And now things get really tight in the playoff race.

NOR-1
WBS-2

Dustin Tokarski allowed just 2 goals on 25 shots, but his first period softie allowed to Jesse Boulerice ended up being the margin of defeat.

First Period
WBS Boulerice, (4) (Conner, Lee), 4:23
WBS Johnson, (13) (Haddad, Wagner), 13:19 (PP)

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
NOR Fornataro, (9) (Wishart, Fadden), 15:22

It was a beautiful stickhandling play by Matt Fornataro that helped pull the Admirals to within one goal late in the game. Defenseman Ty Wishart got his 31st point of the season on the play, but he should be chastized along with Vladimir Mihalik for some very soft play along the wall in the defensive zone, especially in the first period. The soft goal, the soft play along the wall, and a disgustingly bad 0-for-8 power play doomed the Admirals in this one. That, and Mitch Fritz losing his mind at the end of the second period, including the ever-classy crotch chop to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton crowd, drawing a double minor and game misconduct that killed off about a quarter of the third period for a Pens team that only held on by one goal.

On the bright side, the two pro debuts went pretty well tonight. Carter Ashton almost had a beautiful goal chipping the puck between two defenders and showing surprising burst to split them and get himself a breakaway. He got in too tight on the backhand, though, and couldn't lift the puck to notch the goal. He had another chance a few minutes later when he spun out in front from behind the net on his backhand. Had he been a little more patient, he could've taken another half stride and maybe stuck it in far post. Richard Panik had one good chance from the slot, but the defining play for him was a downright nasty check he threw coming back into the Admirals zone. Downright nasty. In case you didn't know, he's strong as a bull.

Norfolk's lead over the Pens is down to 1 point with the Pens holding 1 game in hand. Uh oh. Norfolk has 11 games left to play in the season: 3 on the road and 8 at home. Norfolk draws Adirondack at Scope on Friday.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Lightning prospect Mark Barberio, a 2008 sixth round pick of the Bolts, has been named by the QMJHL as a finalist for the Emile "Butch" Bouchard Trophy, awarded to the league's top defenseman.

Joining Barberio as finalists are his Moncton teammate David Savard, a 2009 fourth round pick of the Blue Jackets, and Joël Chouinard of Drummondville, a sixth round pick of Colorado in 2008.

Barberio set career highs in goals, assists, points, and plus/minus this season, finishing with 17 goals, 43 assists, 60 points, and a plus-39 rating. He finished fifth in the league in points among defensemen, sixth in goals, fifth in assists, and seventh in plus/minus.

Two one goal losses and the season keeps slowly and painfully slipping away.

PHX-2
TB-1

Antero Niittymaki allowed 2 goals on 28 shots for the loss. Beats me. When he stinks the team scores in bunches. When he plays well, it all dries up. Go figure.

First Period
PHX 7:56, Fiddler 7 (Stempniak)
PHX 9:45, Lombardi 16 (Wolski, Doan)

Second Period
TB 16:07, Fedoruk 3 (Bochenski, Parrish)

Third Period
NO SCORING

This is another case where the Lightning will go back at season's end and probably kick themselves for that one little mistake (Matt Smaby) or that one missed scoring chance (Brandon Bochenski).

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

(Norfolk Admirals release) NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk Admirals have added Tampa Bay Lightning prospect forwards Carter Ashton and Richard Panik to their roster. Ashton has been assigned to the Admirals by the Lightning from his junior team while Panik has been signed to an Amateur Tryout Contract (ATO).

Ashton, 18, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound right wing from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, split this season between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. In 28 games with Lethbridge, he posted 13 goals and 26 points. He was then traded to Regina, where he scored 11 goals and 25 points.

Panik (“PAN-ihk”), 19, a 6-foot-2, 203-pound right wing from Martin, Slovakia, split this season between the Windsor Spitfires and the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League. In 33 games with Windsor, he posted nine goals and 18 points. After being acquired by Belleville, Panik notched 12 goals and 23 points in 27 games.