Press Release Details

TONIGHT'S GAME PREVIEW: BEARS at ADMIRALS

03/09/2013 -

TONIGHT’S GAME NOTES
HERSHEY BEARS at NORFOLK ADMIRALS
Saturday, March 9, 2013 - 7:15 PM
Norfolk Scope

REFEREES: Chris Cozzan (#18) & Jason Rollins (#37)
LINESMEN: Mark Hamlett (#81) & Scott Pomento (#25)

BEARS vs. ADMIRALS: The BEARS will conclude their regular-season series against the Norfolk Admirals tonight with a matchup at Norfolk Scope. Norfolk is the top AHL developmental affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks.

ALL-TIME: Tonight’s game will be the 124^th in regular-season history. The BEARS have an all-time record of 67-47-9 (W – L/OTL – T/SOL) against the Admirals.

LAST NIGHT: The BEARS had a rough time coming out of the gates last night, and were never able to get things going as Norfolk cruised to a 5-1 victory. After Dany Sabourin settled into a zone, stopping six Admirals shots before the game was four minutes old, Norfolk finally solved him on Dan Sexton’s fifth goal of the season. Sami Vatanen placed a perfect back-door pass onto the tape of an uncovered Sexton for a tap-in and a 1-0 lead. Vatanen then scored on a five-on-three power play chance to expand Norfolk’s lead early in the second period. The BEARS finally solved Frederik Andersen at 12:49 when Jeff Taffe stole a puck high in the Norfolk zone, skated in and let a slap shot fly that sailed past Andersen for Taffe’s 16^th goal of the campaign. Peter LeBlanc nearly tied the score early in the third, when Matt Pope knocked down a Norfolk clearing bid and fed LeBlanc with a chip pass. LeBlanc was in alone on Andersen, but the netminder kept his left pad flat to block LeBlanc’s backhand attempt. Norfolk then opened up the game, getting goals from Patrick Maroon, Josh Brittain and John Mitchell in a span of 10:17 en route to their victory.

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2012-13 SEASON SERIES (4-2-0-1):

Wed. November 28, 2012	@Norfolk	Norfolk Scope	W 5-2
Sat. December 1, 2012	NORFOLK	GIANT Center	L 1-5
Thu. December 6, 2012	@Norfolk*	Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.	W 2-1
Wed. December 19, 2012	NORFOLK	GIANT Center	W 4-0
Sun. February 10, 2013	NORFOLK	GIANT Center	SOL 3-4
Sat. March 2, 2013	NORFOLK	GIANT Center	W 3-2
Fri. March 8, 2013	@Norfolk	Norfolk Scope	L 1-5
Sat. March 9, 2013	@Norfolk	Norfolk Scope

　

EAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of March 9):

POS	TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	WIN%	GF	GA
1.	Syracuse	59	35	17	3	4	77	.653	201	160
2.	Binghamton	57	34	17	1	5	74	.649	171	142
3.	HERSHEY	58	28	22	3	5	64	.552	152	146
4.	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton	58	30	25	2	1	63	.543	132	131
5.	Norfolk	57	26	26	4	1	57	.500	140	158

HEAD-TO-HEAD: C Ryan Potulny has found great success against Norfolk this season, scoring five goals and adding two assists in the six games played. Jeff Taffe tied Potulny with last night’s goal to push his series point total to seven (1-6-7). For the Admirals, Patrick Maroon paces the offense with eight points (2-6-8).

OH WHAT A RELIEF: Rookie G Philipp Grubauer completed a memorable week with three significant games, two of which were perfect relief appearances. After being recalled by Washington on Wednesday, Grubauer was pressed into action in the second period that night at Wells Fargo Center against the Philadelphia Flyers and stopped all 14 shots he faced. After his 19-save victory over the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday, Grubauer entered Sunday’s game in the second period and stopped all 20 shots he faced to backstop the BEARS’ 3-2 win over Syracuse. Grubauer is making his first NHL start today on Long Island.

THE BIG SCHILL: In addition to setting up the game-tying goal, rookie D Cameron Schilling took over the team lead by scoring his fourth game-winning goal of the season in Sunday’s win over Syracuse. Schilling recorded four points (1-3-4) in the BEARS’ three weekend wins. The Carmel, IN native did not have a multiple-point game since joining the BEARS, but finished the weekend with one on Saturday (0-2) and one on Sunday (1-1).

