Admirals Weekly: January 29, 2018

Last Week:

Tuesday, Jan. 23 at Greenville, W, 8-1

Friday, Jan. 26 at Atlanta, W, 7-4

Saturday, Jan. 27 at Atlanta, L, 0-4

Sunday, Jan. 28 at South Carolina, L, 1-3

This Week:

Tuesday, Jan. 30 at South Carolina, 7:05 pm

Friday, Feb. 2 vs Reading, 7:00pm

Saturday, Feb. 3 vs. Reading, 7:00 pm

Quick Hits:

The Admirals moved within six points of the fourth and final playoff spot in the South finishing the week 2-2-0-0 after defeating Greenville and Atlanta, before dropping the second of a set to the Gladiators, and falling to South Carolina on Sunday. The five-game road trip wraps up on Tuesday before Norfolk returns home to begin a nine-game home stand on Friday evening against Reading.

Week Ahead:

The week of games begins on Tuesday evening in South Carolina as the Admirals conclude a two-game set with the Stingrays before heading home for a pair of games with Reading. The meetings are the first of four meetings between the Admirals and Royals this season. Norfolk and Reading will play a home and home at the end of the season to conclude the season series.

Friday and Saturday kick off a nine-game home stand for the Admirals that lasts the majority of the month of February.

Hats Off, Pt. 5:

TJ Melancon became the fifth Admiral to net a hat trick this season with his trio of goals on January 23 against Greenville. Melancon, 21, joined Brady Vail, Trevor Mingoia, Darik Angeli, and Christian Horn as the skaters to complete the feat. The first defenseman to score a hat trick for the Admirals this season, the rookie joined the professional ranks after leading all QMJHL defensemen in goals last season. The game against Greenville was Melancon’s first professional multi-goal game as well.

Goals, All the Goals:

Between Tuesday (8) and Friday’s (7) games the Admirals combined to score a total of 15 goals in the two victories to start the road trip. That total is higher than any two-game total that the Admirals have put up dating back to the 2005-06 season, including the teams’ tenure in the AHL. Prior to the 15-goal outburst the Admirals had scored 14 goals over two games once, and 13 goals on three occasions.

Tuesday also marked the Admirals highest offensive output of the season. Prior to the game the Admirals had reached the seven-goal mark once (Dec. 2 at JAX). Since rejoining the ECHL in 2015-16 the Admirals had not topped the seven-goal mark before Tuesday’s victory over Greenville.

Among the Best:

Ty Reichenbach has continued his climb up the ECHL leaderboards with his performance last week moving into second in saves (865) and tenth in save percentage (.916). Of the goaltenders with better save percentages than Reichenbach, Allen’s Jeremy Brodeur (27 gp) is the only one who’s played in more games than the Norfolk goaltender. The rookie has faced the third most shots in the ECHL as well (944). In 26 games played Reichenbach also ranks 9th in minutes played among ECHL netminders.

Coming Home for February:

After a month that saw ten of 13 games played away from home in January the Admirals will occupy mostly home ice in February. The Admirals begin the month with a nine-game home stand that wraps up against Jacksonville on February 19. Five of the upcoming nine games will see North Division opponents head to the Scope before it wraps up with a pair of games against the Icemen sandwiched around a set with Greenville.

After the February 19 game the Admirals will go back on the road for four games in six days.