Hartford, CT- The Hershey Bears, turning the tables from a night ago, when they surrendered five unanswered goals to the Providence Bruins to start the game, came out howling on Saturday night, scoring the first four goals of the game and waltzing to a 6-2 win over the Hartford Wolfpack at XL Center.
Former Wolfpack, Alexandre Giroux, Hartford’s sixth all-time leading scorer, made sure that head coach Bob Woods’ 100th game behind the bench was a successful one, leading the Hershey offensive charge with a four point outing (1 goal, 3 assists).
Giroux, sent down earlier in the day by the Washington Capitals, made an immediate impact on his return to the Hershey lineup, picking up the primary assist on Keith Aucoin’s goal only 1:25 into the affair. Aucoin’s goal, his 12th of the season, broke a 14 road game goalless streak for the AHL’s leading point producer.
Graham Mink’s 14th goal of the season, also primarily assisted by Giroux, gave the Bears 2-0 lead at 6:35. Despite out shooting the Wolfpack 18-7 in the stanza, Hershey was not able to lengthen their lead after the Mink goal, heading into the intermission with the two-goal cushion.
Steve Pinizzotto, a healthy scratch the night before, after scoring in the 2-0 win over Springfield on New Year’s Eve, gave Hershey a 3-0 lead at 36 seconds of the second period. Pinizzotto’s goal, his 3rd of the season, was assisted by his linemates, Quintin Laing and Andrew Joudrey.
Kyle Wilson’s 15th tally of the season at 6:20 gave Hershey a 4-0 lead and chased Hartford netminder Miika Wiikman from the crease in the process. Wiikman departed with 19 saves and was replaced by Matt Zaba.
Hartford’s Greg Moore’s s power play goal, with less than one second remaining in the period, ruined Hershey goalie Simeon Varlamov’s bid for his 4th shutout of the season, and cut the Hershey lead to 4-1.
Fueled in part by the Moore goal late in the second period, Hartford sliced further into the Hershey lead when Patrick Rissmiller ripped home a shot at 1:44 of the 3rd period, sliced the Hershey lead to 4-2.
After failing to score in their first-five power play chances, Hershey’s power play finally cashed in at 4:15, with Mink powering a Giroux pass from behind the net past Zaba to give the Bears a 5-2 lead.
Giroux, the AHL’s leading goal scorer prior to his recall to Washington, dented the twine for the 19th time this campaign at 14:26, giving the Chocolate and White the final 7-2 margin of victory.
Varlamov finished the game with 32 saves to notch his 13th triumph of the season. Now sporting a shiny .919 save percentage, the rookie Russian sensation has allowed two or less goals against in eight of his last nine starts.