Bears beat Admirals at sold out Scope

Tyler Johnson and Cory Conacher each tallied a goal and an assist in front of a sellout crowd at Norfolk Scope Arena. However, it wasn’t enough as the Norfolk Admirals (26-16-1-2) fell to the Hershey Bears (25-12-4-3), 3-2, on Saturday night in front of 8,699 fans. The Admirals begin the All-Star break in third place in the East Division, two points behind the Bears and three points behind the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Richard Panik extended his point streak to five games with an assist and Jeff Dimmen also notched an assist. Dustin Tokarski turned aside 19 of 22 shots in the defeat. Hershey's Ryan Potulny scored twice while Christian Hanson's deflection goal 1:14 into the third period broke a 2-2 tie. Bears goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 38 of 40 shots.

Hershey struck first with a power play goal by Ryan Potulny 3:56 into the game. While in the right faceoff circle, Chris Bourque sent a pass to Potulny, who sent a one timer past Tokarski, glove-side.

Less than five minutes later, the power play struck again – this time for Norfolk. Johnson evened the score at 1-1 at 8:46. Conacher passed to Panik at the bottom of the right circle. Panik held it until he saw a lane to send the puck across the crease to Johnson, who one-timed it past Holtby for his 15 ^th goal of the season.

The Bears took a 2-1 lead late in the second period. Hershey was on a 4-on-3 power play when Bourque found Potulny in the right faceoff circle. Potulny launched the puck past the glove of Tokarski at 18:44 for his second goal of the contest.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Conacher drove the puck into the Norfolk offensive zone and attempted a pass to Dimmen. The puck bounced off Dimmen’s skate and was recovered by Johnson. Johnson found Conacher in the slot and Conacher’s AHL-leading 25 ^th goal came as he backhanded the puck over Holtby’s blocker. This put the score at 2-2 at 18:59.

Just 1:14 into the final frame, the Bears capitalized on a turnover deep in the Norfolk zone to take a 3-2 lead. Matthew Ford intercepted a pass in the high slot. He took a slap shot that deflected off Hanson as he was skating in front of goal, and the puck squirted past Tokarski's right skate and into the net.

Despite facing 17 shots in the third period, Holtby held the Admirals scoreless in the third period as the Bears held on the for the 3-2 victory.

Dustin Tokarski (18-10-0) turned aside 19 of 22 shots for his first loss since January 10 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Braden Holtby (15-11-1) stopped 38 of 40 shots for the victory.

Norfolk was 1-4 on the power play. Hershey was 2-5 with the man advantage.