The Norfolk Admirals lost game two of their Kelly Cup North Division semi-final to the Trois-Rivières Lions by a final of 5-4 Friday night at Colisée Vidéotron. Turnovers and not getting shots through on net were the negative stories for the Admirals all night.
Brandon Osmundson and a promising late comeback were positives in the Admirals defeat. Osmundson had himself a night, scoring two goals and picking up an assist to help with a comeback by the Admirals, but it would not be enough. He was named third star of the game.
Trois-Rivières would hold on to win the game after a very late two-goal surge by the Admirals to bring the score to 5-4. The Admirals would not have enough to get the game-tying goal.
First Period
The first period of game two started with how game one finished physically. Trois-Rivières came out flying, physical, and ready to get the series evened up. Less than two minutes into the opening frame, the Lions opened the scoring thanks to a Tyler Hylland goal. Alex-Olivier Voyer would chip the puck deep into the Admirals zone, beat out the Admirals d-men, and throw a backhand pass to the slot for Hylland to take a one-timer on goal. Hylland beat Admirals goaltender Yaniv Perets to the blocker side to take an early 1-0 lead.
At 9:17, Trois-Rivières extended its lead to 2-0. Admirals defenseman Carson Musser had the puck stripped off his stick in his own zone by Lions’ forward Nolan Yaremko. Yaremko hit a streaking Cedrick Montminy down the center of the ice with a pass, who put the puck in the back of the net. Perets was beat to the blocker side for the second time.
Norfolk’s Musser would make up for his mistake at 13:48 and bring the Admirals to within one. Entering the zone, the hometown kid, Brandon Osmundson, would find Thomas Caron on the far side with a pass. Caron threw a shot on net that would be blocked, but Musser would find the rebound and finish it glove side on Lions goaltender, Zachary Emond.
The first period ended 2-1 in favor of Trois-Rivières. Admirals outshot the Lions 10-6 in the opening frame. Both the Lions and Admirals went 0-for-2 on the powerplay.
Second Period
Norfolk would start the second on a powerplay as Trois-Rivières’ Voyer took a slashing penalty at the end of the first period. Admirals would put the pressure on but could not find an open shooting lane as the Lions were laying their bodies on the line to block three straight shots. After a much-needed penalty kill, the Lions built used the momentum from the kill to create two good chances on net. Perets stood tall to keep the score 2-1.
Trois-Rivières would extend their lead to two again at 5:40 of the second. Cory Thomas put a shot on net that was blocked by an Admirals defender. The puck would bobble around, and Perets was unable to locate the loose puck. Jakov Novak would be the only one to find the loose puck and fire it past the glove side of Perets. Tempers would flair as Novak would celebrate in the face of Admiral Simon Kubicek. Admirals Mathieu Roy would be called for Unsportsmanlike and put the Admirals shorthanded. Keegan Iverson for the Admirals and Thomas for the Lions would receive penalties for Roughing. All penalties came at 5:40 after the goal.
At 10:04, the Lions would continue to their second-period domination and extend their lead to 4-1. Lions’ Justin Ducharme shot the puck to the net from the boards on the left-hand side of the rink. Anthony Beauregard would get his stick on the puck to deflect it through the legs of the Admirals goaltender.
Trois-Rivières took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission while outshooting the Admirals 11-3 in the frame and 17-13 total. Yaremko registered three blocked shots in the period. Both teams would go 0-for-3 on the powerplay.
Third Period
The Admirals had just over a minute and a half left on a powerplay to start the period. Forward Brady Fleurent had three good chances to get the Admirals back to within two but could not beat Emond.
At 9:42, Osmundson would collect his first professional playoff goal and second point when he beat Emond five-hole, bringing the Admirals to within two goals. Musser would lose the puck on a shot fake, but it made its way to Osmundson in the slot and made no mistake burying the puck.
Admirals would take a penalty at the 10 minute mark of the third, and the Lions would capitalize to regain their three goal lead at 11:36. Cedrick Montminy would locate his own rebound from the seat of his pants and bank it off Perets into the net to make it a 5-2 game.
At 18:36, the Admirals brought it back to within two thanks to Osmundson’s second goal and third point on the night. Josh McDougall would take a shot from the point, and Osmundson would use his excellent hand-eye coordination to tip the puck out of mid-air and into the net to make it a 5-3 game.
The Admirals continued to have a “never say die” attitude as they would bring the game to within one at 19:25 of the third period. Fleurent would find the loose puck in a net-front scramble to bury it on the open side of the net.
Trois-Rivières was able to weather the storm in the remaining 35 seconds and kept the Admirals from tying the game.
Admirals outshot the Lions 12-8 in the final frame, with shots totaling 25-25 for the game. Admirals were 0-for-4 on the powerplay and went 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Perets picked up the loss, stopping 20-of-25.
What’s Next
The Norfolk Admirals and Trois-Rivières Lions will meet for game three on Saturday, April 20, at 7 p.m. at Colisée Vidéotron Arena. The Admirals will look to fix the mistakes they made tonight and take the series lead back home to the Admirals faithful inside Norfolk Scope.
