ADMIRALS HANG ON TO WIN OFFENSIVE BATTLE IN SEASON OPENER

October 11, 2014

NORFOLK, Va. – Chris Wagner’s hat trick, capped off with 9:21 left to play, helped the Norfolk Admirals survive three one-goal deficits and come back to defeat the Hershey Bears by a 5-4 count in the two teams’ season opener on Saturday night at Norfolk Scope.

The night started well for Hershey, as Kris Newbury used a power move from behind the net to wrap a shot around the outstretched pad of Admirals netminder Jason LaBarbera for a 1-0 lead, 3:23 into the contest.

The Bears were in prime position to pad their lead with the first power play of the game, but Wagner held the puck on a two-on-one rush before firing a shot past the glove of Bears backstop Philipp Grubauer at 4:30.

The Bears would shake that off and cash in on the power play, as Philippe Cornet waited at the left post to backhand a Newbury feed past LaBarbera at 5:22.

Norfolk again wiped out the lead with a shorthanded marker.  With Antoine Laganiere in the box, Wagner was sprung on a breakaway from the Hershey blue line and again beat Grubauer at 9:07.

But the Bears would settle down and again make the power play count when Dane Byers, slid a low shot around traffic at the top of LaBarbera’s crease at 9:33 for a 3-2 lead.

A bit of misfortune hurt the Bears in the period’s final four minutes.  A failed Hershey clear ended up just inside the blue line and on the tape of Norfolk defenseman Andrew O’Brien.  His shot glanced off of the stick of Bears blueliner Mike Moore and past Grubauer at 16:35, again tying the game.

Norfolk took their first lead of the night on their first chance with the man advantage.  Grubauer was unable to locate the puck after it glanced off of the cross bar behind him on Stefan Noesen’s shot.  Louis Leblanc then pounced and buried his chance at 4:40 of the third period.

Hershey would knot the game at four courtesy of the defense pair on the ice at the time.  Steve Oleksy took a cross-ice pass from Cameron Schilling after a Norfolk turnover, waited patiently and then picked a spot high over LaBarbera’s shoulder at 8:53.

Wagner completed his hat trick when the puck came off of a Hershey stick into the slot and right to Wagner.  He hurried a low shot past Grubauer for the eventual winner.  Norfolk withstood a late charge by Hershey, but LaBarbera stopped all 11 of the Bears’ third-period shots to help the hosts hang on for the win.

LaBarbera settled in to finish with 33 saves and improve to 1-0-0, while Grubauer drops to 0-1-0 with 18 saves on 23 shots.
 
The Bears and Admirals will meet again on Monday, October 13 at Scope with faceoff set for 6:05 PM.  Fans may listen to the game beginning with pre-game at 5:25 PM on the Bears Radio Network of affiliates WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, WOYK-AM 1350, WRBT-FM 94.9 HD-2 and on the iHeart Radio application, station WTKT-AM 1460.

Hershey will host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the club’s home opener on Saturday, October 25.  The Bears will wear special opening-night jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game, and the first 8,000 fans will receive a magnetic schedule courtesy of PNC Bank.  Tickets for this game and all home contests may be purchased at the GIANT Center box office, by calling (717) 508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.
 
NOTES: The Bears scratches were G Brandon Anderson, RW Caleb Herbert, D Jon Landry and C Chandler Stephenson…The Admirals scratches were D Jesse Blacker, C Joseph Cramarossa and C Charles Sarault…The Bears finished the night 2-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill…Three stars: 3-Leblanc, 2-Newbury, 1-Wagner.
Information on group tickets and season tickets for the 2014-2015 Hershey Bears regular season is available by calling (717) 508-BEAR.  Many different flexible plans are offered and start as low as $170.