Hershey, PA, January 13, 2013 – A poor first period doomed the Connecticut Whale Sunday at Giant Center, as the Hershey Bears scored four times in the first en route to a 5-0 win.

The result gave the Bears a sweep of a two-game series in Hershey with the Whale, whom they bested 4-3 in a shootout Friday night.

Barry Almeida led the way for Hershey Sunday with a goal and two assists, and former Whale defenseman Tomas Kundratek had a goal and an assist.  Dany Sabourin (four saves) and Philipp Grubauer (23 saves) shared the shutout in net.

The first period was nightmarish for the Whale, as they were outshot 17-4 and gave up three power-play goals.

The onslaught started just 42 seconds in, when Almeida beat Whale goaltender Cam Talbot (26 saves) with a shot from the top of the right-wing circle.  That came with Hershey’s Garrett Mitchell down on the ice in the opposite corner and apparently injured, after coming together with the Whale’s Dylan McIlrath.

Kundratek made it 2-0 on a five-on-three man-advantage at 11:58.  The ex-Whale defenseman blasted a shot from the left circle past Talbot, off a pass from Zach Hamill.

South Windsor, CT-raised Jon DiSalvatore then scored on a backhander from the slot on another power play at 15:39, after taking a pass from Ryan Potulny.

Tom Poti, the 13^th-year pro and former New York Ranger, playing his first career minor-pro game on a conditioning assignment from Washington, scored a third Bear power-play goal at 18:51.  Sneaking down from the left point, Poti got two whacks at the puck in front of the goal after Almeida centered it, and was able to put it past Talbot on the second effort.

The Whale picked up their play considerably in the second period, outshooting the Bears 12-9 despite being shorthanded three more times, but could not cut into the Hershey lead on relief goaltender Grubauer, who replaced injured starter Sabourin at the start of the second.

Despite being outshot 11-5 in the third period, Hershey scored the only goal of the frame, when Mitchell beat Talbot to the short side with a backhander at 10:25, after being set up by Almeida.

The loss dropped the Whale to 15-18-3-1 on the year and snapped a streak of four straight games (2-0-1-1) with at least a standings point.

The Whale are next in action this Tuesday night, January 15, when they travel to Portland for a 7:00 game against the Pirates.  All of the action of that game can be heard live on “Beethoven Radio” AM 1290 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.  Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com. 

The Whale’s next home game is Wednesday, January 23, a 7:00 game against the Adirondack Phantoms.  For that and all Whale home games, tickets start as low as $10 each ($12 each when tickets are purchased on the day of the game), at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, through TicketMaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

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Connecticut Whale 0 at Hershey Bears 5
Sunday, January 13, 2013 – Giant Center

Connecticut 0 0 0 – 0
Hershey 4 0 1 – 5

1st Period-1, Hershey, Almeida 3 0:42. 2, Hershey, Kundratek 12 (Hamill, Potulny), 11:58 (PP). 3, Hershey, DiSalvatore 11 (Potulny, Kundratek), 15:39 (PP). 4, Hershey, Poti 1 (Almeida, Sjogren), 18:51 (PP). Penalties-Sjogren Her (holding), 2:49; Oleksy Her (delay of game), 3:48; Klassen Ct (high-sticking), 11:00; Segal Ct (high-sticking), 11:31; Kolarik Ct (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:41; Stoa Her (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:41; McIlrath Ct (kneeing), 13:52; Haley Ct (boarding), 18:38.

2nd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Segal Ct (tripping), 1:23; Collins Ct (slashing), 5:28; Kalinski Her (roughing), 11:28; Tessier Ct (tripping), 13:44.

3rd Period-5, Hershey, Mitchell 9 (Almeida, Kalinski), 10:25. Penalties-Marshall Her (closing hand on puck), 0:56; Yogan Ct (bench minor – too many men), 7:39; Parlett Ct (roughing), 10:51.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 4-12-11-27. Hershey 17-9-5-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 4; Hershey 3 / 9.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 12-16-0 (31 shots-26 saves). Hershey, Sabourin 6-5-0 (4 shots-4 saves); Grubauer 1-1-0 (23 shots-23 saves).
A-10,452
Referees-Dave Lewis (46), Darcy Burchell (42).
Linesmen-Jud Ritter (34), Scott Pomento (25).

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HARTFORD, January 13, 2013:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have recalled forward Chris Kreider from loan to the Whale, and that defenseman Matt Gilroy has been released from his AHL Contract.

Gilroy has signed an NHL free agent contract with the Rangers, and both players will be joining the Rangers for the start of their NHL training camp.

Kreider, the Rangers’ first-round pick (19^th overall) in 2009, has scored five goals and added seven assists for 12 points, and registered 55 penalty minutes, in 33 games with the Whale.  The rookie out of Boston College finished last season by posting 5-2-7 in 18 playoff games with the Rangers, after winning an NCAA championship with the Eagles (23-22-45, 66 PIM in 44 GP).

Gilroy, a fourth-year pro with 194 NHL games-played to his credit, led all Whale defensemen in goals with six, and also had nine assists for 15 points, in 34 games with Connecticut, along with 14 penalty minutes.  The former Hobey Baker Award-winner with Boston University split last season between the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning (2-15-17, 16 PIM in 53 GP) and Ottawa Senators (14 GP, 1-2-3, 2 PIM), after playing his first two pro years with the Rangers.

