Alexandre Giroux scored the game winner, his second of the year, with 1 minute to go in the second period to give the Bears a 4-2 lead after they had been trailing 2-1 midway through the period. Chris Bourque (2nd) added an open netter late in the third to seal the win.
Graham Mink (4th), Andrew Gordon (2nd), and Oskar Osala (1st) also scored for Hershey who are staying in Norfolk for another game tonight.
The lineup did not change too much for this game even though 9 players were scratched for the opener Wednesday night. Francois Bouchard and Andrew Joudrey made their season debuts on the fourth and third lines respectively. The defense was unchanged from Wednesday.
Simeon Varlamov will make his debut in goal for the Bears tonight at 7 against these same Norfolk Admirals.
My Three Stars of the Game:
- Giroux
- Bochenski
- Perrault
Grading the Performance:
Even Strength - B+ - 4 of the 5 goals came at even strength last night which is good because there are going to be games where the power play can't do anything. Karri Ramo made the Admirals look even better on many of his 33 saves.
Power Play - B - There were chances on the PP but only one goal. You have to put away some of those goals against teams as good as Norfolk or it could bite you later in the game.
Penalty Kill - C - Luckily Machesney played very well when the Bears were on the PK because the defense didn't seem to be there often enough. Some of the guys seem to want to score short handed more than they want to keep the puck out of their own net.
Offense - B - Need to convert on more of the chances. Perrault had a good game with 2 assists and some other real nice passes that would have been goals against other goalies. Bourque seemed a bit off his game as he fumbled the puck a few times, includinging in front of his own net, and never seemed to get anything going. The MAG line (Mink/Aucoin/Giroux for those who didn't know) played very well again. This line is going to do some damage this season if (knock on wood) they stay healthy.
Defense - C - Some problems here. Deano, you need to worry about playing defense and not hitting anything that moves. Numerous times you went for the big hit and ended up out of position. Godfrey, good job stepping in for Bouchard and fighting for your teammate. There needs to be more focus and more communication out there on defense.
Goaltending - C+ - Cheese got the win and made 19 saves on 22 shots but he was all over the place in net. It was like he didn't like the blue paint under his feet. He wanted to be a defenseman more than a goalie. Cheese....STAY IN THE NET!!
Overall - B - Winning's winning. And this team seems to know how to win. It was nice to seem them have to come back from some minor adversity after trailing for part of the second period. Cause they definitely game back, scoring 3 goals in 6 minutes to take the lead and then by not giving up much else. A solid game but definitely room for improvement.
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