After losing in overtime 2-1 on Wednesday, the Norfolk Admirals were back on the ice in Norfolk Scope for a crucial game four against the Adirondack Thunder. The Admirals overcame a 2-0 goal deficit, but could not keep up with Adirondack as they fell 5-2 on Friday night.
Oskari Salminen made his return to Norfolk for his second appearance in the cage this postseason. He finished the night with 24 saves off of 29 shots faced in the Admirals defeat.
During the initial 20 minutes of the game, the visitors secured a pair of goals and asserted their dominance on all fronts, resulting in the Admirals falling behind 2-0. In the first half of the period, the Admirals were plagued by turnovers and inconsistency on the forecheck, which Adirondack exploited to press their attack.
The Thunder’s first goal was scored with 13 minutes left in the period, courtesy of Andre Ghantous. His shot that beat Salminen’s on the blocker side. The second goal came less than five minutes before the period ended when Ryan Smith’s shot went high on Salminen and beat him above the shoulder. Despite Norfolk’s attempts to revert to their brand of hockey after the goals, the score remained 2-0.
In the second period, the Admirals began with a crucial penalty kill after a late major penalty was called on Keegan Iverson. From there, they regained their momentum and scored two goals to tie the game at two. With a power play in hand, the captain, Mathieu Roy, rejuvenated the Scope with a wrist shot from the slot, marking his third postseason goal and bringing the score to 2-1.
For the majority of the period after Roy’s goal, the score remained 2-1 until five minutes left when Stepan Timofeyev scored his fourth postseason goal to tie the game. The play was made off the initial hit from Brady Fleurent who then passed to Carson Musser and found Timofeyev in the right-wing circle.
Adirondack dampened the spirits of the arena with a goal from Smith just moments later, who scored his second goal of the night. The Admirals were down 3-2 at the intermission.
To begin the third period, it was Norfolk who had a great chance to tie the game once again, following two minor penalties called on the Thunder. Unfortunately, their 5-on-3 power play could not conjure up the tying goal and from there, the momentum went back to the visitors. Adirondack added two more goals in the latter half of the period to extend their lead to 5-2.
Shane Harper and Ryan Wheeler added the last two goals for Adirondack as they carried their three-goal advantage to a game-four victory.
The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2 through four games.
