Goaltender Frederik Andersen led the charge for Norfolk while Binghamton Senator’s Nathan Lawson got the go ahead from Senators coach Luke Richardson.

Newly acquired Norfolk  forward Steven Whitney netted his first pro goal on the power play halfway through the first stanza.  Fellow rookie Charles Sarault sauced a pass to Mitchell who was setup down low in Norfolk’s attacking zone. Mitchell’s pass found Whitney’s stick and in return Whitney shot eluded Lawson. In addition, Whitney’s goal was his first shot on net as a pro.

There was no further scoring until the 12:58 mark of the second period. Norfolk’s assistant captain Patrick Maroon lit the lamp on a five on three power play. Sarault made a goalmouth pass to Maroon through traffic. Maroon lofted his shot past Lawson’s glove doubling the home teams lead.

With six minutes left in play, Binghamton’s Cole Schneider broke up Andersen’s would be shut out, scoring his fourteenth goal of the season. Andersen paved the way for Norfolk securing a two to one win.

Winning goaltender Frederik Andersen picked up his twenty-first win of the year while opposing net minder Nathan Lawson suffered his sixth set back. Norfolk converted on two out of eight power play chances while the B-Sens failed to convert on four of their P.P. chances.

Norfolk’s head coach Trent Yawney talked about Whitney’s and Sarault’s success on the power play stating, “We always talk about putting our guys into situations that they are use to playing. That’s where they have been successful. Why not put them in there.”

Steven Whitney also chirped about his first pro goal in his first pro game, “That was a shock. I never suspected that. It was a nice pass and nice play all around and all I had to do was whack it in.”

Whitney talked about the success he found on the power play, “I fill a little bit more comfortable on the power play then I did five on five tonight. I’ve been on power plays my whole life. It’s a lot easier with five guys than four. “

The Admirals look to continue their winning ways tonight as the Club battles the Senators again at Scope arena in downtown Norfolk. Faceoff is slated to take place at 7:15. With a Hershey win Friday night Norfolk yet again sits two points out of a playoff spot with seven games remaining in the regular season.

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Kyle Bonis celebrates his first pro goal. Photo Credit: (John Wright/Norfolk Admirals)

The Norfolk Admirals continued their playoff push Tuesday night against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Pittsburg Penguins.

Norfolk’s coach Trent Yawney elected to start rookie goaltender Frederik Andersen who sealed a two to zero victory Saturday night against Eastern Conference leader, the Syracuse Crunch.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton countered with Jeff Zatkoff the 25-year-old from Detroit, Michigan.

Ex-Admiral Trevor Smith opened up scoring. Smith charged in hard on Andersen and sent a shot that Andersen saved; however; the puck trickled in off Trevor Smith scoring his twenty-first goal of the year four minutes into the game. Smith’s goal was reviewed by both referees to make sure it was legal.

“The puck was in the goalies glove. It was removed with a skate and went in the back of the net, but it was not declared a kicking motion.” stated Yawney on the call.

There was no additional scoring until the 4:51 mark of the second period when Riley Holzapfel fired a puck that rung off the post. Referee Ryan Murphy used the replay feed to assure players and coaches it was a good goal.

With a single tick left in the middle stanza, the Penguins tripled their lead as Chris Collins tallied his first goal of the season muscling the puck that got the better of Andersen.

The Admirals cut into the three goal deficit just minutes into the third period. Kyle Bonis skated in on Zatkoff sending a shot blocker side picking up his first pro goal in just his third game as an Admiral.

“I just took off. The puck wasn’t sitting flat so I looked where I was on the ice. He leaned to his blocker side so I just tried to get a good shot off and beat him blocker side.” commented Bonis about his first goal as a pro.

With five minutes left in the game Devante Smith-Pelly redirected a Gabe Guentzel point on the P.P. giving Smith-Pelly his twelfth goal of the season.

Despite scoring a goal, Smith-Pelly relayed the mood in the room after the loss, “Not much was said in there. It was pretty disappointing. We know that we didn’t play our best until the third. We did it Friday against the first place team. If we play like we did in the third, we are going to win more games than we lose.”

Trent Yawney shared his thoughts on the loss stating,  “We started off the game fine. The first five minutes we ran into penalty trouble. Way too many mistakes.”

Frederik Andersen was credited with his fifteenth loss of the season while Jeff  Zatkoff picked up his twenty-third win.

Norfolk continues their five game home stand against The Binghamton Senators Friday night who currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference. The Admirals trail the Hershey Bears by two points. Hershey holds the eighth and final playoff position in the East.

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