Bears win big in Binghamton

January 22, 2016

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The line of Chris Bourque, Paul Carey and Scott Gomez combined for eight points while Dan Ellis turned away all 30 shots he faced at the other end, and the Hershey Bears skated to a 4-0 win over the Binghamton Senators on Friday night at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena.

The Bears would grab the opening goal of this game, after winning a puck battle along the right boards. Carey and Bourque would work the puck loose, and feed it to the open left point.  Mike Moore had all day to grab the pass, take aim and beat Chris Driedger with a low shot at 11:15.

Hershey would then open up the game with three second-period goals in a span of 5:31 and took a 4-0 lead into the intermission.  After an interception at center ice, the Bears transitioned three-on-two into the Binghamton zone.  Carey carried down the left wing, fed the slot for Gomez who got Dreidger to commit on a fake, and then slid the puck to his right where Bourque slammed it home at 10:13.

Gomez, who got his first AHL point on the Bourque tally, would bury his first goal at 13:32.  Bourque’s pass attempt across the crease was stopped by defenseman Conor Allen, but Driedger slid off the post on the play and opened up the net.  Gomez had a tap-in for the 3-0 lead.

Forechecking pressure behind the Senators’ net would give the Bears their fourth goal.  Sean Collins poked the puck away from defenseman Fredrik Claesson and it slid into the slot.  Travis Boyd picked it up and blasted it home from there.

In the third period, Ellis would face a shorthanded penalty shot by Ryan Penny, but the forward saw the puck roll off of his stick on the attempt.  He stopped all 15 other shots by Binghamton en route to his 16th career AHL shutout and third of the campaign, improving to 13-6-3 on the season.  Dreidger made 27 saves but fell to 9-9-1.

Hershey finished the night 0-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

Fans are reminded that tomorrow’s game between the Bears and Lehigh Valley Phantoms has been rescheduled for Monday, January 25 at 7:00 PM due to inclement winter weather.

The Bears are home to host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday, January 24 at 5:00 PM.  It is Hometown Heroes Night in Hershey as members of the military, EMS, fire and police are recognized.  The first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive a Mike Moore fireman-themed bobblehead courtesy of MetroBank, the design of which was voted on by fans last fall.  It is also another Dietz and Watson Dollar Dog Night, and all fans may purchase hot dogs for $1 at select concession stands.  Tickets are available at the GIANT Center box office, by calling 717-508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.

NOTES:  The Bears scratched RW Chris Brown, RW Dustin Gazley, D Joey Leach, D Tyler Lewington and C Chandler Stephenson…The Senators scratched RW Tobias Lindberg, G Matt O’Connor, D Michael Sdao and D Nick Tuzzolino…Hershey improved to 8-8-1-2 on the road with the win…Chris Bourque extended his road point streak to nine games (6-6-12) with his three-point game, tied for the AHL lead in goal scoring (19) and took over the AHL scoring lead as well (19-22-41)…The Bears improved to 3-1-0-0 against the Senators...Tomorrow’s game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms is the first to be rescheduled to another date due to snow since January 26, 2011.