On a day when the number 13 is considered unlucky, the Hershey Bears blew that theory out of the water when they sunk the Norfolk Admirals.  The Bears netted three second period goals on 13 shots and received a timely goal from a returning Steve Pinizzotto, number 13, on their way to a 5-3 victory at Giant Center on Friday night.

After Blair Jones, who scored the Admirals only goal in the first encounter between the clubs on October 3^rd at Giant Center, gave the Admirals a 1-0 lead 1:09 into the affair, Keith Aucoin knotted the score at a goal apiece at 9:06.

Aucoin’s goal, which beat a slow-to-react Norfolk goaltender, Dustin Tokarski, was his 7^th of the season and his 6^th since returning from an eight game stint with the Capitals.

“I’ve never been a goal scorer before. I’m not looking to shoot anymore than I did last year,” said Aucoin. “I think I just got a couple of lucky bounces and my shots are going in more than they did last year.”

Alexandre Giroux, who was goalless during the Bears successful swing through New England last week, gave the Bears a 2-1 lead at 7:19, raking his own rebound past Tokarski.

After Oskar Osala’s sixth goal of the year at 9:53 gave the Bears a 3-1 bulge, Andrew Joudrey’s retreating rocket of a wrister from a pretty cross-ice pass from Aucoin increased the lead to a seemingly comfortable 4-1.

Among the factors that led to Hershey’s second period success was a tactical decision made by head coach, Mark French, to insert Aucoin and Giroux in Brandon Sugden’s slot on the line with Joudrey and Pinizzotto.

“It was something I thought of before the game, and it paid dividends tonight,” said French. “At home you get the last change, and with Brandon getting in the fight, I thought the best way to utilize two of our best players was throw them in that line.  Joudrey and Pinizzotto are two players that can create offense. It worked out one time with Keith, and the other time, it was Giroux and things worked out pretty well.”

Norfolk did not abandon ship without a fight, with goals from Matt Syroczynski and Juraj Simek coming in the middle portion of the 3^rd period to make for an interesting finish.

Fortunately, it was Lucky Number 13 to the rescue, when Pinizzotto scored his 3^rd goal of the season, an empty netter, with only one second left on the clock. 

“Everybody wants to play all the time and you never want to take a day off,” commented Pinizzotto on his return after missing five games due to injury.  I did what I had to do and came back on schedule.”