BEARS FALL IN ROCHESTER, 5-2

February 22, 2012

ROCHESTER, N.Y.  – The Rochester Americans scored five unanswered goals after allowing the opening tally, and got 32 saves from David Leggio en route to a 5-2 win over the HERSHEY BEARS on Wednesday night at Blue Cross Arena.

The BEARS got on the board first after taking control offensively.  Graham Mink chased a Mike Carman dump-in behind the net, and tried to push it out in front.  Matt Pope caught the puck at the right of the goal crease, and stuffed a backhand shot on goal that blooped over Leggio’s head and into the net at 5:22.

Working their third power play of the first period, Rochester tied it on a Derek Whitmore backhander that came off of a Corey Tropp stuff attempt on Braden Holtby at 15:37.  The hosts then took a 2-1 lead at 19:02, when Tropp finished off a two-on-one rush with Colin Stuart.

Dennis Persson made it a 3-1 game in the second period, when he collected a cross-ice pass from Luke Adam, skated untouched into the left circle and snapped a shot over Holtby’s blocker at 5:46 for another power-play strike.

Marcus Foligno increased the Amerks’ lead to 4-1 at 11:05, slamming home a pass from Derek Whitmore while alone at the top of Holtby’s crease.

Both Chris Bourque and Cody Eakin hit goal posts in the middle stanza.

Tropp’s second of the game came on another odd-man rush, as he beat Holtby with a backhander at 3:10 of the third.

The BEARS finally cashed in with a power-play goal shortly afterward, when Mink deposited the rebound of Chris Bourque’s center-point slap shot behind Leggio at 4:08.

The BEARS would earn two more power plays and get Holtby to the bench for an extra attacker on the final chance, but the Amerks’ penalty kill held the fort and their three-goal advantage to the final horn.

Holtby falls to 19-12-2 with the loss, making 26 saves.  Leggio improves to 16-15-1 with the win.  The BEARS ended the night 1-for-5 on the power play and 5-for-7 on the penalty kill.

The BEARS will conclude their road trip tomorrow, February 23 with a 7:00 PM faceoff against the Lake Erie Monsters.  The team returns home to host the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday, February 25 with faceoff at 7:00 PM.  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=1009433

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