Before we look ahead to today’s rematch between the Devils and Admirals, let’s review the events of last night:
Apparently the Admirals were the only team that knew the game started at 7:30, as they jumped right out of the gate. Tim Marks and James Wright scored before the Devils could even register a shot on goal. At one point, Norfolk was outshooting the visitors 11-0. But the Devils finally managed a few shots on Norfolk goaltender Cedrick Desjardins, with nothing getting past him. The Admirals outshot the Devils 14-7 during the first period. Second period got off to a very good start for the Devils, Adam Henrique scored shorthanded to cut the deficit to 2-1. But Matt Fornataro scored on the power play to give Norfolk the 2 goal lead right back. Third period saw the chippiness kick in…after a scuffle between David McIntyre and former River Rat Mike Angelidis late in the second, Harry Young fought Alex Berry and Pierre Luc Leblond got his nightly scrap in with Pierre-Cedric Labrie. Later in the period a line brawl breaks out, featuring Chris Murray vs. Chris Durno, Tim Sestito vs. Radko Gudas, and for good measure Alexander Urbom wrestled Alex Berry to the ground. At one point, Norfolk had 5 men sitting in the penalty box (was there enough breathing room? Good thing Vladimir Mihalik wasn’t one of them that would be interesting). The Devils pulled Dave Caruso late for the extra attacker, but former Rat training camp participant Stefano Giliati banged home an empty netter to seal the 4-1 win for Norfolk. After starting out with an 11 shot advantage, final shots were 28-23 Norfolk.
Now looking ahead to tonight:
-Season: This is the 8th and final meeting between the two teams, Norfolk now leads the series 6-1.
-Standings: Norfolk sits in 4th place in the East Division with a record of 35-19-8-5 and 83 points, still one point behind 3rd place Charlotte and up 8 points on 5th place Binghamton. Albany stands in 6th place with a 29-35-1-3 record and 62 points, 13 points behind the Senators and 6 points up on 7th place Adirondack.
Game time: 7:15 PM. Due to a prior commitment I will not be tweeting this one but will send updates throughout the night…
Thoughts Inside The Box 