The Hershey Bears continued their recent dominance of the Albany River Rats on Saturday night.
Left wing Chris Bourque notched a five-point night with a goal and five assists and left wing Alexandre Giroux contributed two goals and two assists as Hershey rolled past Albany, 8-3 at the GIANT Center.
The league-leading Bears (36-9-0-2) routed the River Rats (26-17-3-2) for the second time this month, as Hershey posted a 10-4 triumph in Albany on Jan. 15.
Hershey, which takes a 3-2-0-0 lead in the eight-game season series, has outscored Albany, 18-7 over the past two meetings, after tallying only five goals in the first three encounters this season.
The Bears also halted Albany’s winning streak at three and snapped their four-game win streak on the road.
Ex-Rat Keith Aucoin also helped spark Hershey by scoring the game’s first two goals to spark the Bears, who built a 5-0 advantage, with their run capped by Bourque’s goal 4:39 into the second period.
That tally chased Albany goalie Justin Peters, who made only five saves on 10 shots — and was dealt only his second loss in his past nine starts. Mike Morrison relieved Peters and stopped 12 of 15 shots faced in his first appearance with the Rats.
Jason Bacashihua made 28 saves to register the win for the Bears.
Albany returns to host Syracuse on Wednesday night at 7.