Hershey Bears Rally to Hand Norfolk Admirals a Heartbreaking Loss
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 11:17AM MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com- HERSHEY, PA – Brandon Bochenski notched two assists and Mathieu Curadeau scored his first AHL goal to give Norfolk a third period lead. However, the Hershey Bears (18-5-0-1) scored twice in the final ten minutes to hand the Norfolk Admirals (7-13-1-3) a 3-2 loss on Sunday evening at Giant Center.
Hershey's Oscar Osala netted the first goal of the game 3:01 into the contest. Mathieu Perreault sent a pass from the slot to Osala at the bottom of the left circle and Osala sent a shot that got by Norfolk netminder Mike McKenna glove-side.
The Admirals tied the game at 1-1 early in the second period. Hershey goaltender Simeon Varlamov stopped a Norfolk dump-in behind his net and shot the puck along the boards in an effort to clear the zone along the right wing. However, Brandon Bochenski halted the clearing attempt at the hashmarks near the right-side boards and quickly centered the puck toward the goalmouth. A waiting Grant Potulny redirected the pass behind Varlamov at 4:11 for his second goal as an Admiral.
It took just 40 seconds of play in the third period for the Admirals to go on top 2-1. Bochenski picked off a pass in his own zone and sped up the ice into the attacking zone. He centered the puck to Mathieu Curadeau in the slot, and Curadeau sent a forehand shot that just crossed over the goal line for Curadeau's first Admirals and AHL goal.
However, the Hershey power play evened the score at 2-2 just under ten minutes later. Keith Aucoin sent a pass from behind the goal line to the right of McKenna across the goalmouth to Alexandre Giroux on the back door near the opposite post. Giroux swept the puck past McKenna's left leg at 10:15.
Andrew Joudrey put the Bears on top with 2:10 remaining off a faceoff. Chris Bourque sent a backhand shot from the right faceoff circle that Joudrey deflected from the low slot past McKenna at 17:50.
Norfolk pulled McKenna in favor of the extra attacker with just over a minute remaining but was unable to find the equalizer.
Mike McKenna (33 shots, 30 saves) was saddled with the loss. Simeon Varlamov (34 shots, 32 saves) picked up the win.
Norfolk was 0-4 on the power play. Hershey was 1-4.
Norfolk's five-game road trip will continue with a pair of contests in Albany later this week. They face off against the River Rats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday night, fans are invited to watch the game at Lendy's Café on General Booth Boulevard in Virginia Beach.
The Admirals will return to Scope in two weeks with contests against the Penguins on December 10 and against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on December 12 and 13.
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