Checkers Down Admirals 5-2
By Ted Warren
Logo PropertyOf The Norfolk AdmiralsThe Charlotte Checkers defeated the Norfolk Admirals 5-2 Wednesday night at Scope. Jeremy Welsh tallied the 1st goal of the contest on Charlotte’s 1st shot of the night. Welsh fired a one-time shot past Admirals goalie Igor Bobkov that put the Checkers atop the scoreboard 1-0.
Admirals forward Peter Holland netted his 8th goal of the season beating Charlotte’s veteran goalie Dan Ellis to tie the tilt at 1-1. The Checkers upped the ante with goals from Sean Dolan and Drawson Bowman only seconds apart that gave the Checkers a commanding lead. Bowman’s league leading 11th goal was scored on the power play. Norfolk outshot Charlotte 12 to 9 in the 1st period.
Charlotte and Norfolk took to the ice for the 2nd period with the scoreboard reading 3-1 in favor of the visiting team. Checkers center Riley Nash managed to put his club up by 3 goals tipping in a Bobby Sanguinetti shot.
Admirals’ defenseman Sami Vatanen responded minutes later while following through on his initial shot that cut into the 3 goal deficit. Charlotte pulled away by 3 goals once again at the 18:57 mark when Checkers left winger Chris Terry beat Bobkov at the 5 hole for his 8th goal of the 2012-2013 campaign. Norfolk followed suit like they did in the 1st outshooting the visiting club 9 to 6.
Neither the home team nor the visiting club lit the lamp in the 3rd. Admirals’ goalie Igor Bobkov faced a total of 31 shots while his counterpart Dan Ellis saw 39 shots come his way. Norfolk was held scoreless on 2 power play chances. Charlotte was successful on 1 of 9 power play opportunities.
Admirals’ head bench boss Trent Yawney mentioned, “Every team goes through ruts like this, but we have to buckle down.” Coach was positive in the loss stating, “I thought we played more consistent, but we have to cut down on errors.”
Norfolk forward Peter Holland also expressed his thoughts on the game declaring, “We fell behind the 8 ball and struggled to get back.” Holland later commented, “If we are going to have a slump let’s get it out of the way sooner than later.”
The Admirals are looking to cut ties with this winless rut on the road with 2 back to back games this weekend starting in Adirondack on Friday and Connecticut on Saturday. The puck drops for both games at 7:00 pm EST.
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