Game Night Results

A magical night in Charlotte for Jones and the Admirals.

NOR-5
CHA-2

Jaroslav Janus rose up and played his best AHL game of the season stopping 21 of 23 shots, including a Brett Sutter penalty shot, to take his first win as an Admiral this season. He kept the Admirals where they needed to be through the first two periods and then made sure to make the last stop or two the team needed to pull away at the end. What Mike Smith was for the Lightning against Chicago last night, Janus was for the Admirals tonight.

First Period
NOR Ritola, (6) (Pouliot, Barberio), 7:54 (PP)
CHA Terry, (33) (Sanguinetti, Matsumoto), 12:30 (PP)

Second Period
NOR Labrie, (6) (Wright, Berry), 7:56
CHA Sanguinetti, (3) (Graham, Matsumoto), 13:18 (PP)
NOR Jones, (22) (Pouliot, Milam), 18:49 (PP)

Third Period
NOR Ritola, (7) (Jones, Pouliot), 0:36 (PP)
NOR Jones, (23) (Ritola), 7:40

Blair Jones, Mattias Ritola, and Marc-Antoine Pouliot were the game's three stars.

Blair Jones is now the Norfolk Admirals' all-time leading scorer. He tied and then destroyed the record with a 3 point night that now leaves him just 3 points shy of his career high in points, despite the fact he set that mark in 80 games in 2008-2009 and he's played just 52 games this year. Jones has always been a BoltProspects favorite since his days with Moose Jaw and his rookie season with Springfield in the AHL. Through all the ups and downs of his professional career, he's kept getting better and climbing the ladder. To surpass some of the most beloved Admirals in the history of that franchise to claim the mantle of leading scorer is truly impressive and special.

His new line, with Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Mattias Ritola showed tonight it could be one of the league's best going into the playoffs. Ritola also had a 3 point night and now has 22 points in 13 AHL games this year. For his part, Pouliot climbed to 6th in the AHL in scoring with 69 points in 65 games.

Mark Barberio got point 29 tonight. He needs 1 more point in the 4 games remaining this week to reach the 30 point plateau.

Norfolk pulls to within 3 points of the Checkers for 3rd in the East Division with 2 games in hand, and now holds a 2 point edge over Binghamton with 1 game in hand. More to the point, the Admirals magic number for making the postseason is now 1 point. With a 6 point lead over Worcester and just 3 games remaining for the Sharks, any combination of a point gained by the Admirals or a point lost by Worcester will clinch a playoff berth for the Admirals by, at a minimum, the crossover rule. Interesting note about the crossover rule, if Norfolk were to crossover they could gain the 3rd seed in the Atlantic Division if they can continue to lead the Atlantic's 3rd place team, the Connecticut Whale. However, for tonight, the crossover seems like an afterthought for a team that controls its destiny to climb into the #3 spot in the division.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Smitty paints a masterpiece against the defending champs.

TB-2
CHI-0

Mike Smith stopped all 31 shots he faced for his first shutout victory of the season. He was magnificent. That was, by far, his best game of this year and maybe his best game since his concussion problems started 2 seasons ago. Smitty is 2-1-1 since coming back from Norfolk with a .934 save percentage in those 4 games. He also had a couple of good victories before going down to join the Admirals, So he's 4-1-1 in his last 6 decisions, with decent numbers, and he may very well have saved his NHL career.

First Period
07:56 TB Lecavalier (21), St Louis (64), Gagne (21)(PP)

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
19:38 TB Thompson (10), Gagne (22), Hall (11)(EN)

Smith and Vincent Lecavalier were the game's 3 stars.

The shot totals in the game were pretty ugly, with Chicago outpacing the Lightning 30-14 in the game. The Lightning were in a bad spot playing a back-to-back and losing Lecavalier for most of the game after Michael Frolik left the mark of Zorro on his face. But, all that said, the Lightning played a masterful game defensively. It was Lemaire-esque how the team clogged the neutral zone, had sticks in every passing lane, and blocked a ton of shots to frustrate a Hawks team that desperately needed this win to help fend off the charge of the Calgary Feasters. And when the defense wasn't there, Smitty did his best Martin Brodeur impersonation tonight.

For their part, the Lightning are again 1 point back of Pittsburgh for 4th in the East and 3 points back of Washington for tops in the Southeast. The Lightning finish against two teams fighting for their lives in Buffalo and Carolina with a game against Florida sandwiched in between. Pittsburgh draws three dogs: New Jersey, the Islanders, and Atlanta. Washington also has three dogs left: Toronto and then back-to-back games against the Panthers. But, you know, that's why they play the games. The Lightning hold the ROW tiebreak over Pittsburgh, so if they win out and the Pens just lose 1 point anywhere along the way, home ice belongs to the Lightning.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

USHL

Indiana Ice 3 @ Fargo Force 5
C Jimmy Mullin, FGO: 2-2-4, +4, 0 PIM, 6 SOG
Season totals: 50 GP, 22-36-58, +28, 26 PIM

Mullin scored shorthanded and into an empty net to give him 22 goals on the year. He also added two assists and was plus-4. Not a bad night. Fargo remains in fourth in the conference, but are two points out of second. They have two home games left next weekend before the playoffs start.

