Admirals Escape Bears Den With A 5-1 Victory
By Ted Warren
Photo Credit: John Wright/Norfolk Admirals
The Norfolk Admirals defeated the Hershey Bears Saturday night in Hershey, Pennsylvania in a 5-1 win. Norfolk plucked their first win since November 12th.
Long Beach, California native Emerson Etem opened scoring at the 5:03 mark of the 1st when Chris Wagner scooted the puck to Etem who one-timed it past Hershey’s net minder Braden Holtby to put the vistors in control early in the 1st period.
Norfolk found themselves with a commanding two goal lead six minutes later via peter Holland who ripped a shot past Hershey’s Holtby to widen their lead by two. Norfolk overtook Hershey in the shot department outshooting the home team 12-8 in the first.
The Admirals stretched their lead to three goals just seconds into the 2nd period as left-winger John Mitchell picked off a pass and zipped a shot past Holtby which put the Admirals in front 3-0.
Hershey reduced their deficit by the way of Tomas Kundratek as he followed through on a Ryan Potulny shot that rebounded off Admirals’ goalie Frederik Andersen. When the horn blew to signal the end of the middle stanza, the shot count read Norfolk 9 and Hershey 11 while the goal totals read 3-1 in favor of Norfolk.
In the final frame, Emerson lit the lamp once again which put the visitors on top 4-1. Devante Smith-Pelly also aided the Admirals scoring the game’s 5th and final goal on the power play to help the Admirals escape the Bears Den with a 5-1 victory.
Norfolk was 1 for 4 on the power play while Hershey stood scoreless on 9 P.P. chances. The home team had the say so in shots outshooting Norfolk 30-26. Norfolk moves on to Bridgeport, Connecticut to tango with the Sound Tigers today at 5:00pm.
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