Press Release Details

TONIGHT'S GAME PREVIEW: PENGUINS at BEARS

11/17/2012 -

TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS at HERSHEY BEARS
Saturday, November 17, 2012 - 7:00 PM - GIANT Center

REFEREE: Geoff Miller (28)
LINESMEN: Bob Goodman (90) & Scott Adams (20)

BEARS vs. PENGUINS: Welcome to GIANT Center for tonight’s game between your HERSHEY BEARS and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, proudly presented by Verizon Wireless. The BEARS and Penguins meet for the third time out of 12 regular-season matchups. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is the top AHL developmental affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

ALL-TIME: The two teams will play their 139^th all-time meeting tonight, with the BEARS holding the edge at 68-59-11 (W – L/OTL – T/SOL). HERSHEY posted a record of 5-5-1-1 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season.

THE LAST TIME: The BEARS and Penguins last met on November 9 in Wilkes-Barre Township, with HERSHEY grinding out a 3-1 victory behind a stellar night in goal from Braden Holtby and a strong power play. The BEARS backstop turned aside 38 shots sent his way, while all three goals came on the man advantage. Boyd Kane started things off by netting his third goal of the season, tipping in Tomas Kundratek’s wrist shot just 1:17 into the second period. Zach Hamill made it 2-0 as he too tallied his third goal, tapping a cross-crease pass behind Jeff Zatkoff on a two-man advantage. Riley Holzapfel broke up Holtby’s shutout bid with 9:11 left in regulation, but Jeff Taffe answered with an empty-net power play goal with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.

Coupled with the series-opening victory on October 28 here at GIANT Center, the BEARS have now taken four of their last five regular-season meetings away from their rivals.

2012-13 SEASON SERIES:

Sun. October 28, 2012	W-B/SCRANTON	GIANT Center	3-2 W
Fri. November 9, 2012	@W-B/Scranton	Mohegan Sun Arena	3-1 W
Sat. November 17, 2012	W-B/SCRANTON	GIANT Center
Wed. November 21, 2012	W-B/SCRANTON	GIANT Center
Fri. December 7, 2012	@W-B/Scranton	Mohegan Sun Arena
Wed. December 26, 2012	W-B/SCRANTON	GIANT Center
Thu. December 27, 2012	@W-B/Scranton	Mohegan Sun Arena
Fri. January 11, 2013	@W-B/Scranton	Mohegan Sun Arena
Sun. January 20, 2013	W-B/SCRANTON	HERSHEYPARK Stadium
Sun. February 3, 2013	W-B/SCRANTON	GIANT Center
Fri. March 1, 2013	@W-B/Scranton	Mohegan Sun Arena
Sun. April 7, 2013	@W-B/Scranton	Mohegan Sun Arena

RECENT RECAPS: Although it has been tough for the BEARS to find the back of the net in recent games, the club has had their share of chances to either come back or win. Last night became an exception as the Syracuse Crunch stifled the BEARS in a 6-1 victory at the OnCenter War Memorial. Braden Holtby was peppered in the early going, turning away 16 of 18 first-period shots. He ended up facing 10 more in the second frame, but was pulled after goals by Brett Connolly and Mark Barberio. Dany Sabourin put in a strong effort as well but was beaten on the second goal of the night from Pierre-Cedric Labrie and the first professional tally from Danick Gauthier. Mike Carman ended Dustin Tokarski’s shutout effort when he collected a pretty headman pass from Dmitry Orlov and slid a shot home on a breakaway from the blue line. Garrett Stafford also picked up his team-leading 11^th assist on the play.

In Wilkes-Barre Township last night, it was Eric Tangradi’s game as the left winger netted a power-play hat trick to provide all of the Penguins’ offense in a 3-1 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Tangradi struck twice in the first period and once in the second, and Jeff Zatkoff did the rest by stopping all 10 shots he faced in the third period. Johan Sundstrom was the only player to beat Zatkoff when he tallied a first-period power-play marker.

EAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of November 17):

POS	TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL		SOL		PTS	WIN%	GF	GA
1.	Syracuse	12	8	2	1		1		18	.750	44	33
2.	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton	14	8	6	0		0		16	.571	36	31
3.	Binghamton	12	6	4	1		1		14	.583	31	32
4.	Norfolk	13	7	6	0	0		14		.538	41	41
5.	HERSHEY	13	5	7	1		0		11	.423	32	38

KANE CLIMBING THE LADDER: LW Boyd Kane is now just five games away from Andre Gill and “Mr. HERSHEY BEARS Hockey” Frank Mathers for 39^th place on HERSHEY’s all-time games played list. Kane has appeared in 304 games in Chocolatetown, one better than his total as a member of the Philadelphia Phantoms. He is 23 games away from joining the elite ranks of those who have played 900 AHL games.

