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Hershey Bears News

AMERKS TAKE BACK-AND-FORTH CONTEST FROM BEARS

January 8, 2016

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Dan Catenacci’s goal 51 seconds into the third period stood up as the game-winner, overshadowing two-point efforts from Garrett Mitchell and Nathan Walker in a 5-4 Rochester Americans victory over the Hershey Bears on Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.

The Amerks drew first blood on the game’s first power play, as Cal O’Reilly collected a feed from Phil Varone and lifted a wrist shot over Dan Ellis at 2:39.

The Bears then poured it on, scoring three times in succession to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission.  Dustin Gazley tied the game when he was knocked down in front of a shot from Walker.  The puck deflected past Amerks backstop Robin Lehner at 13:35 for the equalizer.

On the Bears’ second power play of the night, Connor Carrick would rip a cross-ice feed from Chris Bourque right past Lehner at 17:29, putting Hershey in front.

Walker then blocked a shot high in the Hershey zone and turned it into a breakaway from center ice.  He beat Lehner with a shot over the blocker at 18:10 for his eighth goal of the season.

The Amerks would then turn the tide in the middle stanza, scoring three unanswered goals themselves to regain the lead.  Nick Baptiste started things off by depositing the rebound of a shot from Jerome Leduc behind Ellis at 2:03.

Varone, who was denied moments earlier by Ellis and another chance that hit the post, would strike on his third opportunity as his one-timer from Jason Akeson beat Ellis at 8:44.

The Amerks’ second power play of the night was also successful and gave the hosts a 4-3 lead.  Evan Rodrigues would set up at the net front to deflect a shot from Bobby Sanguinetti past Ellis just five seconds into the man advantage.

The Bears would battle back to tie the game before the intermission, when Mitchell found a loose puck at the top of Lehner’s crease and tucked it home at 15:32.

Early in the third, the Amerks regained the lead when Catenacci took a slap shot from the left boards that banked in off of the far post.  Rochester’s penalty kill would then stave off three straight Hershey chances to preserve the victory.

Ellis stopped 18 of 23 shots and fell to 10-6-3 on the season, while Lehner made 24 saves on 28 shots in his return to the AHL for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign.  The Bears finished 1-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill.

The Bears are on the road again tomorrow, January 9 to take on the Syracuse Crunch.  Face-off from the War Memorial Arena is set for 7:00 PM  Fans may catch the broadcast beginning at 6:20 PM on the Bears Radio Network of afflilates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, WOYK-AM 1350, via the Capitals App (Caps Radio 24/7), via the iHeartRadio App (Fox Sports 1460 Harrisburg), online at FoxSports1460.com and CapsRadio247.com.  Fans may watch the game for a small fee at AHLLive.com.

The Utica Comets make their first-ever regular-season visit to GIANT Center for the Bears’ next home game on Sunday, January 10.  Face-off is set for 5:00 PM.  All fans in attendance will receive a complimentary one-day pass to HERSHEYPARK, valid through July 31, 2016.  Tickets are available at the GIANT Center box office, by calling 717-508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.

 

NOTES:  The Washington Capitals recalled LW Paul Carey prior to the game and reassigned defenseman Ryan Stanton, who was a healthy scratch…The Bears also scratched D Joey Leach, D Mike Moore, C Chandler Stephenson and LW Jakub Vrana…Rochester scratched LW Jerry D’Amigo, RW Patrick Kaleta, G Andrey Makarov, C Allan McPherson, D Matt Prapavessis and D Chad Ruhwedel…The season series finished even at 1-1…The teams met for the 450th time in franchise history…Along with several other alumni, Washington Capitals player development coach Olaf Kolzig was honored in a pre-game ceremony…Mitchell’s goal extended his streak to three games…Chris Bourque took over sole possession of ninth place in Bears scoring history with his assist, and now shows 425 points (144 goals, 281 assists) in 425 games with Hershey.




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