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HOUSTON HANDED 5-1 LOSS BY HERSHEY BEARS

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From: Patrick Armstrong, Director of Communications
713.361.7920 (Direct Line)
Scott Henninger, Communications Manager
713.361.7930 (Direct Line)
January 9, 2009

HERSHEY HANDS HOUSTON 5-1 LOSS FRIDAY NIGHT

HERSHEY, Penn. – Five different players scored in the Hershey Bears 5-1 victory over the Houston Aeros Friday night at Giant Center. The loss extended the Aeros’ winless streak to five games (0-3-0-2) on their current eight-game road trip. Jesse Schultz scored the Aeros’ lone goal on Bears’ goaltender Simeon Varlamov who stopped 23 of 24 shots for his sixth straight win. Houston has two more games on the trip in Quad City on Saturday and Chicago on Sunday before heading home.

GAMESHEET

Two odd-man rushes gave the Bears a 2-0 lead after one period of play. At the 7:34 mark, Oskar Osala scored when he came in on the left wing during a two-on-one and wristed a shot top shelf past Aeros’ goaltender Barry Brust. The Bears’ leading goal scorer Alexandre Giroux gave Hershey a 2-0 lead on a shorthanded goal when he skated in on a two-on-one, faked to his backhand and beat Brust stick side. The shorthanded goal was the fifth of the season for Hershey and the seventh shorthanded goal given up by Houston. The Bears outshot the Aeros 13-9 in the period and took the 2-0 lead into the intermission.

Andrew Gordon gave the home team a 3-0 lead at the 8:13 mark of the second period when Andrew Joudrey won a faceoff in the Houston zone. Gordon then one-timed the puck into the back of the net. Houston did not record a second-period shot until the second half of the frame, but the visitors earned a power play when Keith Aucoin went to the penalty box for slashing with 1:51 left to play in the period. Houston made quick work of their fifth power play of the game scoring just 13 seconds into the man advantage. Schultz scored his ninth goal of the season on a nice backdoor pass from Peter Olvecky. Aeros leading scorer Corey Locke earned the second assist on the play for his 41st point of the season.

The Bears buried two quick goals in the third period for a 5-1 lead. The first came only 40 seconds into the final frame when Joudrey netted an even-strength marker, his fourth goal of the season. Only 82 seconds later Francois Bouchard netted his 11th of the season, first point of the night. Hershey finished with three players scoring a goal and an assist each: Gordon, Joudrey and Osala. Houston killed off all three Bears’ power-plays in the contest.

Notes:
- Aeros center and leading scorer Corey Locke recorded his 41st point of the season with his assist on the Jesse Schultz goal. Locke is now tied with the Aeros leading scorer from a season ago, Joel Ward. Ward had 21 goals and 41 points during the 2007-08 season and Locke has 14 goals and 27 assists to make up his 41 points. Locke is averaging a point per game for Houston.
- The Aeros current five-game winless streak (0-3-0-2) is the longest stretch of the season and matches the longest such stretch over the past two seasons.
- Houston’s four-goal loss tied the largest margin of defeat so far this season.

-- HOUSTON AEROS: 15 Seasons, One Reason --

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