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Final Score: Admirals 2, Devils 1 (SO)
First Period Recap: The first period is pretty much when everything happened. The Admirals started off well... well, well- as in they got their first shot within the first 30 seconds. In what is seemingly becoming a tradition, the carousel to the penalty box then began. Mat Clark got it started with his first minor of the night. The Admirals kill it with out letting any shots on goal.
Next was the Devil's turn to the sin-bin. Head Coach Trent Yawney sent his usual second PP unit out first and it paid off. Kevin Gagne tee'd up a slapshot from the blueline which took a bounce and deflection off Steven Whitney's stick to land behind Devil's goalie Kevin Kinkaid, 22 seconds into the PP, for the Admirals second shot & first goal of the game.
You can guess what happened after that. Clark takes his second minor of the night, followed by Yonkman taking a minor. While Clark's minor was killed off, the Admirals were not as lucky as the Devils managed to catch Gibson off his game and score 9 seconds into the PK.
The rest of the period was just back and forth, the only thing happening was Whitney taking a double minor for high sticking, which the Admirals successfully killed. John Gibson made timely saves as he took over in net while Frederick Andersen is called up to Anaheim. Norfolk was out shot 12-7.
Second Period Recap: The second period was very quiet.... I am pretty sure Devils goalie Kinkaid fell asleep at one point as the Admirals were only able to get off four shots. The off ice officials were slacking as there were at least 1-2 shots that were missed being counted. But still, single digits in shots, not so good. Admirals got one power play and somehow, I think for the first time this season, managed not to take a penalty during the second period. Once again, Gibson, kept the Admirals in this game, even though the saves weren't all pretty. Norfolk was letting tons of shots towards the net, while not producing much themselves. Norfolk was out shot 10-4.
Third Period Recap: Basically, copy and paste most of the second period recap here. The only change was Chris Wagner received a debatable penalty for boarding that the Admirals successfully killed. That call & kill must have lit a fire under their bums as they then starting shooting. The Devils did everything to try to slow down the Admirals, getting their goalie a new water bottle after a save, a new stick after a false faceoff start, arguing with the refs about faceoffs... anything they could do to slow down the Admirals. Unfortunately it worked as the Admirals could not score and the game went into OT. Norfolk out shot Albany 9-6.
Overtime: OT was when Gibson had to put on his big boy pants and show what he was worth. Albany took control of the bonus period and Norfolk spent four of the five mins in their defensive zone. While there are only four official recorded shots for the Devils, Gibson was showing his skills making saves and taking away angles. No scoring meant we were off to the shootout. Norfolk was out shot 4-1 (I don't know where they got that one shot though... I think the off ice official just felt bad for them)
Shootout: For the third time in five games, the Admirals found themselves in the skills competition. For those that don't know, the AHL shootout is five rounds compared to the NHL's three. Richard Rakell went first for the Admirals, deked too many times and missed. Rakell had participated in the Admirals prior two shootouts and had scored in both. The first two Devil shooters & Peter Holland for Norfolk were all stopped. In a surprise twist, Yawney tapped Joseph Cramarossa on the shoulder for an attempt. Cramarossa had not participated in either of the two prior shootouts. It paid off, Cramarossa buried one behind Kinkaid for the go ahead goal in the shoot out. Gibson then stopped the next Devils shooter while Devante Smith-Pelly scored next for the Admirals to take a 2-0 lead. The Devils then needed to score to stay in... Gibson said NO and the Admirals claimed Victory!
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The Good: Admirals won. It was an ugly win, so I am just happy it was a win
The Bad: Mat Clark & The Minors.
The Ugly: Garnet Exelby. I don't know how this guy is getting so much ice time. He has been on the ice for seven out of ten goals against, including the one against tonight.
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Next Game: Saturday, October 20 vs Albany Devils 7:15 at Norfolk Scope