Wood, Madsen lead Admirals to win in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, FL – Jake Wood tallied a goal and an assist as the Norfolk Admirals topped the Jacksonville Icemen Friday Night at the Veterans Memorial Arena. Merrick Madsen was strong for Norfolk, as he made 25 saves on 27 shots. With the win. Norfolk improved to (18-21-3-3 42 points) on the year, and extended its unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1-0).

The Admirals jumped out in front first with a goal from Jake Wood. Matt McMorrow was able to deke around a defender at the blue-line on the left side skating into the Jacksonville zone which turned into a two-on-one for Norfolk. McMorrow fed a pass across the ice and Wood was able to deflect it through the legs of goaltender Mikhail Berdin to give Norfolk a 1-0 lead at 16:45 of the first period.

Norfolk added another goal with a tally from Ben Duffy. Kelly Klima dumped the puck in behind the net. Jalen Smereck retrieved the puck from behind the net along the wall. Smereck fed a shot out to the slot where Ben Duffy let a wrister go that beat Berdin to give Norfolk a 2-0 lead at 2:01 of the second period.

Jacksonville got on the board with a goal from Cody Fowlie. Jacksonville was able to get a long period of pressured zone time in the Norfolk end. Wacey Rabbit played a pass behind the net for Everett Clark. Clark played a pass out in front of the net, where it hit off an Admirals skate right to the stick of Fowlie. Fowlie deked to his forehand and got is past a sprawled Madsen to cut the Norfolk lead to 2-1.

Less than 90 seconds later, Norfolk would retake the lead on a goal from Don Olivieri. Olivieri skated into the Jacksonville zone on the left side through the circle. He got around Garrett Hunt trying to cut the angel and fired a shot past the diving Berdin to give Norfolk a 3-1.

Norfolk extended its lead courtesy of a power-play goal from Chris Crane. T.J. Melancon was able to keep the puck at the right point after a faceoff win. Melancon fed a pass to the left circle for Crane. Crane fired off a shot that trickled through the pads of Berdin to give Norfolk a 4-1 lead at 5:12 of the third period.

Jacksonville answered the Norfolk strike with a goal from Kyle Shapiro, but it’s as close as they would get. David Broll fed a back-door pass to from the right circle to Shapiro, where he was able to redirect it past Madsen to cut the Norfolk lead to 4-2 at 13:43 of the third period.

Madsen made 25 saves on 27 shots and got his fifth win for Norfolk on the year, while Berdin suffered his ninth loss of the year.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday in downtown Jacksonville. Game time is set for 7 p.m.