AHL Norfolk Admirals

Admirals Top Binghamton, 5-1

December 9, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release


BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Trevor Smith had a goal and two assists as five different skaters scored for the Norfolk Admirals in a 5-1 victory over the Binghamton Senators (9-15-1-1) on Friday night at the Broome County Veteran's Memorial Arena. The Admirals and Senators square off again tomorrow night in New York.

With the win, Norfolk (15-9-0-1) is now in a three-way tie for first place in the East Division with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (13-7-1-4) and Hershey Bears (13-6-3-2).

Smith joined Michel Ouellet, Matt Fornataro, Mike Kostka and Cory Conacher in recording goals for the Admirals in the win. Goaltender Dustin Tokarski earned his fifth consecutive win by stopping 21 of 22 shots.

The Admirals took a 1-0 lead with Ouellet's fifth goal of the season. Smith sent a pass from behind the goal line in the right corner towards the right edge of the slot. Ouellet, who had missed Norfolk's previous 15 games due to injury, sent a one-timer past Senators netminder Robin Lehner at 7:09.

Binghamton tied the game at 1-1 midway through the second period. Andre Petersson sent a shot from the right faceoff circle that found its mark over the left shoulder of Tokarski at 9:30.

However, the rest of the second period belonged to the Admirals. Just more than four minutes after Petersson's goal, Fornataro netted his first goal of the season to put the Admirals ahead, 2-1. While on the power play, Smith sent a pass from the bottom of the right circle across the slot to Fornataro, who sent a shot into the net past a lunging Lehner at 13:39.

Just over five minutes later, Norfolk's lead doubled on Kostka's first goal as an Admiral. Just moments after he exited the penalty box, Kostka entered the attacking zone along with Carter Ashton. After Ashton's shot was stopped by Lehner, Kostka found the rebound between the hashmarks and sent it through traffic past Lehner for a 3-1 Norfolk lead at 18:47.

The Admirals then took a 4-1 lead with only 20 seconds remaining in the second stanza on Conacher's thirteenth goal of the season. He entered the attacking zone along the left wing and sent a shot from the left edge of the slot. The shot went between the legs of a Binghamton defender and between the legs of Lehner on its way into the net at 19:40.

Norfolk closed out scoring with a power play goal at 18:38 of the final frame. Smith took the puck from the right corner and sent a shot through the leg pads of Lehner for his eleventh goal of the season.

Dustin Tokarski (10-5-0) turned aside 21 of 22 shots for his fifth consecutive victory. Robin Lehner (6-10-1) stopped 34 of 39 shots for the loss.

Norfolk was 2-3 on the power play. Binghamton was 0-3 with the man advantage.

The same two teams meet tomorrow night once again at the Broome County Veteran's Memorial Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. in game two of a three-game road trip. All games can be heard at 102.1-FM, 1490-AM and 1021TheGame.com. You can also watch on a pay-per-view basis at AHLLive.com.

The Admirals return home next Friday, December 16th, as the Hershey Bears invade Scope for the second time this season. Puck drop for that game is slated for 7:30 p.m. during the annual Toy Toss Night. See norfolkadmirals.com for details.

Individual tickets for all regular season games start at just $12. Tickets are available 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 the action by purchasing your 2011-12 season tickets today. Season tickets start at just $350 while 10-Packs are available for as little as $110. 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!

Three Stars:

1. Trevor Smith - NOR

2. Matt Fornataro - NOR

3. Dustin Tokarski - NOR

NOTES ... In his five consecutive victories, Admirals netminder Dustin Tokarski has allowed just seven goals on 102 shots. He has posted a 5-0-0 record with a 1.40 goals-against average and .931 save percentage since November 25 vs. Providence ... Forward Michel Ouellet returned to the lineup after missing 15 games due to an injury sustained on October 28 at Providence ... Forward Alexandre Picard returned to the lineup after missing 12 games due to an injury sustained on November 5 at Bridgeport ... After recording zero goals and 12 assists in his first 20 games of the season, Matt Fornataro's first goal of the season turned out to be the game-winning goal tonight ... With his three-point night, Trevor Smith (11G, 17A) has taken over the team lead in scoring by one point over Cory Conacher (13G, 14A) ... Mike Kostka's first goal as an Admiral was his third of the season, after he had previously scored twice with the San Antonio Rampage. Kostka began the season with the Rampage and joined the Admirals after being acquired in a trade by Norfolk's NHL parent club, the Tampa Bay Lightning ... Did not play: Richard Petiot, Kevin Quick, Mike Angelidis, Jean-Philippe Cote, Eric Neilson, Charles Landry.

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