Bears Score 4 Unanswered Goals to Beat Admirals, 5-4

The difference between tonight’s first period and last night’s first period could not be any bigger. Just about the only similarity was that they were still on the road and playing the Norfolk Admirals .

It started off fine. Dustin Tokarski went to chase a puck down from behind the net. Instead, the puck bounced off the back boards and out to Kyle Greentree who scored on the completely empty net.

From there, it went downhill. Norfolk didn’t allow this fluke goal to mess up their game. They responded with a 4-on-4 goal (Brian Fahey was in the box for cross-checking and Blair Jones joined him for diving). After that, Andrew Gordon was whistled for tripping and the Admirals only took eleven seconds on the power play to score.

With Sheldon Souray in the box, Norfolk scored a second power play that seemed to especially tick off Braden Holtby. After the goal, he turned and shoved the net towards the back wall. It’s hard to tell if it was just general frustration but some fans in attendance said that the net was already off it’s pegs. Holtby knew it and was angry that the goal counted. It took a while to get the net fixed but there Bears were still down two goals.

Before you could blink, the Admirals then scored an even strength goal with less than a minute left in the first period. The Bears were sent to the locker room with a lot of goals to discuss.

As rough as the first period was, the second period made up for just about all of it. Francois Bouchard continues to show the coaching staff that he doesn’t belong on the fourth line. He scored his second goal this weekend. Just about 30 seconds after that, Greentree got his second goal of the night on a gorgeous pass from Keith Aucoin. They both came roaring towards the net and Aucoin placed his pass perfectly so that Greentree could flip it past Tokarski.

With all the momentum in their favor, the Bears actually tied the game up before the second period was even half over. It was Patrick McNeill who got the goal when he skated just past the blue line and got a big shot past the Norfolk goaltender. Amazingly, it was a 4-4 game.

Norfolk really took a blow when Tokarski got injured. Gordon was in front of the net and accidentally hit Tokarski with his stick. Tokarski immediately fell to the ice and the skated to the bench during a stoppage in play. Jaroslav Janus took over.

Janus gave up his first goal towards the end of the second period. For Hershey fans, I can just describe as your typical “Andrew Gordon” goal. Another great play by Aucoin to Gordon who was in Janus’ face. After being down 4-1, suddenly the Bears were up 5-4.

Neither side scored during the third period, although there were some close calls. During the final moments when Norfolk had pulled Janus, they came very close to tying the game but Hershey escaped with another big win. Bears win 5-4.

Tonight’s Notes:

• First of all, we’d like to wish a very happy birthday to John Walton! The Bears organization owes a lot to John and we selfishly hope that he spends many more birthdays as a Hershey employee.
• As suspected, Sean Collins was officially recalled to Washington this morning. He played in the game against the Buffalo Sabres.
• The Admirals were without Vladimir Mihalik tonight. The AHL announced this morning that he was suspended one game “as a result of his actions in a game vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Mar. 30. “
• We all know that Dustin Tokarski is very good, especially against us. I posted this stat on twitter but would like to emphasize it: In the past two games against Hershey, Tokarski allowed nine goals. In his other five games against Hershey, he allowed a total of eleven goals.
• Tonight, the Bears closed out Norfolk so that they can’t catch them in the standings. With one more point over Charlotte, they will close out the Checkers too (s/t to Tim Leone).

Lines and Pairings:

Kane – Aucoin – Gordon
Greentree – Perreault – Willsie
Carroll – Joudrey – Pinizzotto
Kozek – Lacroix – Bouchard

McNeill – Fahey
Souray – Orlov
Yeo – Oreskovic

Actual three stars of the game:

1. Kyle Greentree (HER)
2. Marc-Antoine Pouliot (NOR)
3. Patrick McNeill (HER)

Sweetest Hockey On Earth’s three stars of the game:

1. Greentree: two goals
2. McNeill: game-tying goal, two assists
3. Gordon: goal-winning goal