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AHL Norfolk Admirals

Norfolk Admirals Weekly

February 17, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release


NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk Admirals gained five out of a possible six points in their three-game stretch that ended last night in Charlotte. The Admirals topped the Syracuse Crunch twice in back-to-back games over the weekend and fell in a shootout to the Charlotte Checkers.

A Jason LaBarbera shutout led the team to a victory Friday night against the Crunch. The Admirals took advantage of the power play, and Nic Kerdiles sunk the first goal just 1:13 into the first period. Norfolk beat Crunch netminder Kristers Gudlevskis again on the man advantage in the second period. Defensemen Josh Manson wristed one over Gudlevskis's shoulder off of a cross-ice pass from Stefan Noesen. The two goals would be the only in the game, and Norfolk skated away with the victory in hand.

Saturday night saw more goals than the night before, but the ending was the same. Syracuse went up early in the first period from an Artem Sergeev shot. The puck redirected off of Marc Fistric's skate in front of the net and found its way behind LaBarbera. Almost halfway through the second period William Karlsson tied up the contest, again on the power play. He one-timed a dish from Noesen top shelf on Gudlevskis knotting it at 1-1. No more goals occurred in regulation and overtime commenced. Karlsson struck again by following his own shot and cleaning up the rebound to end it in the extra session, 2-1.

Norfolk went down early to Charlotte and the hole increased through the first half of the game. With about seven minutes to go in the first period the Checkers had already secured a 2-0 lead over the Admirals. Charlotte tacked on another goal at 9:32 of the second frame and appeared to take a 3-0 advantage into the third. At 15:49, Norfolk began the comeback on a John Kurtz tip-in. With just nine seconds to go Karlsson scored his third goal in two games and minimized the deficit to one. A Joseph Cramarossa goal tied the game, 3-3, with less than five minutes left in the third. The rest of regulation and a seven-minute overtime went scoreless to force a three-round shootout. While Brody Sutter and Stefan Noesen each scored in the first round, neither team converted in the second or third rounds. McGinn converted in the fourth set, and Charlotte recorded the 4-3 win as Muse saved Max Friberg's attempt.

The Admirals are now tied for 13th in the Eastern Conference with the addition of five points for a total of 48. Norfolk will head to Worcester to face the Sharks in back-to-back matches on Friday and Saturday, and then to Connecticut to take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in a Sunday matinee.

ON THE RADIO/INTERNET

All regular-season games will air live on 1650 AM WHKT "The Answer" and online at 1650theanswer.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.

Tune in live to 1650 AM "The Answer" every Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. for the "Admirals Hour" with the "Voice of the Admirals" Pete Michaud and the "Original Admiral" Dennis McEwen. Michaud and McEwen discuss the latest in Norfolk Admirals hockey, speak with guests, update you on the Anaheim Ducks, as well as answer any calls during the show. Ask Pete and Dennis your questions by calling in to the studio at 757-454-1650.

STANDINGS UPDATE

At 21-24-3-3 (48 points), the Admirals are in 4th place in the East Division and are in 13th place in the Eastern Conference. Eight teams in each conference shall qualify for the 2015 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

Fri., Feb. 20 ... at Worcester Sharks (San Jose Sharks) ... 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 21 ... at Worcester Sharks (San Jose Sharks) ... 7 p.m.

ADMIRALS SPOTLIGHT

- Last Thursday, goaltender John Gibson won his first NHL game in his first start since October, a 2-1 victory over Carolina. Following a relief appearance at Florida in which Gibson allowed three goals on 18 shots, the Pittsburgh native responded with a 35-save outing in Raleigh for his third win of the 2014-15 season.

- The Ducks officially recalled forward Emerson Etem and defenseman Josh Manson from the Admirals today. The call-ups arrive after Matt Beleskey and Sami Vatanen each left Sunday's game at Washington.

ADMIRALS LOG

Stefan Noesen skated in his first game since October 18 when he returned for the Admirals against the Syracuse Crunch last Friday. Noesen picked up right where he left off, assisting on Josh Manson's third strike of the year and on Karlsson's tying goal on Saturday. The former first-round draft pick battled a knee injury last season and another lower-body injury that he suffered against Manchester during the first month of this season. William Karlsson scored both goals in Saturday's win versus Syracuse and another goal last night in the comeback that salvaged a point from Charlotte. Through 25 games, Karlsson had four goals and five assists. In the last seven games, the Swede has three goals and five helpers and currently rides a three-game point streak (3g, 1a).

NORFOLK LEADERS

Goals: Emerson Etem, Chris Wagner (13)

Assists: Brendan Bell (21)

Points: Nic Kerdiles (26)

Games: Dave Steckel (51)

PP Goals: Emerson Etem (6)

SH Goals: Chris Wagner (2)

+/- Rating: Mark Fistric (0)

PIM: Nathan McIver (135)

GAA: Jason LaBarbera (2.21)

Spct: Jason LaBarbera (.923)

Wins: Jason LaBarbera (7)

Losses: Jason LaBarbera (12; 4 in OT)

GPl: Jason LaBarbera (20)

Minutes: Jason LaBarbera (1166:14)

ABOUT THIS WEEK ' S MATCHUPS

The Admirals brave Winter Storm Octavia for a three-in-three this weekend at Worcester and Bridgeport. They faced the Sharks two weeks ago, wherein each team recorded a shutout win in Hampton Roads. It ' s been a much longer break since Norfolk faced off against Bridgeport; the teams split their series in late December to give the Sound Tigers a 2-1 advantage. This weekend will be the last Norfolk sees of the two clubs during the 2014-15 regular season.

