AHL Game Night 4/11: Admirals at Senators
A big win for a young team.
NOR-3
BNG-2
Jonathan Boutin stopped 30 of 32 shots for the win to break a personal seven game losing streak. The win also helped Boutin raise his save percentage back to .900 for the season. It's been a roller coaster ride all year for Boutin as he seems to win and lose games in month long streaks. At one point a little over a month ago he seemed to be coming into his own showing a winning record and a save percentage above .910. Unfortunately he hasn't shown the ability to step up and win games on his own in the last month, which is the next big hurdle he has to get over in his professional development. The legitimate starters don't post 7 game losing streaks. They find a way to pull out wins even when the team in front of them struggles. Boutin isn't quite to that point yet.
First Period
NOR Wanvig, (21) (Tyrell, Crowley), 1:38
BNG Dimitrakos, (20) (Kinch, Smith), 17:48
Second Period
NOR Keller, (15) (Schneider, Segal), 7:46
BNG Hennessy, (22) (Carkner, Zubov), 10:10
Third Period
NOR Wanvig, (22) (Tyrell, Jones), 1:38
Kyle Wanvig and Justin Keller were named the game's first and second stars.
Congratulations to Dane Crowley on his first professional point and congratulations to Dana Tyrell on his first professional multi-point game.
With the win, Norfolk matches the win total set a year ago by the Lightning farmhands in Springfield of 28. They've also accumulated 4 more points than the Falcons did last season. The importance of hitting this milestone cannot be underestimated, in my opinion. It would have been a terrible blow to the organization if the move to Norfolk and the time spent developing their prospects hadn't shown any measure of improvement on the ice. Modest as it may be, these Admirals have gotten better compared to last year's Falcons, and they'll have one more swing at besting last year's win total tomorrow night against the Pens. It'll be a tough nut to crack against the division leaders, but it would be a heck of a way to end the season if the Ads could pull off one more big upset to head into the offseason on a high note.
Box score from TheAHL.com.
You Have to Divide the Season In Half
The first half of the season, they were playing like last year's addition.
But in January, with the addition of Szczechura and Lessard and the later additions of Segal and Koci, they have been a completely different team over the second half. You older hands correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, the team in Springfield pretty much folded in February. This year's edition has continued to put forth the effort and play hard. It hasn't always shown up in the win loss column, but it was an important thing for this team especially the younger players to learn. It gives them something to build on going into next season.
The real head scratcher here is why Kyle Wanvig hasn't played all year like he's played the last two games. For Wanvig, too little, too late and word has it Europe is in his future next season. Milley is going to Europe as well which is confirmed.
WBS will be a tough nut to crack tomorrow. Also working against them is the final home regular season game for long time enforcer Dennis Bonvie who is retiring. The Pens and the fans will be sky high for that one.