HERSHEY — Credit a confluence of circumstances for the Hershey Bears' thrashing of the Hartford Wolf Pack Sunday evening.

On one hand, you had a tired Hartford team, playing its third road game in as many nights. On the other hand, you had a Hershey team that "matched up well with the Wolf Pack," according to Hershey coach Mark French.

Put those two things together and you've got a 9-2 rout for the Bears, who won their second game in as many nights.

Hershey dressed the usual 18 skaters and 14 figured in the scoring with either a goal or an assist or both. They also had two short-handed goals.

Andrew Gordon, Hershey's leading scorer, and Steve Pinizzotto each had two goals and an assist. Five other players had two points in the game.

Maybe the final result shouldn't have been such a surprise. Earlier this season, the Bears shut out the Wolf Pack 6-0 in Hartford.

French was kind to the Wolf Pack, saying that they were missing one of their top scorers, P.A. Parenteau, in both games with the Bears.

But there had to be more to it than that.

Hershey just has more talent.

"In Hartford, the score wasn't indicative of the game we played," French said. "Our goalie (Jason Bacashihua) played well and we were opportunistic. It was an evenly-played game. (Tonight) was a different story."

Hershey's other goalie, Michal Neuvirth, got the easy win Sunday. The Bears had a 9-1 lead after two periods, through which Neuvirth faced only 14 shots.

Troubled times have come for Hartford, the New York Rangers' farm team. The Wolf Pack won 10 of their first 17 and have now lost seven of their last 10, including five in a row.

Even goaltender Steve Valiquette, who fashioned a shutout against Anaheim while with the Rangers earlier this season, has not been an antidote.

Valiquette, who played his first game with Hartford on Friday, surrendered three goals on the first 10 shots he faced and was yanked after the Bears took a 5-0 lead early in the second period.

"In the first period, we got a feeling that (Hartford) wasn't that interested in playing," Gordon said. "As long as we didn't give them anything for free, they weren't going to take anything."

The Bears knew Hartford was playing its third straight game on the road and they knew which players might be fatigued. It all went into Hershey's game plan, which included a quick start.

"Whenever you're on the road for a few games and then you get behind early, the hill becomes doubly hard to climb," Gordon said.

The rout produced some surprise goal-scorers. Gavin Morgan scored his first goal of the season while Michael Dubus picked up his third.

"It was nice that some guys who don't normally get rewarded on the scoresheet got rewarded," French said. "Steve Pinizzotto has been a guy who has been really valuable to us this year yet goes unnoticed because he doesn't show up in the boxscore a lot of nights."

Pinizzotto showed up, as did many of his teammates.

Notes: The Bears, who lead the AHL in penalty-kill percentage, surrendered their first power-play goal at home this season (13 games) when Hartford scored their second goal in the dying minutes of the third period. Hershey has killed 53 of 54 opponent power plays at home to date. ... Hershey F Oskar Osala sat out the game after tweaking his knee in the Bears' win over Norfolk Saturday night. Nothing major, according to French.