The Norfolk Admirals and Trois-Riviéres Lions will face off for game three of their Kelly Cup North Division semi-finals at 7 tonight inside Colisée Vidéotron Arena in Trois-Riviéres, Quebec. It is the final time the series will be held in Quebec as games four through seven are scheduled to be played inside Norfolk Scope in downtown Norfolk, VA. These two teams met in game two last night, with the Lions winning 5-4 and knotting the best-of-seven series at one game a piece. In his first postseason start, Yaniv Perets struggled, stopping 20-of-25 in the loss, but it would not fall only on him. If Perets gets the nod in goal tonight, I expect him to have a huge bounce-back game.
Last night, the Admirals struggled to get anything to consistently go their way through the first 40 minutes. Turnovers and getting shots blocked were the kryptonite for the Admirals all night long. Tonight, they will be looking to get off to a much better start than they did in game two. The Admirals gave up the first goal less than two minutes into the opening frame last night.
The Admirals will need to shut down the Lion’s three key players, as they were all over the Ads last night. Cedric Montminy was all over the ice last night, finding open lanes and locating loose pucks before anyone else could. This is how he would collect his two goals. Nolan Yaremko (two assists) and Anthony Beauregard (1-1-2) were also a thorn in the Admirals sides all night.
On the Admirals side, they will need to find a way to get Denis Smirnov unleashed and onto the scoresheet for a boost of confidence. Through two games, Smirnov has been held pointless. Through 51 games in the regular season, he posted 14-32-46.
Another name the Admirals will turn to step up is veteran Keaton Jameson. Jameson is no stranger to the Kelly Cup Playoffs, having played in it last season with the Utah Grizzlies. In six games with the Grizzlies, Jameson scored one goal and assisted on three for four points. This time around, Jameson has been held pointless.
Playing a simpler style of Admirals hockey and finding the right shooting lanes will be the keys to the game. Getting the puck in deep and grinding shift-by-shift will benefit the Admirals like it has all year. Norfolk has to be smarter with their shot selections, and they will be looking to improve on that tonight. Norfolk’s’ defensemen struggled to find any sliver of daylight to get pucks on net as they were finding shin pads that led to a transition back the other way.
Despite all this and the loss, the Admirals have all the momentum heading into tonight’s game after a huge third-period performance. The Admirals would mount a comeback, outscoring the Lions 3-1, thanks to a couple of goals from Brandon Osmundson and a late Brady Fleurent goal in the final frame to bring their deficit to one.
