Admirals Upend B-Sens
The Norfolk Admirals began the weekend riding the coattails of the Hershey Bears who claim the last playoff position in the Eastern Conference with seventy-three points. Norfolk currently claims ninth in the Eastern Conference with seventy-one points.
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.
Follow Ted on Twitter –@bauerhockeydude