GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — The Norfolk Admirals continued their third-period scoring binge, netting three goals in the final stanza in a 5-2 victory over Adirondack in the North Division finals in front of 3,931 fans Saturday night at Cool Insuring Arena.
The Admirals took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and will return to home ice Wednesday night at Scope.
Game 3 is set for 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Scope. The first 2,000 fans get an Admirals team poster, and the team is calling the game a “Whiteout.” Fans are encouraged to wear white to pay homage to Norfolk’s NHL affiliate, the Winnipeg Jets.
Norfolk, after scoring four times in the third period in Game 1, got goals from Austen Keating, Danny Katic and Mathieu Roy in the decisive period Saturday.
Yaniv Perets made 41 saves on 43 shots for the victory.
Keating and Thomas Caron finished with two points each.
“We played two huge games and going back home with two wins is huge,” Caron said.
The Admirals won despite being outshot 43-29.
“These types of series and games, there is so much respect between both teams,” Norfolk coach Jeff Carr said. “Playoffs in May are not over until the league says you have won four games. For us, we know we have a game Wednesday and we are playing a really tough opponent at home.”
The Admirals got on the board first. Keaton Jameson poked home a rebound on the power play 12:52 into the first period. Carson Golder and Keating continued their hot postseason by earning the assists on the play. The Admirals headed into the locker room with a 1-0 lead at the end of the first frame.
The Thunder scored halfway through the second period, with Yushiroh Hirano scoring for the second straight night.
The tie game would not last long as Brady Fleurent fed a pass to Stepan Timofeyev, who scored his third goal of the playoffs to give Norfolk a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
As in Game 1, the third period carried the Admirals to a victory.
Tristan Ashbrook got the Thunder back even with a shot from the slot that beat Perets to tie the game at 2.
Norfolk responded with three straight goals to walk out of the Cool Insuring Arena up 2-0 in the series.
Katic took a rocket of a shot that beat Poulter for the first Admirals goal of the period. Ten minutes later, Keating scored his fourth goal of the playoffs to make it 4-2.
Just like in Game 1, captain Mathieu Roy scored an empty-netter. It came with just seven seconds remaining to seal the victory.