MILESTONE APPROACH: RW Jon DiSalvatore is one point away from 500 in his 10-year professional career. He is also nine games shy of 700 played in the AHL.

NOT SHORT-STAFFED: D Garrett Stafford added an assist last night to pull back into a tie with C Jeff Taffe for the team lead in scoring (1-11-12). Stafford’s 11 helpers lead the BEARS and rank fourth among defensemen, while his point total ranks tied for fifth among blueliners.

STRIKING FIRST: The BEARS have seven different players who have recorded first goals – the second-highest total in the AHL.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: After 13 games and of the 25 active forwards and defensemen on the HERSHEY roster, 22 have found the score sheet with at least one point – the second-highest total in the AHL.

PK A-OK: HERSHEY’s penalty kill has come on in recent games, as the team has allowed just two power play goals in its last four games (16-of-18, 88.9%).

HEAD-TO-HEAD: D Garrett Stafford leads the head-to-head scoring with (0-3-3), while C Zach Hamill has scored twice against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton – once in each meeting. Riley Holzapfel has one goal and one assist for the Penguins against HERSHEY.

BEARS vs. PENGUINS – TEAM LEADERS:

HERSHEY W-B/Scranton

Games Played SEVERAL TIED (13) SEVERAL TIED (14)

Goals Jeff Taffe (4) Eric Tangradi (9)

Assists Garrett Stafford (11) Beau Bennett (7)

Points Garrett Stafford, Jeff Taffe (12) Beau Bennett (10)

PIMs Garrett Mitchell (38) Brian Strait (26)

Plus/Minus THREE TIED (+4) Robert Bortuzzo, Dylan Reese (+3)

Power-Play Goals THREE TIED (2) Eric Tangradi (5)

Shorthanded Goals Zach Hamill, Garrett Mitchell (1) NONE

Game-Winning Goals Zach Hamill (2) Eric Tangradi, Paul Thompson (2)

Wins Braden Holtby (3) Jeff Zatkoff (6)

Goals-Against Average Braden Holtby (2.56) Jeff Zatkoff (1.82)

Save Percentage Braden Holtby (.930) Jeff Zatkoff (.932)

BEARS vs. PENGUINS – SPECIAL TEAMS:
                                                                HERSHEY                                                              W-B/Scranton
Power Play                                            11-for-59 (18.6%) – 13^th in AHL                        12-for-70 (17.1%) – 16^th in AHL
Penalty Kill                                            50-for-62 (80.6%) – 22^nd in AHL                       66-for-74 (89.2%) – 5^th in AHL

BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

11/15/12	ADD	RW	Stanislav Galiev	Reassigned by Washington (NHL) from Reading (ECHL)
11/14/12	DEL	RW	Stanislav Galiev	Reassigned by Washington (NHL) to Reading (ECHL)
11/13/12	ADD	RW	Alex Berry	Recalled from loan to Reading (ECHL)

PENGUINS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

11/11/12

ADD

Keven Veilleux

Reassigned by Pittsburgh (NHL) from Wheeling (ECHL)

BEARS AMONG THE AHL:
D Garrett Stafford: 4^th (D) – assists (11); T,5^th (D) – points (1-11-12).
RW Garrett Mitchell:T,5^th – SH goals (1).
C Zach Hamill: T,5^th – SH goals (1).
G Braden Holtby: T,3^rd – shutouts (1); T,18^th – GAA (2.56).
D Tomas Kundratek: T,12^th (D) – points (3-6-9).

PENGUINS AMONG THE AHL:
LW Eric Tangradi: T,1^st – PP goals (5); T,3^rd – goals (9); T, 3^rd – shots on goal (50).
C Riley Holzapfel: 5^th – shooting percentage (4/15 = 26.7%).
G Jeff Zatkoff: 5^th – GAA (1.82); 5^th – minutes (657:56).
LW Beau Bennett: T,11^th (R) – scoring (3-7-10).
D Brian Dumoulin: T, 3^rd (R) – PP assists (5).

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Press Release Details

TONIGHT'S GAME PREVIEW: PENGUINS at BEARS

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