Well, here we are again. The Norfolk Admirals have traveled up to to Hartford, Connecticut, to continue on with their march to the Calder Cup. The series is currently tied 1-1.
The series goes 2-3-2. The first two games in Connecticut are in Hartford, but due to some arena scheduling issues, the third game – Game 5 – will be played in Bridgeport. Game 3 is tonight, Game 4 is tomorrow, and Game 5 is Wednesday, 9 May.
The good news is that both Cory Conacher and Tyler Johnson have finally scored in playoffs for the Ads. Hopefully, that will open the floodgates for them. In six playoff games, Alexandre Picard is leading the team in scoring with four goals and five assists, followed by Alex Killorn (2 G, 6 A) and Trevor Smith (2G, 6 A).
Dustin Tokarski is looking to be in top shape, and so long as he keeps winning, they’ll keep playing him. Not that Jaroslave Janus is bad or anything; he’s just as good as Tokarski. But, they’ve been going with their hot goaltender. Tokarski currently has a 2.11 GAA and a 0.917 SV% in four games.
The bad news is that they’re still taking a whole lot of unnecessary penalties.
You can listen to the game online at 1021thegame.com, or watch it online (pay-per-view) at AHL Live. You can also follow the game via Twitter by following @AdsGameUpdates, @BeekerAdmirals, @PeteMichaud2012, and @DanMarrazza, who’s following the Admirals for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Things got pretty nasty the last time these two teams played each other. Expect that to continue, despite the penalty problems that the Admirals have had. The AHL tends to have more penalties than the NHL does, but this has been a bit beyond what’s typical for AHL games.
I would expect the Norfolk Admirals lineup to stay the same as the previous game. Nothing definite has been announced at the time of this writing, however. This may be updated closer to game time to reflect any lineup changes.
The NHL playoff series games going on today are the St. Louis Blues at the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings are up in that series 3-0, and have swept the Blues. Probably no one expected the Kings to turn into the playoff juggernaut that they have – knocking off the #1 and #2 seeds in the West – especially considering that they started out playoffs at the 8th.
The other NHL playoff game starts at 7:30 pm Eastern, and that’s the Philadelphia Flyers at the New Jersey Devils. The Devils lead that series 2-1. Ilya Kovalchuk seems to be fine after sitting out Game 2 and playing Game 3.
