Whale Blow Past Admirals 5-2
By Ted Warren
Logo PropertyOf The Norfolk Admirals
The Connecticut Whale handed the Norfolk Admirals their fifth consecutive loss Saturday night in Hartford by the final score of 5-2.
Whale right-winger Chad Kolarik scored his 1st goal of the night just minutes into the opening frame. Kolarik attempted a shot on Admirals goalie Frederik Andersen. Andersen made the initial save, but it wasn’t enough as Kolarik found the rebound and hammered the puck past Andersen on the power play to put the home team up by a goal.
Norfolk answered the Kolarik goal at the 7:56 mark of the 2nd period when Admirals forward John Kurtz scored his 1st goal of the season stuffing a Chris Wagner rebound past Whale goalie Cam Talbot that tied the tilt at 1-1.
Minutes later in the 2nd Chad Kolarik broke the stalemate and scored his second goal of the night. Kolarik found a loose puck in traffic and jammed it past Andersen’s leg to give Connecticut a one-goal lead. With just a minute gone by in the 3rd period, Kolarik tallied his 3rd goal of the night completing the hatrick.
Tommy Grant made matters worse for the Admirals in the 3rd tallying the Whale’s 4th goal of the night as he rocketed a shot through Andersen’s 5-hole that strengthened the lead to 4-1. Norfolk’s Emerson Etem deked two Connecticut defenders out of position and steered the puck past Connecticut’s Cam Talbot. Etem’s tally made the scoreboard read 4-2 in favor of the home team.
Kris Newbury sealed Connecticut’s 5-2 victory with an open net goal that looked to be just an innocent clearing attempt that trickled down ice and landed in the empty net. The Whale held the upper hand in shots outshooting Norfolk 38-31. Norfolk was 0 for 3 on the P.P. while Connecticut was 1 for 6 while on the man advantage.
The Admirals now return home to face an Eastern Division rival, the Hershey Bears, Wednesday at 7:15 at Scope arena.
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