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Norfolk Admirals

Admirals Continue Push Towards Playoffs

February 25, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release


NORFOLK - Winners of eight of their last 13 games (8-4-1-0), the Norfolk Admirals will continue their push to earn a Calder Cup Playoff berth with three games this week - including a home game against the Charlotte Checkers on Friday at Scope.

The Admirals split a set of home games with the Atlantic Division-leading Providence Bruins last weekend. On Friday, the Admirals dropped a 3-0 decision. They came back on Saturday with a 3-2 win in a shootout behind goals by Dan Sexton and Brandon McMillan and a 37-save performance from Frederik Andersen. The Admirals handed the Bruins just their second loss in Providence's last 13 games.

The Admirals have a busy week ahead of them as they travel to face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday. The Admirals return to Scope to host the Charlotte Checkers on Friday night at Scope at 7:30 p.m. in M.S. Awareness Night. Through this special limited-time, online-only offer, Red Level tickets are available for just $11. The contest is also Game 5 of the eight-game GEICO Challenge Cup. The Admirals finish the week by traveling to Hershey on Saturday for a game against the Hershey Bears.

STANDINGS UPDATE

At 23-25-3-1 (50 points), the Admirals are in 5th place in the East Division and 13th place in the Eastern Conference. Below are the current AHL Eastern Conference standings:

Rank

Team GP W L OTL SL PTS PCT

1 * Syracuse Crunch 53 33 14 2 4 72 0.679

2 * Springfield Falcons 51 30 14 4 3 67 0.657

3 * Providence Bruins 52 31 17 0 4 66 0.635

4

Binghamton Senators 53 31 17 1 4 67 0.632

5

Portland Pirates 52 31 19 1 1 64 0.615

6

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 54 29 22 2 1 61 0.565

7

Hershey Bears 54 25 21 3 5 58 0.537

8

Connecticut Whale 55 25 23 5 2 57 0.518

9

Worcester Sharks 52 25 21 1 5 56 0.538

10

Albany Devils 51 22 19 1 9 54 0.529

11

Manchester Monarchs 54 24 24 3 3 54 0.500

12

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 52 22 23 3 4 51 0.490

13

Norfolk Admirals 52 23 25 3 1 50 0.481

14

St. John's IceCaps 55 23 29 1 2 49 0.445

15

Adirondack Phantoms 51 21 27 2 1 45 0.441

*Division Leader

Eight teams in each conference shall qualify for the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs. Following the conclusion of each team's 76-game regular season, the three division winners in each conference will be seeded 1-3 (in order of regular-season points) and the next five best teams (in order of regular-season points) will be seeded 4-8.

THE ADMIRALS' WEEK AHEAD

Wed., Feb. 27 ...at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins) ... 7:05 p.m.

Fri., Mar. 1 ... vs. Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes) ... 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Mar. 2 ...at Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals) ... 7:00 p.m.

ADMIRALS' LOG

The Admirals are 4-1-1-0 during their last six games, picking up nine of the possible twelve points during that stretch.

Saturday's win was the 500th in the AHL history of the Norfolk Admirals. The Chicago Wolves also recorded their 500th victory on Saturday night. Chicago and Norfolk are the 21st and 22nd franchises to reach 500 wins. The Admirals' 500th win came in their 1008th game as a member of the American Hockey League.

Sami Vatanen notched another assist last weekend and now has a team-leading 23 assists on the season. Vatanen has 27 points (4 goals, 23 assists) this season, and is tied for 13th in scoring by an AHL defenseman and is tied for 18th in AHL rookie scoring.

Frederik Andersen is currently on a four-game winning streak. This is the longest such winning streak of the year for an Admirals goaltender.

Andersen is third in the league in save percentage (.931) and first among rookies. He is also tied for sixth in goals against average (2.22) and first among rookies.

Andersen stopped 49 of 51 shots he faced over the weekend and picked up the victory on Saturday. Since joining the Admirals on Jan. 20th, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond has three goals and four assists with 35 penalty minutes and a plus-5 rating in twelve games. Since Jan. 20th, Letourneau-Leblond leads the team in penalty minutes, is tied for third in goals and points, and ranks second in plus/minus.

Defenseman Jordan Hendry netted the game-winning shootout conversion in the sixth round of the shootout on Saturday vs. Providence on his 29th birthday. Hendry, who has played 239 career AHL games, scored on his first career AHL shootout attempt.

SCOPING THE COMPETITION - SCOUTING REPORT FOR UPCOMING HOME GAMES

Charlotte (32-17-2-3, 69 points) is fourth in the Western Conference and is second in the South Division. The Checkers have the second-most points in the Western Conference but trail South Division and Western Conference-leading Texas by five points.

Charlotte has won its last two games and seven of its last ten. The Checkers are ending a six-game road trip with Friday's game at Scope. They are 4-1-0-0 on the trip thus far.

This is the fifth of eight meetings between these two teams this year and a part of the GEICO Challenge Cup. Charlotte leads the season series, 3-1-0-0.

The last time these two teams met was on January 23rd at Scope. The Admirals won 3-1 behind goals from Jay Rosehill, Dan Sexton and Luca Caputi and a 30-save performance from Igor Bobkov.

