Bears vs Norfolk preview, 2/14

Hershey Bears
record ~ 35-15-0-4 74 points
standings ~ 1st in East Division
playoff positioning - 5 points ahead of 2nd place
most recent game ~ 5-1 Loss @ Binghamton, 2/13
last 5 games ~ 2-3-0-0
home record ~ 19-7-0-2
goals for ~ 203
goals against ~158
power play ~ 17.4% (13th)
penalty kill ~ 80.7% (25th)


Norfolk Admirals
record ~ 19-25-2-5 45 points
standings ~ Last in East Division
playoff positioning ~ 19 points out of 4th
most recent game ~ 2-0 Loss vs Hamilton, 2/13
last 5 games ~ 1-4-0-0
road record ~ 6-14-0-3
goals for ~ 151
goals against ~ 182
power play ~ 18.1% (11th)
penalty kill ~ 81.2% (23rd)

last time teams met - Hershey won 4-2 in Hershey on January 31st.

Players to watch:

Hershey:

RW Graham Mink (21)- He has 5 goals in his last 5 games. He also has 2 assists in those games. Seems to be the only Bear doing anything of late.
C Kyle Wilson (18) - He is tied for second on the team with 21 goals this season. In his last 6 games he has 2 goals and 4 assists. Against Norfolk he has 3 goals and 6 assists this season.
The Defense - This unit has under performed for much of the season. Something needs to change. Quit looking for the big hit or the breakout pass and focus on positioning until you master that.

Norfolk:

RW Brandon Bochenski (27) - He is the team leader in goals with 18 and points with 37. In his last 4 games he has 2 goals and 2 assists.
LW Radek Smolenak (10) - He is second on the team with 15 goals but he only has 3 goals in his last 17 games. And those goals all came in one game.
C Paul Szczechura (12) - He has only played 1 game with Norfolk since November (last nights game) and only 24 all season. But he has 24 points in those 24 games.


News and Notes:

• Hershey leads the season series 7-0-0-0

• This is the start of a 4 game road trip for Norfolk
• Norfolk is 2-4 in their last 6 road games
• The Admirals have only scored 2 goals in their last 3 games
• They haven't scored at all in their last 2 games against Wilkes-Barre and Hamilton

• Hershey has lost 3 straight for the 2nd time in 2009 and only the second time this season
• The Bears have dropped 2 straight at home
• In their last 10 home games they have lost 5 of them