Janus, Jaroslav

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.

Keith Kinkaid of Albany continues to torment the Admirals.

NOR-1
ALB-2

Jaroslav Janus allowed 2 goals on 27 shots for the loss.

First Period
ALB Gionta, (2) (Wiseman, Corrente), 17:08
ALB Taormina, (3) (Bernier, Berube), 18:24

Second Period
NOR Conacher, (6) (Barberio, Vernace), 16:04 (PP)

Third Period
NO SCORING

Cory Conacher was the game's third star.

Kinkaid has held the Admirals to 1 goal in his 2 starts against Norfolk so far this year.

It's been an odd week or so for the Admirals, who have seen their shot totals held in check, their chances go down, and their goals scored curtailed significantly. I'm kind of hard pressed to explain it, because the Mattias Ritola sideshow shouldn't have affected the team this way, but it needs to turn around for tomorrow's showdown with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Norfolk needs some Ritola...

NOR-2
BRI-3

Jaroslav Janus allowed 3 goals on 32 shots for the loss.

First Period
BRI Donovan, (2) (Ullstrom, Niederreiter), 10:29
NOR Smith, (6) (Picard, Labrie), 18:48

Second Period
BRI Frischmon, (1) (Ness), 14:52

Third Period
BRI Ullstrom, (6) (Donovan, Nilsson), 7:50 (PP)
NOR Ashton, (10) (Conacher, Angelidis), 17:09

That's a very talented team that Bridgeport has. You see a lot of high draft picks and a smattering of veterans like Tim Wallace on that roster. They outshot Norfolk slightly by a 32-29 margin, and you get the feeling this may be a team the Admirals see in the playoffs.

Now, after two straight losses, it appears this is a good time to get Mattias Ritola into the fold. He didn't play tonight, but I would hope he gets in the lineup tomorrow at Providence.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Norfolk smacks a good team square across the mouth.

NOR-6
SYR-2

Jaroslav Janus (pictured) allowed 2 goals on 31 shots for the win.

First Period
NOR Ashton, (9) (Landry, Conacher), 13:13
NOR Tyrell, (3) , 18:01
NOR Smith, (5) (Vernace, Palat), 19:27

Second Period
NOR Panik, (2) (Smith, Vernace), 1:58 (PP)
SYR Smith, (1) (Schaus, O'Hanley), 6:34 (PP)

Third Period
SYR Bell, (3) (Carle, O'Hanley), 6:58
NOR Wyman, (3) (Tyrell, Dimmen), 7:24
NOR Barberio, (2) (Picard, Vernace), 10:54 (PP)

Mark Barberio, and Trevor Smith were the game's first and second stars. It's laughable that the Syracuse media had the guts to give one of theirs a star at all in a 6-2 drubbing.

This was a Syracuse team that had only lost once in regulation coming into the weekend and Norfolk owned them from the drop of the puck. And, what really is exciting is that, although there are guys like Ashton, Conacher, and Barberio that are riding high amongst the league leaders, everyone on the team is chipping in. That's what makes you believe this team is going to be a force wire-to-wire this season.

Norfolk rolls into Albany on Friday.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Norfolk salvages victory in the shootout after giving up a late, 6th attacker goal.

NOR-5
ADK-4 (SO)

Jaroslav Janus allowed 4 goals on 28 shots before stopping 4 of 5 in the shootout for the win.

First Period
ADK Wellwood, (3) (Roe), 10:28
NOR Ouellet, (3) (Barberio, Labrie), 14:36
ADK Sestito, (4) (Gustafsson, Akeson), 19:33 (PP)

Second Period
NOR Ashton, (7) (Conacher, Barberio), 8:11
ADK McGinn, (1) (Pither, Brown), 15:43

Third Period
NOR Johnson, (4) (Dimmen, Barberio), 1:01 (PP)
NOR Ouellet, (4) (Smith, Gudas), 18:41
ADK Hamel, (7) (Zolnierczyk), 19:32

Michel Ouellet and Janus were the game's first and third stars.

Mark Barberio had his 3rd multi-point game of the season and 2nd 3-point game. He was already leading all AHL d-men in scoring heading into the game and he's now clear ahead of the rest of the field by 4 points, with 10 points in 8 games. Interestingly, and surprisingly, Radko Gudas sits tied for 6th amongst d-men in scoring with 5 points in 8 games.

Norfolk outshot Adirondack 42-28 in the game.

Box score from TheAHL.com.