HARTFORD, Conn. — Alex Killorn, Trevor Smith and Mike Angelidis scored in the second period and Dustin Tokarski made 27 saves as the Norfolk Admirals edged the Connecticut Whale, 4-3, on Sunday night at the XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum and took a two-games-to-one lead in the AHL Eastern Conference Semifinals series . Game 4 will be played Monday night in Hartford.
Ondrej Palat scored in the first period for the Admirals, who won their 16th consecutive road game dating back to Feb . 12 at Charlotte.
Connecticut took a 1-0 lead just 5:20 into the contest on the power play. Casey Wellman intercepted a Norfolk clearing attempt in the slot between the hashmarks. He sent a slap shot past Tokarski’s blocker and into the net.
The game’s next score also came on a Whale power play. However, this time, it was Palat finding the back of the net for the second time in as many games. He intercepted a Connecticut pass at the blue line in the Norfolk zone and sped toward Whale goaltender Cameron Talbot on a shorthanded breakaway. He deked to his forehand before stretching to slip a backhand shot past Talbot’s left leg at 8:01 for his second goal of the playoffs.
Connecticut re-claimed the lead late in the opening frame. Marek Hrivik sped past a Norfolk defender in the right wing before cutting towards the net and attempting a shot. The puck bounced off traffic in the crease before being knocked into the net by Andre Deveaux at 17:12 for a 2-1 Whale lead.
The Whale came out strong to begin the second stanza, out-shooting the Admirals 11-1 midway through the frame. However, Tokarski stood tall, and the second half of the period belonged to Norfolk. Killorn tied the game at 2-2 on the power play. He sent a shot through a screen from the right half-wall that beat Talbot at 11:31 for his third goal of the post-season.
Norfolk took its first lead of the game less than one minute later on Smith’s third goal of the playoffs. Mark Barberio sent a shot from the right point. Smith deflected the shot from the slot past Talbot at 12:16 to give the visitors a 3-2 lead.
Norfolk’s captain doubled his team’s lead late in the second period with his first goal of the playoffs. Radko Gudas sent a shot from the right point that Michel Ouellet deflected on goal. Angelidis found the rebound on top of the crease and swept it past Talbot’s right leg at 17:40 for a 4-2 lead.
Connecticut trimmed Norfolk’s lead to one goal early in the third period with a five-on-three power play goal. Kris Newbury sent a pass from the right corner to Wellman at the top of the right circle. Wellman one-timed the puck past Tokarski at 1:06 to cut the Admirals’ lead to 4-3.
However, Norfolk’s defense was stingy and Tokarski thwarted the remaining four Connecticut shot attempts in the final frame as Norfolk held on for the one-goal victory.
Norfolk was 1-for-4 on the power play while Connecticut was 2-for-5.
Dustin Tokarski (4-1) stopped 27 of 30 shots for the win. Cameron Talbot (4-2) made 18 saves on 22 shots for the setback.
Comment@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.