The Whale are back in action later today in Hershey, taking on the Bears at 5:00 PM in the second of back-to-back games between the two clubs.  All of the action can be heard live on “Beethoven Radio” AM 1290.  Fans can also listen on-line at www.ctwhale.com, and video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com).  The next home game for the Whale is Wednesday, January 23, a 7:00 battle with the Adirondack Phantoms.

Whale tickets start as low as $10 each ($12 each when tickets are purchased on the day of the game), at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, through TicketMaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

Season tickets for the Whale’s 2012-13 AHL season are also available. For information on season seats, and all of the Whale’s many ticketing options, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 548-2000 to talk with an account executive today.

Hershey, PA, January 12, 2013 – The Connecticut Whale gained a standings point for the fourth straight game (2-0-1-1) Saturday night at Giant Center, but lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Hershey Bears.

The Whale outshot Hershey 36-23 in the game, including 26-11 in the first two periods, but trailed 2-1 heading into the third before coming back to get the point.

Kelsey Tessier scored in the third period for the Whale, and Chad Kolarik had a shorthanded goal, but a Zach Hamill power-play tally wiped out a short-lived 3-2 Connecticut lead.

“In large part, I thought we outchanced them, but I don’t know that we brought our best team game for the entirety of the game,” Whale head coach Ken Gernander said.  It’s good that we came back, but ideally I’d like to have seen us press the issue a little bit harder in the first two periods.”

The Whale outshot the Bears 13-6 in a first period that was scoreless except for a 28-second span in which the team traded goals.

Kyle Jean gave the Whale a brief lead at 17:07 with his eighth goal of the year and third in the last two games.  Jean, who scored both Whale goals in a 2-0 home win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday, took a feed from Andrew Yogan, just back up to the Whale from Greenville of the ECHL, got around Hershey defenseman Steve Oleksy on left wing and then put a backhander past Bear goaltender Philipp Grubauer.

Garrett Mitchell got that goal right back for Hershey at 17:35, forcing a shot from the bottom of the right circle through Whale netminder Jason Missiaen, who got his first AHL shutout with 35 saves in Sunday’s win.

The Bears then struck again on the first shift of the second period, and this time it was Mitchell finding Jonathan Kalinski for Kalinski’s first goal of the season.  That was on a shot from just below the left-wing faceoff dot past Missiaen’s catching glove, and that goal would be the only scoring of the second, despite the Whale having a 13-5 shots edge.

Tessier tied the game at 11:56 of the third with his fourth goal of the year, a tip-in of a Logan Pyett shot from near the blue line.  Then, after Kris Newbury was penalized for cross-checking at 13:18, Kolarik increased his team-leading goal total to 15 with his second shorthander of the season at 13:50.  Grubauer, making only his second AHL appearance of the year, stopped Kolarik’s first attempt with his pads, but Kolarik fought off Stafford to get to the rebound and snapped it in.

Just 54 seconds later, though, at 14:44, with Newbury still in the box, Hamill gunned a shot from the left faceoff dot past Missiaen to create a 3-3 tie that carried through to overtime.

After a scoreless OT, Stafford and Stan Galiev scored shootout goals for the Bears, and Kolarik was the only one of five Whale shooters to score on Grubauer, giving Hershey the two points.

The Whale and Bears battle again Sunday at Giant Center, in the Whale’s second of six straight road games, facing off at 5:00 PM.  All of the action of that game can be heard live on “Beethoven Radio” AM 1290 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.  Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com. 

The Whale’s next home game is Wednesday, January 23, a 7:00 game against the Adirondack Phantoms.  For that and all Whale home games, tickets start as low as $10 each ($12 each when tickets are purchased on the day of the game), at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, through TicketMaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

To continue reading, please click on the continue reading button below if you're on the home page.

Connecticut Whale 3 at Hershey Bears 4 (SO)
Saturday, January 12, 2013 – Giant Center

Connecticut 1 0 2 0 – 3
Hershey 1 1 1 0 – 4

1st Period-1, Connecticut, Jean 8 (Yogan, Pyett), 17:07. 2, Hershey, Mitchell 8 (Almeida, Kalinski), 17:35. Penalties-Marshall Her (holding the stick), 8:24.

2nd Period-3, Hershey, Kalinski 1 (Almeida, Mitchell), 0:17. Penalties-Kane Her (tripping), 12:06; Parlett Ct (holding), 14:31.

3rd Period-4, Connecticut, Tessier 4 (Pyett, Grant), 11:56. 5, Connecticut, Kolarik 15 (Vernace), 13:50 (SH). 6, Hershey, Hamill 11 (Kundratek, McNeill), 14:44 (PP). Penalties-Yogan Ct (hooking), 7:31; Parlett Ct (cross-checking), 8:25; Newbury Ct (cross-checking), 13:18.

OT Period- No Scoring. Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Connecticut 1 (Miller NG, Kolarik G, Newbury NG, Thomas NG, Jean NG), Hershey 2 (Mitchell NG, Stafford G, Kundratek NG, Galiev G).
Shots on Goal-Connecticut 13-13-7-2-0-35. Hershey 6-5-10-1-1-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 2; Hershey 1 / 4.
Goalies-Connecticut, Missiaen 3-3-1 (22 shots-19 saves). Hershey, Grubauer 1-1-0 (35 shots-32 saves).
A-10,409
Referees-Graham Skilliter (48).
Linesmen-Bob Goodman (90), Jud Ritter (34).

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