Johnson, Tyler

Norfolk's biggest win of the season thus far.

NOR-5
WBS-2

Dustin Tokarski allowed 2 goals on 22 shots for the win. He snaps a brief 2 game personal skid in a spot where his club absolutely needed a win.

First Period
NOR Fornataro, (2) (Smith, Devos), 0:53 (PP)
NOR Ashton, (14) (Gudas, Jackson), 4:32
WBS Street, (10) (Henningson, Merth), 10:41

Second Period
WBS Lerg, (11) (Walker, McDonald), 1:42
NOR Johnson, (11) (Cote, Tokarski), 7:06
NOR Conacher, (18) (Smith, Jackson), 13:31
NOR Ouellet, (7) (Ashton, Angelidis), 19:40

Third Period
NO SCORING

Carter Ashton, Tyler Johnson, and Scott Jackson were the game's three stars.

For Norfolk, this was a huge game. They did not want to go into Hershey tomorrow trying to stave off the divisional sweep. That's a bad spot to be in on your 3rd game in 3 nights in one of the toughest buildings in the league to earn points in. They absolutely needed tonight's win to keep contact in the divisional hunt, and if they can steal a win from the Bears tomorrow, well that's just a bonus present in this holiday season. With the win, Norfolk is 2 points back of the Bears and Pens for the top spot in the East Division.

Carter Ashton (pictured) played well last night, but was Holtby'ed off the scoresheet on more than one occasion. He's starting to get active again, and that bodes well. Meanwhile, Johnson has 5 goals and 7 points in his last 8 games. That leads to an interesting question. Nate Thompson went out early in tonight's Lightning game and speculation is a forward may be recalled at some point. Is it Ashton? Is it Johnson? Trevor Smith?

Norfolk draws Hershey tomorrow at 5 pm. My guess is that Oberg rides the shuttle back for that game. When that game is over, the Admirals are off until 12/28. So, anyone's fair game for a call up from a manpower standpoint. The Lightning don't play again until Wednesday, when they start a 2 game swing through San Jose and Colorado. The question then is whether Matt Gilroy and/or Nate Thompson will be healthy, and whether Oberg and/or a forward will need to make the trip with the team and possible spend Christmas in Tampa.

No pressure, kids, but I suspect there will be some Tampa execs with eyes on the Hershey game.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

This season Bolt Prospects introduced our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their on-ice contributions. There are no trophies or plaques, but we’re banking on a future Oscars-type awards show for it.

Quite simply, we wanted to highlight prospects throughout the year to help fans get better acquainted with the next round of Lightning stars while recognizing the prospect’s achievement on the ice.

This week’s BP Prospect of the Week award goes to … Tyler Johnson, Center, Norfolk Admirals (AHL – USA)

Although undrafted, all Tyler Johnson did during his junior career was score. And play defense. And win faceoffs. And anything else his coaches asked of him. He just didn’t grow as much as his teammates, which didn’t do him any favors as he was undersized to begin with.

TJ leads the comeback.

ADK-1
NOR-2

Dustin Tokarski allowed 1 goal on 16 shots for the win. He's won 5 of his last 6 decisions now. That's a sign that it's time to ride him as the starter. He plays better with the heavier workload, and he's got a tendency to stay hot about a month to a month and a half at a time.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
ADK Akeson, (7) (Eddy, Hamel), 5:01 (PP)

Third Period
NOR Johnson, (7) (Dimmen, Jackson), 12:46
NOR Johnson, (8) (Ashton, Devos), 19:30

Tyler Johnson (pictured) and Tokarski were the game's first and third stars. Johnson's quietly put together a nice 3 game point streak after snapping a 4 game pointless streak. He's been overshadowed by fellow rookies Conacher and Ashton, but on any other team he'd be getting a lot of plaudits for his production for a first year pro.

Tonight's game marked the debut of new Admirals Evan Oberg and Mike Kostka, as well as Admirals contractee Philip-Michael Devos, who is a much better playmaker than former Miami Vice sidekick Philip Michael Thomas.

Norfolk goes on the road to Binghamton on Friday. Their win tonight moves them back into a tie with the Penguins for first place in the AHL East Division.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

TJ back to early season form.

NOR-6
STJ-2

Jaroslav Janus made 26 saves on 28 shots for the win.

First Period
NOR Ashton, (12) (Fornataro, Johnson), 5:27
STJ Postma, (3) (Machacek, Klingberg), 16:44 (PP)

Second Period
NOR Smith, (7) (Conacher, Dimmen), 1:22
NOR Smith, (8) (Conacher, Landry), 4:32
NOR Angelidis, (3) (Wyman), 11:11

Third Period
STJ Klingberg, (9) (DeSantis), 2:58 (SH)
NOR Johnson, (5) (Ashton, Conacher), 8:14
NOR Johnson, (6) (Barberio, Vernace), 15:35 (PP)

Tyler Johnson and Carter Ashton were the game's first and second stars.

Remember Tyler Johnson (pictured)? He had 6 points in the first 4 games of the season before cooling off with 3 points in the subsequent 11. And then, boom, 3 point night. There's so much depth on the Admirals and it's truly under-appreciated. Trevor Smith has 20 points in the first 17 games this season, and he's barely figured in the three stars discussions in each game. Heck, he's not even the team's leading scorer, because Cory Conacher has 21 points, and he doesn't even have a contract with the Lightning, yet. There's 4 players on the Ads (Conacher, Smith, Ashton, and Mark Barberio) that are currently over a point-a-game. It's impressive.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Ouellet is money in overtime.

NOR-6
HER-5 (OT)

Jaroslav Janus allowed 5 goals on 37 shots for the win. There's still no clear changing of the guard between the pipes, in my opinion, after this performance.

First Period
HER Mink, (1) (Aucoin, McNeill), 6:42 (PP)
NOR Gudas, (1) (Ouellet, Fornataro), 13:21
NOR Gudas, (2) (Smith, Fornataro), 18:38
HER Collins, (1) (Mink, Aucoin), 19:46

Second Period
HER Bourque, (4) (Aucoin, Wellar), 6:01
HER Ford, (2) (Sjogren, Greentree), 11:04
NOR Conacher, (2) (Wyman, Angelidis), 16:44
NOR Ashton, (4) (Dimmen, Johnson), 17:12

Third Period
NOR Conacher, (3) , 8:59
HER Micflikier, (2) (Aucoin, Mink), 13:15 (PP)

Overtime
NOR Ouellet, (2) (Angelidis), 1:06

Cory Conacher and Michel Ouellet were the game's first and second stars.

Mark Barberio had his points streak snapped, but Carter Ashton and Tyler Johnson continue their offensive mastery.

Box score from TheAHL.com.