AHL Norfolk Admirals

Admirals Past and Present Thrill Scope Crowd

February 8, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release


NORFOLK, VA - In a fitting end to the Inaugural Admirals Hall of Fame Night, the Norfolk Admirals (17-27-2-4) put up five goals and shut their opponent out by defeating the Binghamton Senators (23-19-4-4) 5-0 on Friday evening at Norfolk Scope Arena. The victory gave Norfolk four straight wins and points in its last eight games (6-0-1-1).

The evening began with a pre-game ceremony honoring Admirals founder Blake Cullen, coach John Brophy, player/assistant coach/general manager Al MacIsaac and player Rod Taylor as the first class of the Admirals Hall of Fame. Each inductee was presented with a plaque and a new Admirals Hall of Fame banner was lowered from the Scope rafters.

The present-day Admirals then took to the ice and turned on the red light first. Jay Rosehill created a turnover with an interception at the attacking left point. He skated through the left faceoff dot and sent the puck across the slot to Rob Klinkhammer at the opposite circle, and Klinkhammer one-timed the pass past Binghamton netminder Jeff Glass 8:32 into the first period.

A second period scoring blitz began 6:23 into the frame. Paul Szczechura extended his scoring streak to an Admirals' season-high ten games by sending a cross-slot pass from the right wing which deflected off a Binghamton defender and past Glass.

Karl Stewart gave Norfolk a 3-0 lead under three minutes later on a power play. Kyle Wanvig sent a pass from the right wing across the slot to Stewart at the bottom of the left circle. Stewart then redirected the pass into the cage at 9:11.

A tic-tac-toe passing play spelled the end of the game for Glass at 12:57. Stewart stole a pass at his own blue line and started a three-on-one break with Wanvig and Adam Henrich. The puck entered the attacking zone on Stewart's stick along the right wing, was passed to Wanvig at the left faceoff dot and was then tapped to Henrich in the slot near the left hashmarks. Henrich then backhanded the puck off the right post and across the goal line.

Blair Jones closed out scoring with 38 seconds remaining in the second period. After accepting a pass from Norm Milley, Jones cut across the right circle and sent a shot that eluded new Binghamton goaltender Brian Elliott through the five-hole.

Jonathan Boutin shut down the Senators' attack with 27 saves for his second shutout of the season. Jeff Glass stopped 17 of 21 shots through 32:57 and was tagged with the loss. Brian Elliott stopped 10 of 11 shots through 27:03 and did not receive a decision.

Norfolk was 1-2 on the power play. Binghamton was 0-2.

The Admirals and Senators will play a rematch tomorrow evening at 7:15 at Scope. During the first intermission, the mascot from Liberty Tax Service will shoot against Admirals Vice President and retired goaltender Mark Bernard. If the mascot wins the shootout, everyone in attendance will receive 30% off this year's tax preparation from Liberty Tax Service.

To purchase tickets to any Admirals game, you may visit the Scope Box Office weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., visit any Ticketmaster outlet, call Ticketmaster at (757) 671-8100 or visit Ticketmaster online at www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase Admirals season tickets, ten packs or group tickets, please stop by the Admirals' Administrative Offices at Scope or call (757) 640-1212 weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Three Stars:

1. Jonathan Boutin - NOR

2. Karl Stewart - NOR

3. Rob Klinkhammer - NOR

Notes: Norfolk has tied a season high with four straight wins and extended their season-best point streak to eight games ... The five-goal margin of victory was the largest of the season ... Paul Szczechura's ten-game scoring streak (7-7-14) is the longest by an Admiral this season, is tied for the longest by an AHL rookie this season (Lake Erie's David Jones), and is tied for the fourth-longest point streak in Norfolk Admirals history. Szczechura has points in every game with Norfolk since joining the team in a January 15 trade from Iowa ... Szczechura also has goals in six of his last seven games (6G) ... Boutin's shutout was his second of the season and fourth of his AHL career. He is the first Norfolk netminder to record two shutouts in a season since Craig Anderson, Michael Leighton and Adam Munro each recorded multiple shutouts during the 2004-05 season ... Radek Smolenak established a new season-high with nine shots on goal ... Ten of Norfolk's 11 forwards recorded points ... Every Norfolk skater was a plus-player with Szczechura, Vladimir Mihalik and Jay Leach leading the way with +2 efforts ... Norfolk was whistled for a season-low four penalty minutes ... Forwards Shawn Collymore and Chris Lawrence and defenseman Andy Rogers missed the game due to injury, while forwards Justin Keller and Zbynek Hrdel were healthy scratches ... Attendance: 3,911.

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