BEARS POWER PLAY COMES ALIVE BUT ADMIRALS HANG ON

February 25, 2012

HERSHEY, Pa. – Brandon Segal scored two goals in the second period to help the Norfolk Admirals take a 4-3 win over the HERSHEY BEARS on Saturday night at GIANT Center.

The Admirals got on the board first when Mark Barberio took a wrist shot from the left point at just the right time, with bodies skating in front of Braden Holtby.  The puck sailed right through everyone and into the net at 2:21 to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Norfolk went ahead with a power play goal to make it 2-0 at 15:58, when Michel Ouellet jumped on the rebound of a Mike Kostka shot and slammed it into the net before the BEARS could get possession.

In the closing minutes of the period, the BEARS finally got on the board.  A hustling Graham Mink beat an Admirals defenseman to the puck behind the Norfolk goal line, and then quickly slipped a pass into the slot.  Matt Pope stepped into the puck and rattled it around the inside of the net behind Jaroslav Janus at 17:07, cutting the Admirals lead to 2-1.

A late first-period penalty on Norfolk’s Radko Gudas gave the BEARS a power play that carried over into the second.  Just 16 seconds into the period, Cody Eakin worked the puck to the center point, where Chris Bourque aimed a wrist shot right through traffic to tie the score.

Just 1:13 later, Holtby was double-teamed behind the goal line while playing a dump-in.  Alexandre Picard forced the puck loose, and got it to a wide-open Segal who had an empty net in which to deposit the puck for a 3-2 advantage.

The BEARS would then earn three consecutive power plays, and cashed in on the third.  Jacob Micflikier set up Ryan Potulny for a one-timer from the right circle that Janus gloved but fumbled.  Kyle Greentree backhanded the puck out of mid-air off of Janus’ back and in at 13:19, again drawing the BEARS even.

But Segal’s second goal of the night came on a Norfolk power play at 16:35, when the winger made a perfect deflection of a Barberio wrist shot to put it through Holtby’s pads and give the visitors a 4-3 lead.

There would be no further scoring, including on two more HERSHEY power plays and three more for Norfolk.

Holtby falls to 19-13-2, making 17 saves.  Janus improves to 11-8-2 with 25 stops.  The BEARS ended the night 2-for-8 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the penalty kill.  Norfolk, winners of eight consecutive games, opens up a six-point lead over the BEARS at the top of the East Division.

The BEARS close out February with their final game of the season series against the Admirals.  Faceoff is at 7:15 PM on Wednesday, February 29 at Norfolk Scope. 

The BEARS return home to host the Binghamton Senators on Saturday, March 3 with faceoff at 7:00 PM.  Tickets for this and all regular-season home games are on sale by calling (717) 508-BEAR, or by visiting ticketmaster.com.

Game Recap:  http://theahl.com/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=1009453

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