For the second time in three days, the Norfolk Admirals and Worcester Railers met inside Norfolk Scope for an ECHL North Division Showdown, with the Admirals taking game one by a 3-1 final. On Friday night, the Railers got the best of the Admirals as they came away with a 6-5 overtime win to even the weekend series. Goaltending was the difference maker in the game. The Admirals powerplay scored just once on five tries, and the Railers converted twice, also on five attempts.
Goaltending for the Admirals was terrible as Dante Giannuzzi did not give them what they needed. He allowed six goals on just 23 shots, giving him a horrendous .739 SV% for the night.
Former Admiral Michael Bullion stole the show as he stopped 43 of the 48 shots he faced in the winning effort.
Three Stars
First Star – Anthony Repaci (1g,1a)
Second Star – Justin Gill (3a)
Third Star – Sean Montgomery (1g-1a)
Recap
Just 32 seconds into the contest, the Admirals had the first good chance of the game. A rimmed puck around the boards by Cam McDonald found none of his teammates but did find Carson Musser on the left-wing wall. Musser collected the puck and threw it on net where Keegan Iverson was standing. He tipped the shot on net, but Bullion was up for the early task as he made the save for a stoppage. At 2:46, the Admirals went to their first powerplay of the night as McDonald was whistled for tripping. In the ensuing powerplay, the Admirals created a lot of good chances by throwing everything at the net. At 4:33, they nearly struck first. A clean faceoff win by Ryan Chyzowski went straight back to Musser. He threw a shot on net and with bodies in front, the puck was deflected into the back of the net by Justin Young. The ref deemed it to have been played with a high stick, and as a result, the game was still scoreless.
The Admirals were playing spectacular hockey through the first 13 minutes as the peppered Bullion with ten shots while keeping the Railers to just one shot which came over halfway through the first period. All that hard work to begin the game paid off. At 13:17, the Admirals struck first (again). Sanghoon Shin did a tremendous job getting the puck into the Railers’ zone from the blue line. Once the puck was in, he was tied up along the right-wing boards, but Carson Golder was there to support him and picked up the loose puck. Golder spun and found Marko Reifenberger all alone in front of the Railers’ net. On his backhand, Reifenberger picked up a rebound for his first as an Admiral.
After a scrum at the 15:53 mark of the first period, the Railers were given their first chance on the powerplay, and they were able to convert. With the puck at the bottom of the right-wing circle, Gill somehow had Giannuzzi scrambling. He threw over a pass to Matthew Kopperud, who had a wide-open net and made no mistake, scoring on just their third shot of the game. Both teams went into the first intermission knotted at one, but the Admirals had a dominating 18-5 shot count.
At 5:19 of the second period, the Admirals regained their lead with a powerplay goal. A great diving effort by Musser allowed him to sweep the loose puck back to Josh McDougall. McDougall walked to the middle of the ice and laid a pass out to Shin, who walked in and ripped a shot over the left shoulder of Bullion. At 13:24, the Railers responded with a powerplay goal of their own to knot the game at two. A failed clearance allowed the Railers to keep possession of the puck in the Admirals’ zone. A shot from Mason Klee went wide and off the boards behind the net. It was perfectly placed as it ended directly on the tape of Griffin Loughran, who had a wide-open net to tuck the puck into. Just a minute later, they added on another to take a 3-2 lead. A perfectly executed give-and-go between Gill and Andrei Bakanov ended with Bakanov tallying his first goal of the season. He received a pass from Gill in the center of the ice, skated in tightly to the Admirals’ goal, and found a hole for a terrible goal given up by Giannuzzi. Through the first 35 minutes, the Admirals helped Giannuzzi big time, keeping the Railers to just 11 shots, but the effort was not reciprocated. The Railers held a 3-2 lead through two periods but were again outshot 17-10 for the period and 35-15 for the game.
Early in the third period, the Admirals came out jumping as they tied the game at three just 2:06 into the the final frame. Down on a 3-on-2 against the Railers’ defense, Golder was looking pass the whole way. With the puck in the zone and at the right-wing faceoff dot, he was still looking pass but shot the puck low and hard to beat Bullion on the five-hole. Just 1:39 later, they added another to take a 4-3 lead. On a zone entry, Stepan Timofeyev smartly pulled up high in the zone, knowing he did not have any good options. Denis Smirnov was trailing the play and received a pass from Timofeyev in the middle of the ice. He pulled the lone defender towards him, leaving Brady Fleurent all alone with a wide-open net on the back door, making no mistake in tapping it in for the lead.
At 9:50, the Railers tied the game back up. It started with a zone entry and ended with a gorgeous passing play that saw four quick touches of the puck before it was slotted into the back of the net by Riley Piercey. Kopperud and Repaci picked up the assists. On shot number 45 of the game for the Admirals, they picked up their fifth goal of the game to take a 5-4 lead with 5:05 left in the game. On a delayed penalty coming to the Railers, the Admirals did a wonderful job getting shots on and retrieving the pucks to keep the tired Railers on the ice. With three players up high, Chyzowski, Musser, and McDougall were passing the puck between themselves along the blue line. Musser shot a long-range shot from the blue line, and Montgomery was able to get a stick on it to deflect the puck past the blocker of Bullion.
The lead did not last long, however. With 3:16 left, Connor Welsh tied the game as he danced around Reifenberger up near the blue line and took a long-range shot from well above the top of the right-wing circle as another weak goal was given up by Giannuzzi as he had a clear line of sight to the shooter.
Through three periods of play, the Admirals were completely dominating the shot totals as they had a 48-22 shot total. But one shot is all it took for the Railers to put an end to the game. Just 32 seconds in, Kamerin Nault tried to find Golder in the middle of the ice, but the pass was intercepted as the Railers went down on a 2-on-1. Just 39 seconds into overtime, Repaci called game as he riffled a shot from the top of the left-wing circle to beat Giannuzzi to the glove side.
Next Up
With the week set knotted at one game a piece, both teams will meet for the third time in five days on Sunday (Nov. 3). Puck drop is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. at Norfolk Scope.