Norfolk is playing well recently, stringing together a 5-2-1 record over their previous eight contests, including a three-goal comeback against Charlotte in which they scraped together a point. With that success, the Admirals have overtaken Bridgeport for 13th in the Eastern Conference and sit 10 points out of ninth. Chris Wagner has been held off the board in back-to-back matches, but has scored two points this month and six in his last 11 games. The return of Stefan Noesen continues to be a welcomed return, with the winger grabbing two assists in his three games since and showing excellent awareness on the ice. Unfortunately, Nic Kerdiles remains out since Saturday but put up six points in his last nine games. Keep an eye on Joseph Cramarossa. He netted a goal, assist and five shots yesterday; the game was one of four multi-point games the center has had this season. Jason LaBarbera is 2-1 in his last three games and ranks 13th in the AHL in both goals-against average (2.21) and save percentage (.923).

After rattling off an eight-game win streak, the Sharks have yo-yoed, compiling a 6-4 record since, all but three of which came in one-goal decisions. Worcester will be playing with a chip on its shoulder, as it surrendered a 4-0 third period lead against St. John ' s and lost 5-4 in overtime on Sunday. The Sharks ' power play is something that doesn ' t need much help, given that it has converted seven times in the last three games. Freddie Hamilton has taken over the top spot in points on his team with 28, and has put up three points in his last three. Micheal Haley and Travis Oleksuk may get on the scoresheet against Norfolk; both notched multi-point games against the Wolf Pack, and each tallied in Worcester ' s 4-0 shutout of the Admirals. With Troy Grosenick injured, Aaron Dell is likely to make his seventh-straight start between the pipes. The netminder has been stellar in relief, registering a 1.96 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.

WORCESTER LEADERS

Goals: Jeremy Langlois (16)

Assists: Taylor Fedun (22)

Points: Freddie Hamilton (28)

Games: Taylor Fedun, Bryan Lerg, Matt Taormina (49)

PP Goals: Micheal Haley (6)

SH Goals: Ryan Carpenter (1)

+/- Rating: Gus Young (8)

PIM: Micheal Haley (76)

GAA: Aaron Dell (1.96)

Spct: Aaron Dell (.924)

Wins: Troy Grosenick (15)

2 J.P. Anderson, Troy Grosenick (9)

GPl: Troy Grosenick (24)

Minutes: Troy Grosenick (1458:26)

Bridgeport finished up a lackluster weekend, going 0-3 against Providence, Manchester and Hershey. Two areas in need of improvement for the 15th-ranked Sound Tigers are their defense and power play: Bridgeport allowed 16 goals over those three games, and went 1-for-14 on the power play. In the Sound Tigers ' corner, however, are Kael Mouillierat and Alan Quine, who are 11th (40 points) and 19th (39 points), respectively, in AHL scoring. Despite the team ' s recent struggles, the two forwards have been steady, combining for 20 points in their last 12 games. Norfolk would do well to guard Ryan Pulock when on the penalty kill, as the defenseman is second in the league with a remarkable 10 goals on the man-advantage. Bridgeport will be without fourth-leading scorer Colin McDonald, who was called up to the Islanders on February 8, and had racked up 35 points in 40 games. Brett Gallant ' s 144 penalty minutes are good for sixth in the AHL and placing just one spot higher than Norfolk ' s John Kurtz (135), so a bout between the two is no doubt on the horizon. Kevin Poulin has been the Sound Tigers ' go-to goaltender this season but experienced a bad run of luck lately, going 2-4-2 over his last eight appearances.

BRIDGEPORT LEADERS

Goals: Kael Mouillierat (18)

Assists: Alan Quine (28)

Points: Kael Mouillierat (40)

Games: Kael Mouillierat (51)

PP Goals: Ryan Pulock (10)

SH Goals: Chris Langkow (2)

+/- Rating: Colton Gillies (5)

PIM: Brett Gallant (144)

GAA: Kevin Poulin (2.67)

Spct: Kevin Poulin (.920)

Wins: Kevin Poulin (14)

Losses: Kevin Poulin (17; 6 in OT)

GPl: Kevin Poulin (31)

Minutes: Andrei Vasilevskiy (1823:40)

**UPCOMING EVENTS AND PROMOTIONS**

Friday, February 27 vs. Providence

- American Cancer Society Night

ACS Night benefits ACS by donating a percentage of ticket sales to the organization

- Faith and Family Night

February 27 is our annual Faith and Family Night at Scope! Church groups can purchased reduced price Red-Level tickets for $11 per person through the Admirals' Administrative Office. The Clearview Church Band performs during Party on the Plaza at Scope starting at 6 p.m. before the game.

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.

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