December 27, 2009
HERSHEY closes out the 2009 home schedule Sunday, hosting the Norfolk Admirals at 5:00 p.m.
Goaltender Braden Holtby made 33 saves and was named the game’s number one star as the BEARS slipped past the Syracuse Crunch 4-1 Saturday night. Mathieu Perreault, the game’s number two star, scored twice, with Zach Miskovic earning number three star honors. Francois Bouchard and Kyle Wilson accounted for the other HERSHEY lamp-lighters on Saturday night. The win was HERSHEY’S fifth straight, and the team is now 7-2-0-0 in the month of December.
The parent club fared just as well on Saturday. Washington goaltender Michal Neuvirth won his third straight start, defeating Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils 4-1 Saturday night at Verizon Center. The win gave Bruce Boudreau and company the NHL’s best point total heading into Sunday’s action. Washington is 24-8-6 on the season.
Norfolk has been out of action for eight days, last playing on December 19 in Norfolk against Binghamton. Brandon Bochenski leads Norfolk in scoring with 15 goals and 31 points, but has been held without a goal in three games against HERSHEY this season. The Admirals rank 27th in the league on the power play (12.2 percent) but rank 4th in the circuit on the penalty kill (88.2 percent).
Sunday’s game can be heard via the BEARS Radio Network (100.1 FM and www.Sportsjuice.com) beginning at 4:40 p.m. John Walton, Ed Coffey and Jim Jones have the call from
Giant Center.