Chris Terry leads the Checkers in all three major offensive categories (goals, assists and points) among active players. His 20 goals are good for a tie for 10th place in the AHL.

Charlotte is tied for third in the power play, converting on 21.4% of their chances with the man advantage. The Checkers are also third on the penalty kill with an 86.3% of not allowing a goal when down a man. Justin Peters is second in the league in shutouts with six. Charlotte leads the AHL with 67 goals scored in the third period and is tied for the second-fewest goals allowed in the third period (38).

DUCKS ON A SIX-GAME WINNING STREAK

Owners of a six-game winning streak, the Anaheim Ducks (13-2-1, 27 points) have climbed to second place in the Western Conference. They defeated the Colorado Avalanche over the weekend to continue the streak and look to defeat the defending Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings tonight. Former Admirals on the Ducks roster include Kyle Palmieri, Viktor Fasth, Peter Holland and Patrick Maroon.

FRIDAY NIGHT IS M.S. NIGHT AT SCOPE

The Admirals return to Scope to host the Charlotte Checkers next Friday night at Scope at 7:30 p.m. in M.S. Awareness Night. Through this special limited-time, online-only offer, Red Level tickets are available for just $11. If you were to buy these tickets at the Scope Box Office on game night, they'd be $19 - you save $8! Plus, proceeds benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This special offer is only good atnorfolkadmirals.com/groupsand is only available through 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27th. For more details, please contact Director of Development of the National MS Society, Hampton Roads Chapter, Tonya McKinney attonya.mckinney@nmss.orgor call(757) 490-9627 x46200.

DEPOSITS DUE THURSDAY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF 2013-2014 SEASON TICKET PAYMENT PLAN

Admirals' season tickets remain one of the best entertainment values in Hampton Roads. 2013-14 season tickets are now available for as little as $50 a month. Effective immediately, you can lock in your 2013-14 season tickets with a $100 deposit per seat. To take advantage of the Admirals Season Ticket Payment Plan, that deposit is due by Thursday. Monthly payments will be spread out from March through August.

For more details, visit norfolkadmirals.com or call (757) 640-1212.

NORFOLK LEADERS

Goals : Peter Holland (16)

Assists : Sami Vatanen (23)

Points : Peter Holland (35)

Games : Mat Clark (49)

PP goals : Patrick Maroon, Kyle Palmieri (7)

SH goals : Troy Bodie, Emerson Etem, Peter Holland, Chris Wagner (1)

+/- Rating : Chris Wagner (+8)

PIM : Patrick Maroon (108)

GAA : Frederik Andersen (2.22)

Spct : Frederik Andersen (.931)

Wins : Frederik Andersen (11)

Losses : Igor Bobkov (15)

GPI : Frederik Andersen (26)

Minutes : Frederik Andersen (1462)

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON LEADERS

Goals : Riley Holzapfel, Trevor Smith (16)

Assists : Trevor Smith (19)

Points : Trevor Smith (35)

Games : Riley Holzapfel, Trevor Smith (54)

PP goals : Paul Thompson (5)

SH goals : Brian Gibbons (2)

+/- Rating : Philip Samuelsson (+10)

PIM : Bobby Farnham (169)

GAA : Jeff Zatkoff (1.98)

Spct : Jeff Zatkoff (.917)

Wins : Jeff Zatkoff (17)

Losses : Jeff Zatkoff (15)

GPI : Jeff Zatkoff (33)

Minutes : Jeff Zatkoff (1881)

CHARLOTTE LEADERS

Goals : Chris Terry (20)

Assists : Riley Nash (24)

Points : Chris Terry (42)

Games : Brett Bellemore (53)

PP goals : Zach Boychuk, Chris Terry (7)

SH goals : Zac Dalpe (3)

+/- Rating : Zac Dalpe (+17)

PIM : Brett Bellemore (78)

GAA : Justin Peters (2.30)

Spct : Dan Ellis (.922)

Wins : Justin Peters (21)

Losses : Justin Peters (12)

GPI : Justin Peters (36)

Minutes : Justin Peters (2012)

HERSHEY LEADERS

Goals : Jon DiSalvatore (14)

Assists : Jeff Taffe (35)

Points : Jeff Taffe (47)

Games : Garrett Mitchell (54)

PP goals : Jon DiSalvatore (8)

SH goals : Garrett Mitchell (2)

+/- Rating : Garrett Mitchell (+10)

PIM : Steve Oleksy (144)

GAA : Philipp Grubauer (2.10)

Spct : Braden Holtby (.932)

Wins : Braden Holtby (12)

Losses : Braden Holtby (12)

GPI : Braden Holtby (25)

Minutes : Braden Holtby (1458)

TICKETS

Individual tickets are on sale now at the Scope Box Office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 and online at ticketmaster.com. Don't miss a minute of Admirals action by purchasing your season tickets today. Stop by the Admirals' Administrative Offices at Scope, call (757) 640-1212 weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or visit norfolkadmirals.com anytime.

ON THE RADIO/INTERNET

All regular season games will air live on "The Game" 102.1-FM, 1490-AM and online at 1021TheGame.com. AHL Live will also carry online video of every Admirals game on a pay-per-view or season pass basis. Fans can log in to watch, listen or get more information about AHL Live's online audio and video features at ahllive.com.

Check out the Norfolk Admirals Statistics

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