Game Day: Admirals Look to Channel Luck of the Irish on St. Patrick's Day

St. Hatrick’s Day:

The Admirals celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday with the hockey twist of St. Hatrick’s Day presented by Papco. The Admirals will skate on green ice, and wear green jerseys as a part of the celebration. Special green jerseys will be auctioned off through a live auction on the ice after the game. All the money raised will go back to MDA. Fans are encouraged to stick around after the game to bid on the jerseys.

Head-to-Head:

Norfolk looks to sweep the season series on Saturday night after skating away victorious in each of the first five meetings. Since rejoining the ECHL the Admirals have had the Swamp Rabbits number, winning 11 of 17 matchups. However, four of Greenville’s six victories have come in Norfolk.

The Norfolk offense, which has scored 26 goals in five games against the Swamp Rabbits, is led by captain Brodie Dupont who has 14 points (4g, 10a) in the five-game set. Grant Besse, who netted two points on Friday night, is right behind Dupont with ten points (3g, 7a). Christian Horn’s hat trick on Friday pushed the forward to eight points (4g, 4a) against the South Division foe this season. Greenville’s Joe Basaraba, who scored on Friday, is the only active Swamp Rabbit with more than a single goal against Norfolk. The forward has four points (2g, 2a) against the Admirals. Six other Swamp Rabbits have scored against the Admirals this season.

The goaltending matchup has seen a pair of Ty’s go head to head in the majority of the games. Norfolk’s Ty Reichenbach (3-0-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .941 SV%) has been perfect against the Swamp Rabbits, while Ty Rimmer of Greenville has suffered four losses, while allowing 6.01 goals per game, and posting a save percentage of .833.

Scouting the Swamp Rabbits:

Greenville heads into Saturday five points back of the Admirals for fifth place in the South Division. Rookie Evan Jasper, who was held scoreless on Friday, leads the visitors with 44 points (18g, 26a). Joe Basaraba is just behind the rookie with 43 points, and ranks second on the team with 17 goals. No other current Swamp Rabbit has surpassed the 30 point mark this season.

Hats, Hats, Hats:

Christian Horn netted the Admirals seventh hat trick of the season on Friday night, and his second hat trick of the season. Horn is the second Admiral to tally two hat tricks this season, joining Darik Angeli. This season the Admirals have nearly double the amount of hat tricks that the team scored in the last two seasons combined (4). No other team has scored as many hat tricks as the Admirals this season.

Looking for Seven:

Friday’s victory gave the Admirals six straight home victories. The Admirals have now won more than five-straight home games for only the third time since 2005-06. The longest home win-streak since the 2005-06 season came as a part of the Admirals 28-consecutive wins en route to the Calder Cup championship.

Playoff Picture:

Norfolk currently sits six points behind the Atlanta Gladiators for fourth place, with one game in hand. Atlanta, who plays Jacksonville Saturday night, has played 64 games this season. Jacksonville, who is in Norfolk on Sunday, is currently two points back from the Admirals with a game in hand.

League’s Best:

Big nights for Brodie Dupont and Grant Besse helped the Norfolk forwards climb the scoring charts for the ECHL scoring title, and rookie scoring title respectively. Dupont’s four assists put the captain only three points behind Shawn Szydlowski for first place in the league. With two points (1g, 1a) Besse has now surpassed Justin Danforth for the rookie lead in points (61). The rookie can also become the first Admiral since the 2011-12 season to reach the 30-goal mark with his next tally.