Three First Period Goals Lead Wichita Past Norfolk in Afternoon Matchup

Wichita, KS  —  The Norfolk Admirals losing streak has now reached five games.

The Admirals took on the Wichita Thunder on Wednesday afternoon at INTRUST Bank Arena for weekly education-day game. This was the first ever matchup between the two teams. Wichita came into Wednesday afternoon having taken two of three from the Kansas City Mavericks last week.

The Admirals started out the in the first period moving the puck and cycling quite well in their offensive zone. But the Admirals were on the wrong end of an odd-man rush at the 3:35 mark of the period and Wichita forward Beau Starrett made them pay with his second goal on the season. The bleeding worsened in the period for Norfolk as the Thunder added on two more goals that got past Brandon Halverson from Brendan De Jong and Peter Crinella.

Despite being outside 14-9 in the period, Norfolk registered plenty of opportunities on Wichita goaltender, Mitch Gilliam.

The second period belonged to the Admirals with some strong puck control but still couldn’t slide one past Gillam. Ben Holmstrom in the early part of the period came in on a two-on-one chance and rang his wrist-shot of the crossbar, which would have been his first in an Admiral uniform. With the period winding down, Thunder forward Chris Crane was in-front of Halverson off the initial shot from Patrik Parkkonen and he tapped home his seventh goal of the season to make it 4-0, Wichita. But the Admirals would not roll over and quit, as River Rymsha scored just a minute later, which made it 4-1. The goal was his second of the season and was playing in just his fifth game thus far. Norfolk outshot Wichita in the period, 12-7,

In the third period, The Admirals picked up the pressure to a whole new level; a kind of pressure that hasn’t been seen through 10 games this season. They finally came through at the 3:31 when Shawn McBride won the face-off and the puck landed right on the stick of defenseman Brayden Sherbinin, who scored his first goal in a Norfolk uniform to cut the deficit to two. As the pressure continued, Gillam’s save total increased, drastically. With four minutes to go, Fabrezio Ricci made it 5-2, then Spencer Dorowicz put the cherry on the top make it 6-2 and that’s how it would end for the Admirals on Wednesday afternoon.

NOTES

-Despite the score being so lopsided, a positive for the Admirals in Wednesday’s game is they outshot Wichita, 34-30, which marks the first time this season that Norfolk has outshot an opponent this season. 

-The power-play woes over the last three games continues for the Admirals, as they went 0-for-4 on the man advantage in the loss. 

-Halverson will want to chalk it up as a day to forget, allowing six goals on 30 shots. 

-Gilliam for Wichita moves to 5-2-1 on the young season, stopping 32 Norfolk shots that came his way.

The Admirals are back in action on Friday night, as they continue their four-game road trip in Allen, TX against the Americans. Both games for Friday and Saturday are set for 8:05pm and can be seen on ECHL TV and heard on the Admirals Radio Network (Mixlr).