Devils claim victory in overtime over Bears

January 27, 2016

ALBANY, N.Y. – Erik Burgdoerfer scored and later set up a go-ahead tally by Riley Barber, but the Albany Devils answered back and won the game on Reid Boucher’s three-on-three tally to give the hosts a 3-2 win over the Hershey Bears on Wednesday night at Times Union Center.

The deadly Devils power play went to work on the only chance of the first period for either team, and connected for a 1-0 lead.  Mike Sislo got himself open inside the left faceoff circle and one-timed a pass from Marc-Andre Gragnani inside the left post behind Dan Ellis at 5:36.

The Bears were held to just three shots in the opening period but maintained the edge in chances off of the rush.  Such a play allowed the visitors to tie the game in the middle frame when Scott Gomez flew down the right wing, pulled up and faked a drop pass.  He then fed Burgdoerfer for a bomb from the right point that blew past Devils starter Scott Wedgewood at 14:39.

Wedgewood would leave the game with an injury halfway through the third period, bringing Yann Danis on in relief. 

After missing on two power play chances in the third, the Bears took their first lead of the game.  Barber would grab the puck at the left point, take a few strides into the slot with the puck on his backhand and then turn a forehand snap shot past the stick of Danis at 15:27.

But with time winding down, the Devils pulled Danis in favor of a sixth attacker and went to work along the right corner boards.  Sislo fished the puck loose and passed to Raman Hrabarenka, who let a shot fly from the right circle that beat Ellis glove-side, tying the game with 1:16 left to play.

In overtime, after the Bears narrowly missed converting a two-on-one rush, Corey Tropp sent a long stretch pass to Boucher, who fired a slap shot home at 2:05 of overtime for the winner.

Ellis finished with 21 saves but fell to 13-6-4 on the season.  Wedgewood made 12 saves on 13 shots and earned no decision.  In 10:08 of relief work, Danis made five saves and picked up the win to move to 17-7-4 on the year.  Hershey finished the night 0-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Despite the loss, the Bears’ unbeaten streak stretches to seven games (4-0-2-1).

The Bears will travel west to take on the Syracuse Crunch on Friday, January 29.  Face-off from the War Memorial Arena is set for 7:00 PM.  Fans may catch the broadcast beginning with the M&C Foreign Car Parts pre-game show at 6:20 PM on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, WOYK-AM 1350, via the iHeartRadio app (Fox Sports 1460 Harrisburg) or online at FoxSports1460.com.  Fans may also watch the game for a small fee at AHLLive.com.

The Bears and Crunch will meet again on Saturday, January 30 at 7:00 PM at GIANT Center, in the final game before the AHL All-Star break.  The first 4,000 fans through the gates will receive a Bears knit cap courtesy of PSECU.  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, RW Caleb Herbert, D Joey Leach, D Tyler Lewington and C Chandler Stephenson...The Devils scratched C Joseph Blandisi, C Blake Coleman, D Seth Helgeson, LW Ben Johnson, RW Chris McKelvie, RW Max Novak, D Reece Scarlett and RW Paul Thompson…The Bears saw an eight-game winning streak against Albany snapped, that dated back to a 5-3 Devils victory on March 29, 2013…Hershey is still unbeaten in their last nine against the Devils (8-0-1-0)…Scott Gomez extended his point streak to three games and has six points (1-5-6) in the span.