READING, PA - The Norfolk Admirals, proud ECHL affiliates of the Carolina Hurricanes, defeated the Reading Royals on Friday night for the first time in regulation in five years at Santander Arena. Ryan Valentini was a big reason for Norfolk's success, as they prevailed with a 3-2 win.
Norfolk started the game on top, getting the first lead of the game with 14:15 left in the first period on a goal from Noah Corson. Corson has been red hot lately, scoring five goals in the past three games, and now has 38 total points on the season.
Reading tied the game up with 8:17 left in the first on a goal from Mason Millman. The game remained tied for the rest of the period.
Norfolk retook the lead again in the second period, on a power-play goal from Valentini. The goal was Valentini's 12th of the season and second with Norfolk.
Reading once again tied the game up on a goal from Trevor Gooch with 10:53 left in the game. Gooch has scored 30 goals for Reading this season and has scored in the last two matchups against Norfolk.
Just 16 seconds after Gooch tied the game up, Valentini would come up clutch for the Admirals with his second goal of the night, and 13th of the season. Valentini has five points in seven games with Norfolk, since being acquired on March 10th from the Indy Fuel.
The final five minutes of the game proved to be worthwhile with two Admirals skaters collecting penalties, resulting in 35 seconds of a 5-on-3 penalty kill for Norfolk. The Admirals penalty kill unit stepped up big time and successfully killed the penalties.
Dylan Wells was phenomenal in goal for Norfolk tonight, with 34 saves on 36 shots, collecting his 12th win of the season.
Norfolk improves to 21-34-2-3 on the season with the victory and snapped their four-game losing streak. The Admirals are back in action tomorrow at 4 PM when they take on the Royals for the final time this year.
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