fans may listen to the broadcast beginning at 6:25 PM on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, via the iHeartRadio app (Fox Sports 1460) and online at FoxSports1460.com.  Fans may watch the game online for a small fee at AHLLive.com.

The Bears return home to host the Binghamton Senators for the first time this season on Saturday, December 12 at 7:00 PM. Individual tickets for this and all Bears home games are on sale at the GIANT Center box office, by calling 717-508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.

NOTES: ; The Washington Capitals recalled defenseman Aaron Ness earlier in the day…The Bears scratched F Austin Fyten, RW Garrett Mitchell, LW Liam O’Brien and LW Jakub Vrana…The Penguins scratched RW Josh Archibald, D Barry Goers, RW Tom Kostopoulos, D Clark Seymour and LW Tom Sestito…The Bears’ teddy bear toss goal was scored by a defenseman for the second consecutive season…Hershey finished the weekend with a perfect 13-for-13 penalty kill…The Bears extended their home winning streak to six games with the victory tonight.