Admirals tied at top of East Division

Cory Conacher broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of power play goals as the Norfolk Admirals (13-8-0-1) defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (11-6-1-4), 5-2, on Tuesday night at Norfolk Scope Arena. The win moved Norfolk into a tie with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for first place in the East Division.

 

The Admirals will return to the ice at Scope on Friday and Saturday nights against the Adirondack Phantoms to close out a six-game homestand.

 

Blair Jones and Trevor Smith each had a goal and two assists while Mike Angelidis scored a goal to extend his point streak to four games. Dustin Tokarski recorded 16 saves for his third consecutive win.

 

The Penguins took a 1-0 lead with a power play goal 15:36 into the first period. Nick Petersen sent a pass from the right point to Niko Dimitrakos in the high slot. Dimitrakos sent a shot through traffic and past a screened Tokarski.

 

The Admirals tied the game at 1-1 with a four-on-four goal just over three minutes later. Mark Barberio sent a pass from the right point to Angelidis in the left circle. Angelidis sent a shot between the blocker and body of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender Scott Munroe at 18:39 for his fifth goal of the season.

 

Norfolk briefly took a 2-1 lead 10:31 into the second period on Jones’ second goal of the season. Richard Panik sent a shot from the right circle that Munroe stopped. As an Admirals player was pushed into Munroe by a Penguins defender, Jones found the rebound in the low slot and chipped the puck into the net.

 

The lead was short-lived, as the Penguins tied the game just 22 seconds later. Petersen sent wrist shot from right point that was deflected in the slot by Ben Street. The puck went between the legs of Tokarski at 10:53 to tie the game at 2-2.

 

Just over three minutes later, the Admirals went back ahead in the game with a Conacher five-on-three power play goal. Tyler Johnson sent a feed from the bottom of the left circle across the crease to Conacher, who connected on the back-door feed for a 3-2 Norfolk lead at 13:56.

 

Conacher's second power play goal of the night gave the Admirals a 4-2 lead in the third period. As the Admirals enjoyed a five-on-four man advantage, Jones dropped a pass to Conacher in the high slot. Conacher waited for a screen to form and sent a wrist shot through the screen and past Munroe for his twelfth goal of the season at 8:25 of the final frame.

 

Smith capped off the scoring with an unassisted empty-netter to give the Admirals a 5-2 lead with 40 seconds to go in the game.

 

Dustin Tokarski (8-5-0) earned his third straight win after stopping 16 of 18 shots. Scott Munroe (2-2-2) stopped 27 of 31shots for the loss.

 

Norfolk was 2-7 on the power play. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was 1-6.

 

The Admirals will return to the ice at Scope on Friday and Saturday nights against the Adirondack Phantoms. The puck drops on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. as Norfolk closes out a six-game homestand.

 

Friday night is The Salvation Army Admirals Fundraiser Night and Love for Lokomotiv Night. Special discounted fundraising tickets to benefit The Salvation Army are available only online at norfolkadmirals.com/groups and only through Wednesday night. The Admirals' wives and girlfriends will be selling red silicone Love for Lokomotiv bracelets on the Scope concourse on Friday to benefit the families of those lost in September's tragic Russian KHL Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team plane crash.

 

Saturday night is Pucks 'n' Paws Night. Special discounted fundraising tickets to benefit local SPCAs are available only online at norfolkadmirals.com/groups and only through Wednesday night. You may even bring your dog to the game with one of these tickets! Special tee shirts are also available showing Radko Gudas and Pierre-Cedric Labrie with their four-legged friends.