Perhaps the Bridgeport Sound Tigers should have taken the hint when the initial puck drop was delayed due to a broken chin strap for referee, Chris Cozzan, and boarded the bus before beginning the game at Giant Center on Saturday night.  Because they chose to stick it out, the boys from Bridgeport ended up taking one on the chin, falling to the Hershey Bears, 9-2.

The Bears, riding a 20-game home win streak, wasted little time getting on the board when Mathieu Perreault, who had not found the back of the net since notching a hat trick against the Baby Penguins on February 7^th, batted home the rebound of a Chris Bourque shot at 1:44 of the first period.

Perreault, with regular linemate, Francois Bouchard, out of the lineup for the evening, was skating on a line with Bourque and Steve Pinizzotto for the first time.

“I thought tonight we clicked right away,” said Perreault.  “It was the first time the three of us played together. Chris and Steve played great.  That gives you wings when you score on the first shift, and I thought our line was pretty good.”

After Tigers’ Matt Martin tied the game at one with a short-handed goal, Keith Aucoin’s long-awaited 29^th goal of the season at 10:52 gave the Bears back their lead.

 “I didn’t know it was ten games since I had scored, but I knew it had been a while,” Aucoin said.  “I’ve been struggling a little bit to get scoring chances, but the last couple games have been a lot better.  The last couple games have been a lot better.  Our goal tonight was for all three of us to go to the net hard.  I got a lucky bounce and I put it in.”

Andrew Gordon continued to add to his career-best goal-scoring season by potting his 27^th goal by easily converting a beautiful centering pass from Aucoin.

“It was just a play off a good forecheck.  Any time you put that much pressure on a defenseman, they’re going to have to make plays before they want to,” Gordon said.  “That’s how Coiner ended up with the puck on the wall.”

Perreault’s second goal of the game and a power play goal from Alexandre Giroux with ten seconds left in the frame, sent the home team into the first intermission with an impressive 5-1 lead.

Perreault capped off his hat trick by masterfully manipulating Bridgeport goaltender, Scott Munroe, on a penalty shot at 6:20.

“I used one of those moves me and Bouch always do in practice and I’ve been trying to get better at it,” said Perreault.  “I came in pretty slow and tried a couple moves and got the goalie to commit and I beat him.”

Perreault’s fourth goal of the game, followed by Bourque’s bullet and Gordon’s second of the game, put the Bears in prime position to coast through the rest of the contest with a 9-1 lead.

“I think Giroux might have hit both posts, so everyone was sort of shocked and thought it maybe went in,” said Gordon of his 28^th goal of the campaign.  “I may have been the only one who knew where the puck was because everyone was facing the other way.  I knew I had to put it in the air, and it went over his shoulder.”

One final brief glimpse of resistance shone through when Bridgeport scored just one more marker, but the Bears scampered away with the decisive victory, extending there home-game winning streak to an AHL record 21 games.