Sports stats



AHL Norfolk Admirals

Bochenski's Hat Trick Not Enough in Norfolk Loss to Hershey

December 30, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release


NORFOLK, VA - Brandon Bochenski's hat trick would not be enough, as the Norfolk Admirals (23-8-4-1) fell 7-4 to the Hershey Bears (24-4-3-4) on Saturday night in Hershey.

One day after their impressive scoring streaks ended, Bochenski and Martin St. Pierre got back onto the scoresheet with a give-and-go in the first period to put the Admirals in front. Bochenski stole the puck from Hershey defenders in the neutral zone and broke in on Bears netminder Jeff Pietrasiak two-on-none with Martin St. Pierre. Bochenski passed it to St. Pierre, who sent it back to Bochenski for the tally at 7:55.

The Bears tied the game eight minutes later. Chad Wiseman blocked a Dustin Byfuglien power play point shot, collected the puck and broke in on Norfolk netminder Corey Crawford. He sent a backhander through Crawford's legs for a shorthanded goal at 15:31.

Hershey took a 2-1 lead 5:17 into the second stanza. A clearing attempt was held in at the blue line by Deryk Engelland, who sent a wrist shot through traffic toward the net. Joey Tenute tipped the puck past a screened Crawford.

The Bears' lead was short-lived, as the Admirals knotted the score at two goals apiece three minutes later. Craig MacDonald stole a Tenute pass behind the Hershey net and centered the puck to an open Jonas Nordqvist in the slot. Nordqvist scored at 8:27.

The Bears resumed the lead five minutes later. Tomas Fleischmann sent a shot from the left boards that deflected off the skate of Alexandre Giroux and into the net at 13:30.

Bochenski's second goal of the evening made the score 3-3 heading into the third period. St. Pierre sent a pass from the left faceoff dot to Bochenski at the top of the crease. Bochenski's initial shot was stopped, but he put in the rebound with a backhand shot from his knees at 18:10.

The Admirals' leading goal-scorer completed his second hat trick of the season just 52 seconds into the third period to put the Admirals on top 4-3. While on the power play, St. Pierre sent a pass from the right wall to the left post, where Bochenski converted the back-door play by sending the puck into the net in front of a tardy Pietrasiak.

Four unanswered goals by the Bears gave them control of the game for good. Eric Fehr put the game back into a deadlock 11 minutes after Bochenski's third goal when he tipped a Chris Bourque feed past Crawford's glove at 11:36. Tenute put Hershey back on top two minutes later. Fleischmann passed the puck from the right circle to Tenute at the opposite dot, and Tenute chipped it over Crawford at 13:30. The Bears' lead grew to two goals when Kyle Wilson found Wiseman for the sixth Hershey goal at 15:35. Giroux added an empty net goal with 1:12 remaining for a 7-4 final score.

Crawford (32 shots, 26 saves) saw his winning streak stopped at six games in the loss. Pietrasiak (49 shots, 45 saves) picked up the win in his AHL debut.

The Admirals will host the Bears at Scope next week in two 7:15 p.m. matches on Wednesday and Friday.

Check out the Norfolk Admirals Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 30, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central