Dubielewicz Denies Bears

Sound Tigers Goaltender Records Over 50 Saves For A Second Consecutive Game Against Hershey

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4, Hershey Bears, 2

Boxscore

(Photo Courtesy of Rich Stieglitz/AHL)

He is becoming a thorn in the side of the Hershey Bears this season. Wade Dubielewicz followed up his 51 save performance in a shootout win at Hershey on January 20th with an encore of 52 saves last night in front of 4,745 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

The Bears resembled their parent team of late when they got off to a sluggish start and spotted the Sound Tigers a 2-0 first period lead. Robert Nilsson recorded his 10th goal of the season, including his 5th against the Bears, just a minute and twenty-five seconds in. Eric Boguniecki won a lose puck behind Hershey's goaltender Frederic Cassivi and quickly found Nilsson in front who one-timed the puck into the back of the net.

A poor defense display led to Bridgeport's second goal of the game when forward Jason Pitton was allowed to put four consecutive shots on the Bears net. Cassivi was able to stop the first three but not the last as the shot was roofed short side for his 6th goal of the season at the 13:36 mark of the opening period.

Following that goal Hershey would finally show some signs of life, getting back in the game less than a minute later when Louis Robitaille back handed home a rebound off a Dave Steckel shot for his 5th of the year cutting the Sound Tigers lead in half at 2-1. The second period saw the Bears pull even just 2:21 in when Jakub Klepis followed up a Timo Helbling shot wristing the puck past Dubielewicz. The goal continued an impressive run for the Czech winger since his demotion from the Caps as he now has 2 goals and 5 assists in only 7 games since his return to the AHL.

That would be the last of the celebrating the Bears were able to do tonight as despite greatly outshooting Bridgeport and having plenty of quality scoring chances, they would not be able to beat Dubielewicz again. A Chad Wiseman hooking penalty less than three minutes later would allow Eric Boguniecki to score the game winning goal on the power play following a beautiful cross ice pass from Bear killer Robert Nilsson. Jeremy Colliton would provide the empty net goal with 34 seconds remaining to put the game away for good, 4-2.

The Hershey Bears were unable to take advantage of a night when both of their divisional rivals lost. Norfolk suffered only their second regulation defeat at home this season as the Albany River Rats scored four unanswered goals on the way to a 4-2 win. Meanwhile in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the Penguins were downed by the visiting Portland Pirates 2-1. With the top three teams in the division all loosing the standings remain the same with Norfolk holding a five point lead over the Bears who hold a five point lead over the Penguins.

Your Top 3 Stars:

1. Wade Dubielewicz, Bridgeport 52 saves

2. Robert Nilsson, Bridgeport 1 goal and 1 assist

3. Eric Boguniecki, Bridgeport GW goal and 1 assist

Game Notes:

Hershey scratches on the evening were goaltender Maxime Daigneault, defenseman Jamie Hunt, Donny Grover, and Deryk Engelland, and forward Jonas Johansson.... Former Capital Rick Berry currently plays for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and has 2 goals, 10 assists and is a -9 on the year in 46 games.... Pete Vandermeer will again join John Walton in the Bears radio booth for tomorrow night's home game versus the Albany River Rats.

Hershey Wins In Head Coach's Milestone Game

Three Straight Goals Lead Bears Past Slumping Pirates
Hershey Bears 5, Portland Pirates 2
Boxscore
(Photo courtesy of Just Sports Photography)

Tonight marked the 1,000th professional game of Head Coach Bruce Boudreau's career. And the Bears made sure he would have something to celebrate it by as they triumphed at home before 6,511 at the Giant Center.

Frederic Cassivi returned to the Bears lineup today after his short recall to the Washington Capitals on Sunday. He services were needed to backup Olie Kolzig following a lower body injury to reserve Brent Johnson.

The first period had the same feel as some of the recent Capitals games as sound defensive play dominated the early action. That would change as the intermission approached. The Pirates would strike first following a Timo Helbling turnover in his own zone. Helbling blew a tire as he was trying to clear the puck and fell to the ice, sending the puck right to the waiting stick of Joe Motzko. He found himself wide open in the slot and beat Cassivi glove side for his 14th goal of the season in an unassisted fashion.

The Bears were able to respond back before the end of the period, following a Trevor Byrne penalty they recorded their team's 18th short handed goal of the season when Alexandre Giroux entered the offensive zone on a two on one break. He slid a nice pass across to Quinton Laing who made the most of it, tying the score at one with his 11th of the season as the teams headed into the intermission.

The turning point of the game might just have been Hershey's ability to kill of a Pirates two man advantage at the start of the second period. They used that momentum to score twice in the period and take a 3-1 lead heading into the third. Joey Tenute put home the rebound from the left faceoff circle following a Chad Wiseman shot from the point for a power play goal, his 15th of the year. Hendricks followed that up with a hard working goal as he stuffed home the loose puck right at the goal line after Pirates goaltender Sabastien Caron could not coral it.

