Tavis Hansen and Vaclav Nedorost each had two goals as the Hershey Bears defeated the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 5-2 Saturday night in the AHL at the Cincinnati Gardens.

        Brent Thompson added a goal and Kelly Fairchild had three assists for the Bears, who tied a franchise record with their ninth straight win.

        The previous three Hershey teams to win nine consecutive games all went on to win the Calder Cup (1973-74, 1987-88 and 1996-97).

        Scott Fankhouser made 21 saves for Hershey, which extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games (11-0-1-0) and improved to 20-2-2-2 in its last 26.

        Mike Green and Sergei Krivokrasov scored for the Ducks, who are winless in their last three games (0-2-1-0) and 3-9-2-0 in their last 14.

        Cincinnati dropped two points behind Rochester into the 10th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with four games remaining in the regular season.

        Ilja Bryzgalov surrendered four goals on 16 shots in the loss for the Ducks. He was replaced midway through the second period by Gregg Naumenko, who stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced in 30:31 of action.

        The Ducks and Bears finish a two-game series at 3:05 p.m. today at the Cincinnati Gardens.

        Hershey ....... 2  3  0—5
       Cincinnati ....... 0  1  2—2
       

        First period: 1. Her, Hansen 6 (Fairchild, Clark), 4:37. 2. Her, Nedorost 11 (Smith, Fairchild), 13:18.

        Second period: 3. Her, Hansen 7 (Clark, Fankhouser), 4:20.4. Her, Nedorost 12 (Hansen), 9:29.5. Cin, Green 2 (Keyes, Bannister), 10:44.6. Her, Thompson 7 (Daw, Fairchild), 14:14.

        Third period: 7. Cin, Krivokrasov 2 (Brigley), 10:11. Shots on goal: Hershey 12-6-8-26; Cincinnati 4-8-11-23. Power-play opportunities: Hershey 0-for-2; Cincinnati 0-for-2. Goaltenders: Hershey, Fankhouser (23 shots, 21 saves; record 5-2-2); Cincinnati, Bryzgalov (29:29; 16 shots, 12 saves; record 20-16-4), Naumenko (30:31; 10 shots, 9 saves). Attendance: 5,437.

        Records: Hershey 33-25-11-6; Cincinnati 32-31-10-3.

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