March 01, 2008
HAMILTON 3 HERSHEY 2
HAMILTON, ON – Mathieu Biron had an assist and scored the game-winning goal at 9:18 of the third period to lead the Hamilton Bulldogs over the Hershey Bears by a 3-2 score on Saturday night at Copps Coliseum. The game marked the first time since last year’s Calder Cup Finals that the two teams squared off. With the win, the ‘Dogs improved their record to 31-22-2-5 on the campaign.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 2:51 of the opening frame when Eric Manlow’s attempted pass bounced off a defender and ended up in the Bears net. The unassisted goal was Manlow’s 10th of the season.
Hamilton extended its lead to 2-0 at 6:17 of the first period on the power play when Daniel Corso banged home a rebound past Hershey netminder Daren Machesney. Biron and Mathieu Carle drew the helpers on Corso’s sixth tally of the campaign.
On a 5-on-3 power play at 13:22 of the opening stanza, the Bears got on the scoreboard when Josef Boumedienne fed Andrew Gordon who blasted a one-timer by Bulldogs’ goaltender Yann Danis. Sami Lepisto also assists on Gordon’s 12th marker of the season.
The Bears drew even with another power play goal at 18:40 of the second period when Alexandre Giroux roofed a shot over the glove hand of Danis. Lepisto and Scott Barney earned assists on the goal that was scored just four seconds after the first penalty of a two-man advantage had expired.
Hamilton regained the lead for good at 9:18 of the third stanza when Biron redirected a Conrad Martin pass that beat Machesney for the game-winning goal. Kyle Chipchura also assisted on Biron’s fourth tally of the campaign.
Danis turned aside 31 of 33 shots in a winning effort for the Bulldogs, while Machesney stopped 28 of 31 shots in the loss the Bears.
Hamilton was 1-for-8 with the man advantage, and killed off 5-of-7 Hershey power plays.
BEARS @ BULLDOGS PHOTO GALLERY
The defending Calder Cup Champion Hamilton Bulldogs return to action tomorrow afternoon (Sunday, March 2nd) at 4:00 p.m. when they host the Syracuse Crunch at Copps Coliseum. Tickets for all ‘Dogs home games are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, any Ticketmaster outlet, online at www.ticketmaster.ca, or through charge-by-phone at 905-527-7666. For more information or to purchase season tickets call 905-529-8500, e-mail tickets@hamiltonbulldogs.com or visit www.hamiltonbulldogs.com.
Fans can listen to every Bulldogs game on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 820 CHAM. Fans can also listen or watch at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com by clicking on the ‘B2 Networks’ or ‘820 CHAM’ icon on the ‘Dogs website. All regular-season radio and online broadcasts will begin with a pre-game show 20 minutes prior to each scheduled game-time.
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
1. HAM – Eric Manlow-10 (unassisted) – 2:51
2. HAM – Daniel Corso-6 (Mathieu Biron, Mathieu Carle) – 6:17 (pp)
3. HER – Andrew Gordon-12 (Josef Boumedienne, Sami Lepisto) – 13:22 (pp)
2nd Period:
4. HER – Alexandre Giroux-21 (Sami Lepisto, Scott Barney) – 18:30 (pp)
3rd Period:
5. HAM – Mathieu Biron-4 (Conrad Martin, Kyle Chipchura) – 9:18
Scoring:
Hamilton: 2-0-1--3
Hershey: 1-1-0--2
Shots:
Hamilton: 12-12-7--31
Hershey: 11-13-9--33
Goaltending:
Hamilton: Yann Danis (33 shots, 31 saves)
Hershey: Daren Machesney (31 shots, 28 saves)
Power Play:
Hamilton: 1-for-8
Hershey: 2-for-7
Attendance: 4,831
Three Stars:
1. HAM – Mathieu Biron (1g, 1a, 2pts, +1, 3 shots)
2. HER – Andrew Gordon (1g, 0a, 1pt, 3 shots)
3. HAM – Yann Danis (33 shots, 31 saves)
Flamboro Downs Workhorse of the Game: Conrad Martin (0g, 1a, 1pt, +1, 2 shots)