PATIENCE BY POTULNY: C Ryan Potulny saw a four-game goal streak snapped on Sunday. The two goals that finished the streak were both game-winners. Saturday’s game-winning goal over Norfolk was the second consecutive goal that Potulny scored in the final minute of play against the Admirals.

MAKING A COMEBACK: The BEARS entered the month without a win when trailing after one period. The team won both games this weekend in which they trailed after the first (Saturday vs. NOR, 3-2 and Sunday vs. SYR, 5-3).

KINGS OF TIGHT GAMES: The BEARS are tied with the Houston Aeros for most one-goal games played this season (33). The BEARS are 14-11-3-5 in such games.

STILL NUMBER ONE: After a weekend with a total of 21,088 fans filling GIANT Center, the BEARS continue to lead the AHL with an average attendance of 9,905 fans per game. The BEARS have just six home games remaining in the 2012-2013 regular season.

　

BEARS vs. ADMIRALS – TEAM LEADERS:

	HERSHEY	Norfolk
Games Played	Jon DiSalvatore, Garrett Mitchell (57)	Mat Clark (54)
Goals	Jeff Taffe (16)	Peter Holland (19)
Assists	Jeff Taffe (36)	Sami Vatanen (30)
Points	Jeff Taffe (52)	Peter Holland (38)
+/-	Boyd Kane, Garrett Mitchell (+11)	Chris Wagner (+9)
PP Goals	Jon DiSalvatore (8)	Patrick Maroon (8)
SH Goals	Garrett Mitchell (2)	FOUR TIED (1)
GW Goals	Cameron Schilling (4)	Josh Brittain, Patrick Maroon (3)
PIMs	Steve Oleksy (151)	Patrick Maroon (113)
Wins	Philipp Grubauer, Dany Sabourin (8)	Frederik Andersen (14)
GAA	Philipp Grubauer (1.99)	Frederik Andersen (2.15)
Save %	Philipp Grubauer (.930)	Frederik Andersen (.930)

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

BEARS vs. ADMIRALS – SPECIAL TEAMS:

	HERSHEY	Norfolk
Power Play	44-for-253 (17.4%) – 15th in AHL	41-for-278 (14.7%) – 23rd in AHL
Penalty Kill	211-for-249 (84.7%) – 9th in AHL	242-for-287 (84.3%) – 11th in AHL

　

BEARS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

3/7/13	ADD	G	Brandon Anderson	Reassigned by Washington (NHL) from Reading (ECHL)
3/7/13	DEL	G	Philipp Grubauer	Recalled from loan by Washington (NHL)
3/6/13	DEL	LW	Evan Barlow	Released from PTO
3/6/13	DEL	G	Sergey Kostenko	Returned on loan to Reading (ECHL)
3/6/13	ADD	G	Sergey Kostenko	Recalled from loan to Ontario (ECHL)
3/5/13	ADD	D	Brett Flemming	Reassigned by Washington (NHL) from Reading (ECHL)
3/4/13	DEL	D	Steve Oleksy	Released from SPC
3/4/13	DEL	G	Brandon Anderson	Reassigned by Washington (NHL) to Reading (ECHL)

ADMIRALS RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

3/6/13	ADD	D	Gabe Guentzel	Recalled from loan to Fort Wayne (ECHL)
3/5/13	ADD	LW	Patrick Maroon	Returned on loan from Anaheim (NHL)
3/5/13	DEL	C	Peter Holland	Recalled from loan by Anaheim (NHL)
3/3/13	DEL	LW	Brandon McMillan	Recalled from loan by Anaheim (NHL)
3/1/13	DEL	D	Gabe Guentzel	Returned on loan to Fort Wayne (ECHL)
3/1/13	DEL	D	Nick Schaus	Returned on loan to Fort Wayne (ECHL)

　

BEARS AMONG THE AHL:

C Jeff Taffe: T,1^st – assists (36); T,3^rd – scoring (16-36-52).

LW Barry Almeida: 2^nd (R) – shooting percentage (6/29=20.7%).

　

ADMIRALS AMONG THE AHL:

G Frederik Andersen: 3^rd – save percentage (.930); 5^th – GAA (2.15).

D Sami Vatanen: T,2^nd (R) – assists (30); T,4^th (D) – scoring (5-30-35).