In a game with a whopping 248 penalty minutes, the Norfolk Admirals evened their regular-season-ending series with Reading by defeating the Royals 5-1 Friday night before 5,512 at Scope.
The Admirals (40-21-6-1), representing Virginia Beach this weekend in the latest City Series promotion, equaled Adirondack atop the North Division with 87 points, though the Thunder have played two fewer games.
The Admirals will wrap up their schedule with a rematch at 6:05 p.m. Saturday. Making their first playoff appearance since rejoining the ECHL in 2015, they won’t know for a while if they’ll be the North Division’s No. 2 or No. 1 seed.
The division winner will be the team which has a higher percentage of points per game. Adirondack will play 72 games, but the Admirals will finish with 69 because their final three-game series against Newfoundland was canceled when the Growlers recently suspended operations.
Adirondack (1.32 points per game) currently leads the Admirals (1.28). The Thunder, which squandered a late two-goal lead and lost 3-2 Friday to the Allen Americans in an overtime shootout, have six contests remaining.
Sean Montgomery, named the night’s No. 1 star, scored twice for the Admirals. They fell behind 1-0 early in the second period, but zoomed back with five goals in that period.
Jacques Bouquot’s power-play goal 43 seconds into the middle period put the Royals ahead. Montgomery responded on a power play at 6:51, and the Admirals took control late in the period.
Stepan Timofeyev, the No. 2 star, scored the go-ahead goal at even strength at 12:43 as No. 3 star Austen Keating gained his second assist of the night. Montgomery scored at 13:57, Carson Musser at 14:46 and Brady Fleurent on a man-advantage at 18:52.
Admirals goalie Oskari Salminen made 22 saves for the victory. Reading’s Parker Gahagen had 28 stops, but absorbed the loss.
The first penalties of the night, a trio of roughing calls, came with two seconds remaining in the first period. The penalty box was often crowded during the second and third periods; both teams were called for 20 infractions in the game, with Reading getting 129 minutes and the Admirals 119.
Keegan Iverson, Kamerin Nault, Chesapeake native Brandon Osmundson, Dakota Krebs, Thomas Caron, Connor Fedorek and Musser were among the Admirals forced to spend more than two minutes at a time off the ice.
