RECAP | Admirals Late Rally Falls Short Against Adirondack

Glens Falls, NY - The Norfolk Admirals concluded a road trip out west with a victory and subsequently traveled to New York for a critical three-game series with the Adirondack Thunder. In the first game of the series, the Admirals suffered a 5-4 loss to the Thunder. Despite mounting a late-game comeback from three goals down, the Admirals were unable to complete the comeback.

Oskari Salminen made his tenth appearance in goal during the game. He faced a total of 37 shots and made 32 saves in the Admirals defeat.

In the opening period of play, the Thunder scored the first goal promptly as Shane Bull made a successful shot that beat Salminen's glove side, resulting in his first professional goal. The intensity on the ice was palpable from the beginning due to the high stakes of the series. Five and a half minutes into the period, Norfolk tied the game at one with Carson Musser's seventh goal this season, a slapshot from the left point.

At the eight-minute mark of the period, the Admirals incurred a roughing penalty. However, they were able to fend off the man-advantage successfully. In the final three minutes of the opening frame, the tension on both sides intensified as Stepan Timofeyev went to the box for cross-checking along with a Thunder player. Following the penalties, Adirondack regained its lead, with Shane Harper scoring off the 4-on-4 action for his 17th goal of the year.

Despite being outshot 17-8 in the opening 20 minutes, the Admirals were only down 2-1 as Salminen stood firm with his fifteen saves.

Adirondack extended their lead to two goals just 36 seconds into the second period as T.J. Friedmann scored his fifth goal of the season off a rebound, making it 3-1. Norfolk cut the two-goal deficit in half five minutes later, as Keaton Jameson put away the puck off the initial shots on goal from Kamerin Nault and Simon Kubicek for his 12th goal of the season.

Hostilities on both ends of the ice increased as more penalties were assessed on each side. As a result of the penalties, no power play goals were scored, and the score remained 3-2 in favor of Adirondack after 40 minutes of action. The Admirals outshot the Thunder 15-9 in the middle frame.

During the final 20 minutes of play, the game saw Adirondack increase their lead to three goals, but Norfolk managed to stage a late rally to make things interesting. Five minutes into the final period, Matt Stief scored his fifth goal of the year, making it 4-2. A few moments later, the Thunder added another goal to their evening as Tristan Ashbrook beat Salminen over the shoulder for his 24th goal of the season, bringing the score to 5-2.

In the latter half of the period, it was Norfolk who attempted a comeback as they added a pair of power-play goals. With eight minutes remaining in the game, Denis Smirnov scored his 12th goal of the season, putting away the rebound off of the Thunder goaltender, Issac Poulter, making it 5-3. Shortly after, Danny Katic netted his 20th goal off a feed from Stepan Timofeyev for the back-door tap-in goal.

As time ran down on the Admirals, the Thunder were able to hold off and secure the 5-4 victory. Norfolk's record for the season now stands at 35-21-5-1, and the team remains in second place in the ECHL North Division with 76 points.

Sentara Health Three Stars of the Game

1. ADK - M. Stief (1 goal 2 assists, +1)

2. ADK - S. Harper (1 goal, 1 assist, +1)

3. NOR - K. Jameson (1 goal, 1 assist)

What’s Next

The Admirals are set to hit the ice at Cool Insuring Arena tomorrow night for game two of their series against the Thunder. The puck is scheduled to drop at 6:00 pm in Glens Falls.