Special Teams Lead Bears to 4-3 Victory Over Admirals

The Bears battled the Admirals in Norfolk tonight. Photo by John Wright.

Another weekend, another road game to kick it off. Tonight was the fourth meeting between the Hershey Bears and the Norfolk Admirals. It was also Norfolk’s annual “Toy Toss.”

The Bears earned the first goal of the game. After killing off a penalty, the Bears got a turn with the man advantage and had a 3-on-1 play. Matt Ford tapped his own rebound past Dustin Tokarski to get the early lead.

Another power play goal gave the Bears a two-goal lead. Graham Mink hit a one-timer only a few feet from the goal and Tokarski couldn’t stop it. The Admirals finally cued the stuffed animals to fly when Michel Ouellet tipped a shot past Braden Holtby.

After having a few short-handed chances throughout the night, Chris Bourque was the guy who finally got the short-handed goal. He raced in on Tokarski and fired it in late in the second period.

The third period got a little crazy. First, the Admirals earned a power play goal early in the stanza. But the Bears quickly responded. Tokarski was screened and Ford scored his second goal of the game. However, Norfolk also responded quickly. Holtby was caught down on the ground and Pierre-Cedric Labrie didn’t miss.

Despite a ton of penalties being exchanged, neither team scored again. The Bears hung on to win 4-3!

Tonight’s Notes:

• Braden Holtby got a roughing minor for shoving Pierre-Cedric Labrie after Labrie ran into Holtby’s outstretched leg. By my count, Holtby now has 22 penalty minutes this season.
• Speaking of Holtby, he was a big part of tonight’s win. He was outstanding especially during penalty kills and stopped 32 of 35 shots.
• Danny Richmond dropped the gloves with Carter Ashton during the third period. Despite getting some good punches in the beginning, Richmond was pummeled by Ashton at the end.
• The only downside was the end of Tomas Kundratek‘s point streak. But six games in a row is not too shabby.
• You know how much I love talking about the special teams: the Bears scored on two of six power plays. They also stopped eight of Norfolk’s nine power plays and even potted a short-handed goal.

Lines and Pairings:

Bourque – Aucoin – Mitchell
Micflikier – Potulny – Ford
Pope – Hanson – Mink
Lacroix – Carroll – Rechlicz

McNeill – Collins
Brouillette – Richmond
Wellar – Kundratek

Three stars of the game:

1. Matt Ford (HER)
2. Cory Conacher (NOR)
3. Jacob Micflikier (HER)