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AHL Norfolk Admirals

Admirals Fall Short of Comeback at Charlotte and Lose, 4-2

March 8, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release


CHARLOTTE, N.C. - After going down 3-0 to the Charlotte Checkers, the Norfolk Admirals ultimately suffered a 4-2 loss on Sunday afternoon at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Checkers took advantage on the power play just past the halfway point of the first period. Brody Sutter swung a pass around the back side of the net to a waiting Phil Di Giuseppe in the corner. The winger connected with Justin Shugg in the right ring, who controlled before scoring low on LaBarbera's blocker side to put the Checkers up, 1-0, at 11:34.

The Admirals found themselves down by two after a tally from Mike Cornell. Zach Boychuk left the puck for Cornell in the slot, setting up another chance on LaBarbera. After a perceived deflection through traffic, the puck beat LaBarbera for the second time at 17:03, and the Checkers went into the first intermission with a two-goal advantage.

Ryan Faragher entered in place of LaBarbera to begin the second period. Charlotte wound around the fresh goaltender just 5:54 into the second period. Skated into the zone, Cornell grabbed the puck at the right circle and immediately swung it into the slot, where Ben Holmstrom scooped it up. Holmstrom then slipped it to Dennis Robertson on the left hand side. Robertson's wrister sailed into the net over the stretching glove of Faragher, and suddenly the Admirals faced a 3-0 hole.

Norfolk got one back three minutes later. Defenseman Colby Robak took the puck from the goal line and held onto it with one hand before sliding it towards John Kurtz. Kurtz threaded a pass through the crease to the stick of Chris Wagner. On his 100th shot of the season, Wagner stuffed the puck past Charlotte netminder Drew MacIntyre to make it 3-1 in the Checkers' favor at 8:33.

The comeback was on when Mike Sgarbossa netted his second goal in as many games 10:54 into the middle frame on the power play. Robak started the play in his own zone as he kicked a Charlotte pass to Charlie Sarault. Sarault raced up ice with Sgarbossa on a 2-on-2 and dished to the new Admiral at the red line. Capitalizing on Austin Levi's broken stick, Sgarbossa snapped a shot behind MacIntyre to cut Charlotte's lead to one.

The Checkers added an insurance tally to the scoreboard with less than five minutes to go in regulation. Trevor Carrick nudged the puck up the left boards past Kevin Gagne to Di Giuseppe. Positioned below the left circle Di Giuseppe saucered a pass across the slot and hit Alex Aleardi crashing the net. Faragher couldn't slide over in time, and Aleardi put the game away, 4-2.

MacIntyre stopped 31 of 33 Admirals' shots. LaBarbera saved 22 of 26 opportunities, and Faragher turned aside 10 of the 12 shots he faced in a loss that goes to the rookie. The Admirals grabbed one goal on their five man-advantage opportunities, while Charlotte went 1-for-2 on the power play.

Norfolk continues their extended road trip as they head to Portland to take on the Pirates in back-to- back games on Friday and Saturday. The weekend concludes with a Sunday matinee in Providence.

Three Stars:

1) CHA #20 Dennis Robertson (GWG)

2) CHA #28 Phil Di Giuseppe (2 A)

3) CHA #8 Mike Cornell (1 G, 1 A)

NOTES ... Chris Wagner has points in each of his last two AHL games, and five in five games against Charlotte this season ... In their last three outings, Charlie Sarault has two assists and Colby Robak has three points ... Sgarbossa has three points in his last two contests ... The Admirals have now tallied 25 or more shots on goal in 19 straight games.

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