Game Day: Admirals Look to Complete Weekend Sweep

Game #59

Admirals (22-30-5-1) vs. Atlanta (27-29-1-2)

Scope Arena

7:00 pm

Last Time Out:

Brodie Dupont scored in the final five minutes of regulation to help the Admirals take a 3-2 victory over the Gladiators on Friday night. Norfolk scored the first two goals of the night before surrendering back-to-back goals in the second period.

Darik Angeli, who now has goals in his last two games, opened the scoring for the Admirals slightly over nine-minutes into the first. The shorthanded tally, the Admirals eighth of the season, was Angeli’s 22nd of the season. Up 1-0 in the second, Alex Pompeo notched his eighth to double the lead. The Gladiators scored twice in quick succession to tie the game at 2-2 just under halfway through regulation.

The teams remained deadlocked through the majority of the third period. On the power play Brodie Dupont tapped a rebound past Dan Vladar to give the Admirals a 3-2 lead. Norfolk held off the Gladiators for the last 4:29, claiming their fourth straight home victory. Ty Reichenbach made 34 saves on 36 shots in the victory.

Head-to-Head:

The Friday night victory was the Admirals second in five tries this season. Norfolk has picked up at least a point in three of the first five games. Saturday concludes the season series between the Admirals and Gladiators.

Phil Lane leads all skaters with eight points (4g, 4a), and also leads all skaters with four goals. Grant Besse ranks second in the season series with seven points (3g, 4a). Darik Angeli, who scored on Friday, is second among all Admirals with five points, but is tied with Besse for the lead in goals (3). Brodie Dupont, Chase Harrison, and Alex Pompeo have all scored twice against the Glads. Three Glads have netted a pair of goals against Norfolk this season.

Scouting the Gladiators:

Despite Friday’s loss the Gladiators are still in fourth place in the South Division, holding onto the final playoff spot by six points over Jacksonville, and seven points over the Admirals.

Lindsay Sparks (12g, 41a) leads the Glads with 53 points, while Phil Lane ranks second with 47 points (27g, 20a) including eight against the Admirals. Former Admiral Brady Vail, who is currently on IR, is third on the team with 35 points, despite having only played 38 games this season. Defenseman Ben Danford ranks fourth with 34 points (10g, 24a) in 52 games.

Dan Vladar, who made 37 saves on Friday night, has played in 34 games for the Gladiators this season (14-16-1-0, 2.99 GAA, 0.910 SV%). Sean Bonar, who ranks among the league leaders in shutouts with 3, has appeared in 22 games for the Glads posting a record of 11-6-0-1 in addition to a .924 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average.

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Trying to Make Up Ground:

The victory on Friday moved the Admirals within seven points of the Gladiators for fourth place in the South Division. Norfolk, who has 14 games left in the regular season, has a game in hand on the Gladiators. Jacksonville, who also has 14 games remaining, is one point ahead of the Admirals and only six points back from Atlanta. Six of the 14 games left on the Admirals schedule will come against South Division foes.

Going for Five:

With a victory on Friday night the Admirals have won each of their last four home games, the longest streak of the season at home. With the four straight victories the Admirals have moved within three games of .500 at home this season. The streak started on February 16 and encompassed two games against the Swamp Rabbits, one against Jacksonville, and last night’s victory over Atlanta.