Admirals Top Checkers 3-1
By Ted Warren
Photo Credit: Norfolk AdmiralsFollowing a 6-1 loss in Charlotte, North Carolina against the Checkers Sunday evening, the Admirals responded with a 3-1 victory in a Wednesday night rematch. Norfolk Admirals rookie netminder Igor Bobkov stood tall in net uplifting his record to (8-10-0). Charlotte’s goaltender Justin Peters suffered his 8th loss of the season.
After a quiet first period, Admirals left-wing Luca Caputi jolted Norfolk offensive scoring on a Nick Schaus rebound goal in the slot that beat Peters. Caputi’s 2nd goal of the season was scored on the power play.
Minutes after the Caputi P.P. goal, Admirals rugged forward Jay Rosehill got the better of Peters scoring on his own rebound which doubled Norfolk’s lead early in the middle stanza. Norfolk took a commanding three goal lead as newly acquired right-winger Dan Sexton tickled the twine on the power play sailing a wrist shot from the right-wing that got the better of Peters.
Charlotte erased the three goal deficit with a little less than five minutes remaining in the second period. Andreas Nodl attempted a shot in his attacking zone which took an awkward bounce off a Norfolk defenseman and went into the net.
All goals were scored during the second period for both clubs. Norfolk’s special teams were firing on all cylinders cashing in on 2 of 3 power play chances while impressively killing all 7 of Charlotte’s power play opportunities.
Norfolk head coach Trent Yawney commented on his troop’s performance stating, “Everyone’s effort had an impact on the game. We end up on the right side of the score when that happens.” When asked about the power play Yawney said,” It’s a building block they can build off and go forward into the weekend.”
Yesterday the American Hockey League announced 20-year-old Emerson Etem would represent the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL All-Star game. Prior to this announcement Peter Holland was summoned to represent Norfolk; however; Holland is still on recall with Anaheim. The speedy center shared his thoughts on being named to the All-Star game declaring, “It’s a great honor. I want to represent the Admirals and the Ducks well both on and off the ice. I want to be as professional as I can and go out there and work hard, but I want to show I’m an offensive guy and I want to use my speed. I want to excite the fans in Providence and it should be a fun weekend.”
The Admirals look to continue with their special teams success this weekend in back to back home games against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Friday’s contest is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm and Saturday’s puck drop is at 7:15.
Follow Ted on Twitter- @bauerhockeydude