Less than five minutes into the third the Pirates tried to make a game of it after a weak backhand shot by Clay Wilson slipped past Cassivi to pull them within one at 3-2. It was definitely a shot that Cassivi would like to have back, but it didn't hurt the Bears as only three minutes later a Kyle Wilson goal would put Hershey back up by 2. A nice individual effort by Dave Steckel later in the period on a 4 on 4 situation put the game away for good. He pick-pocketed a Pirates defenseman in Portland's zone and went in all alone on Caron. A nice deke notched his 19th goal of the year and made the final 5-2.

With the game no longer in doubt, things got a little chippy towards the end. A pair of fights ensued less than a minute apart between the Pirates' Geoff Peters and the Bears captain Matt Hendricks, and Dean Arsene and Greg Amadio.

The win improved Hershey's record to 31-9-5-5 for 72 points on the season. That kept the Bears within 5 points of the division leading Norfolk Admirals as they were able to come from behind and beat the Albany River Rats in a shootout 5-4.

Your Top 3 Stars:

1. Dave Steckel, Hershey 1 goal
2. Alexandre Giroux, Hershey 2 assists

3. Frederic Cassivi, Hershey 32 saves

Bears Finish Up Weekend With Victory

Hershey Dominates Division Rival Penguins for Complete 60 Minutes
Hershey Bears 4, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 1
Boxscore

Washington Capitals' mascot Slapshot was on hand to see the Hershey Bears completely dominate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Peguins from the get go. The Peguins were playing their 4th game in 5 nights and it showed as the Bears jumped all over them from the moment the puck was dropped. Despite a Chad Wiseman hooking penalty just 46 seconds into the game, the Bears were able to grab possession of the puck. Dave Steckel took a pass from defenseman Dean Arsene at the red line and moved into the Penguins zone uncontested. He fired a wrist shot past goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers into the top right corner of the net for his 14th of the season to give the Bears a 1-0 lead just 1:01 into the game. The goal was the Bears' 17th short handed goal of the season.

Hershey would keep the pressure on the Penguins and scored their second goal of the game as their first power-play of the game expired. Jeff Schultz took a pass from Jakub Klepis at the point and fired a wrist shot just inside the blue line that deflected off Penguins' defenseman Tom Gilbert's left skate into the back of the net. It was Schultz's 2nd goal of the season in his first game back with Hershey after being reassigned by the Capitals for the All-Star break.

After their second goal, the Bears continued to control the action recording the first seven shots of the game and not allowing a Wilkes-Barre shot for the first six minutes of the game. They scored again after Chris Bourque controlled the puck in the Penguins corner and fired a shot towards the net with lots of traffic in front. Steckel was able to get a stick on the puck to deflect in his second goal and the game and 15th of the season. It was the Bears third goal in their first nine shots of the game.

It was a physical game, in front of 7,653 fans at the Giant Center, as a lot of scrums followed stoppages in play. Timo Helbling had the hit of the night, leveling Penguins' left winger Alexei Mikhnov on his back as he entered the Bears zone three minutes into the game. Heavyweights Deryk Engelland and Dennis Bonvie had a nice battle at the 11:35 mark of the first period. They exchanged some big blows before Bonvie connected on consecutive rights to knock Engelland to the ice.

The Penguins tried to get back in the game and got a short-handed goal at the 3:10 mark of the second period to cut the lead to 3-1. But they were unable to build any momentum off of that goal and the score remained the same until the 13:35 mark of the third period, when Chris Bourque deflected a Chad Wiseman shot from the point into the back of the net for his 11th goal of the season, giving the Bears the 4-1 win. The victory improved Hershey's record to 28-8-3-5, 64 points putting them three points ahead of the third place Penguins, and three points behind the first place Norfolk Admirals.

Your Top 3 Stars of the Game:
1. Dave Steckel, Hershey 2 goals, 1 assist
2. Jeff Schultz, Hershey 1 goal, 1 assist
3. Chris Bourque, Hershey 1 goal, 1 assist

Game Notes: Bears coach Bruce Boudreau announced today that Maxime Daigneault could be out a couple days or a couple weeks with what is being described as a lower body injury. To take his place on the roster Hershey recalled Davis Parley from the South Carolina Stingrays who was on hand to backup Daren Machesney today.... Jamie Hunt, Marc Busenburg, Joey Tenute, and Alexandre Giroux were scratched from the lineup.... The Bears continuously used Jakub Klepis at the point on the power play's first unit.... Hershey currently leads the league in penalty minutes as a team with 1180.