Penguins Freeze Admirals 4-1
By Ted Warren
Photo Credit: Norfolk AdmiralsThe Norfolk Admirals and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins rematched Saturday night in Norfolk. 7,094 fans didn’t have to wait long to watch the sparks fly. Admirals forward Josh Brittain and Penguins D-man Alex Grant dropped the mitts just three seconds into the game.
Ex-Admiral Trevor Smith tallied his 14th goal of the season when his shot was deflected off Admirals defenseman Jordan Hendry and trickled behind the Admirals netminder. Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff racked up an assist as he made the outlet pass to Smith. When the buzzer sounded to end the 1st stanza the Penguins outshot the Admirals 16 to 8.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton left-wing Bo Bennett furthered the Penguins lead just 47 second into the middle frame on the power play as his shot beat Norfolk’s tendy Bobkov low in the slot. Admirals center Peter Holland cut into the deficit when he cashed in on a Patrick Maroon pass while on the penalty kill. Peter Holland leads all Admirals in goal scoring with 15. Both teams were even steven on shots with ten apiece when the second came to a close.
Riley Holzapfel widened the Penguins lead scoring from the hash marks as Chad Kolarik fed the puck to Holzapfel who put the puck past Bobkov at the 10:23 mark of the third period. Warren Peters empty net goal was the nail in the coffin for the Admirals as the Penguins skated away with a 4-1 victory. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was successful on 1 out of 4 power play opportunities while Norfolk couldn’t muster a goal on 4 P.P. chances.
No rest for the Admirals. They now jump on their bus and make the midnight trek to Hershey, PA to face off against the Capitals AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears. The puck drops at five o’clock EST.
Follow Ted on Twitter @bauerhockeydude