OHL

Western Conference Quarterfinals

No.7 Guelph Storm 4 @ No.2 Saginaw Spirit 5
Saginaw leads best of seven series 3-2

C/W Richard Panik, GUE: 0-0-0, -2, 2 PIM (check to the head)
Season Totals: 51 GP, 27-29-56, -6, 75 PIM
Playoff Totals: 5 GP, 1-2-3, -3, 8 PIM

Saginaw scored the tie-breaking goal just past the half-way point of the third period and held on for a Game 5 win over Guelph. Panik was penalized for a check to the head at the 20:00 mark of the third period. Two other Guelph players were also penalized after the final horn. No Spirit players were called for an infraction at that time. Game 6 is Sunday in Guelph.

Western Conference Quarterfinals

No.8 London Knights 0 @ No.1 Owen Sound Attack 6
Owen Sound leads best of seven series 3-2

D Geoffrey Schemitsch, OS: 0-0-0, +1, 0 PIM
Season Totals: 45 GP, 1-19-20, +17, 14 PIM
Playoff Totals: 3 GP, 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIM
G Michael Zador, OS: Win, 13 saves on 13 shots in 51:26
Season Totals: 31 GP, 19-5-1-1, 3.23 GAA, .888 sv%, 0 SO
Playoff Totals: 2 GP, 1-0-0, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 sv%, 0 SO

Zador, who was once a first round pick of London, got the start in the pivotal Game 5 for Owen Sound and didn’t disappoint, stopping 13 of 13 shots before leaving the game midway through the third period. It was his first career playoff win. The Attack’s usual No.1 keeper, Jordan Binnington, didn’t dress for the game. He’s been shaky this series and was pulled in favor of Zador in Game 4. There are no reports of an injury to Zador, so it’s likely he was pulled in the third period with the game out of hand to prevent an injury.

"I felt like it was just an every day game, I was comfortable," Zador told the Owen Sound Sun Times after the game. "Our team played great in front of me so I'm really happy how it turned out. I'm just going to take it day-to-day and keep playing the way I am right now."

The Knights only had 14 shots in Game 5 despite having four power plays. Game 6 is Sunday in London.

WHL

Western Conference Quarterfinals

No.7 Chilliwack Bruins 4 @ No.2 Spokane Chiefs 6
Spokane wins best of seven series 4-1

C Tyler Johnson, SPO: Did not play – injured.
Season Totals: 71 GP, 53-62-115, +27, 48 PIM
Playoff Totals: 3 GP, 2-2-4, +1, 0 PIM

Johnson missed his second full game with a head injury. His Chiefs teammates were able to overcome playing without their leading scorer and eliminated the Bruins in five games. This may have been the last time the Bruins represented Chilliwack as reports state a move to Victoria is expected. Spokane will face Lightning prospect Carter Ashton and Tri-City in the next round starting next Saturday. Hopefully the week off allows enough time for Johnson to recover.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

No.8 Prince Albert Raiders 0 @ No.1 Saskatoon Blades 8
Saskatoon lead best of seven series 3-2

D Teigan Zahn, SAS: 0-0-0, +1, 0 PIM
Season Totals: 72 GP, 3-20-23, +39, 133 PIM
Playoff Totals: 5 GP, 0-2-2 +2, 6 PIM

After seeing their 2-0 series lead disappear at the home of eighth-seeded Prince Albert, Saskatoon made a statement in Game 5, destroying the Raiders 8-0. The Blades scored six times in the second period to break a 0-0 tie. Game 6 is Sunday in Prince Albert.

Big trouble in Norfolk.

HER-5
NOR-4

Dustin Tokarski allowed 4 goals on 16 shots before leaving the game with an injury. With Cedrick Desjardins likely shelved for the rest of the season, any kind of injury to Tic is a big, big problem. The early indication is that Tokarski had his chin sliced open with a skate blade. So, you'd think he should be back, but considerably more ugly, for the road trip.

Jaroslav Janus allowed 1 goal on 14 shots for the hard luck loss. It was, by far and away, Janus' best performance of the season, and he may inherit the starter's job if Tokarski is out for any length of time.

First Period
HER Greentree, (29) (McNeill, Fahey), 0:59
NOR Ritola, (5) (Pouliot, Barberio), 3:56
NOR Pouliot, (22) (Jones, Ritola), 6:09 (PP)
NOR Pouliot, (23) (Ritola, Milam), 18:53 (PP)
NOR Durno, (19) , 19:17

Second Period
HER Bouchard, (12) (Souray), 2:33
HER Greentree, (30) (Aucoin, McNeill), 3:08 (PP)
HER McNeill, (7) (Perreault), 6:12
HER Gordon, (26) (Aucoin, Fahey), 17:34

Third Period
NO SCORING

Marc-Antoine Pouliot was the game's second star.

Mattias Ritola has 19 points in 12 AHL games this season. Classic case of being too good for the AHL but not quite good enough to stick in the NHL?

Radko Gudas is -9 since the calendar turned to 2011 and he has plummeted from a +20 rating to a +11 rating in a little over 3 months. With an assist tonight, the Lightning's other gifted young defenseman, Mark Barberio now has 28 points and is just 2 shy of the 30 point plateau.

Norfolk finishes their season 19-11-10 at home. There have 5 games remaining in the regular season, and all will be on the road.

Norfolk remains in 4th place in the East Division by 1 point thanks to a loss by Binghamton. The Ads still hold 1 game in hand on the Senators. Unfortunately, 3rd place Charlotte won to take a 5 point lead over the Admrials with Norfolk holding 2 games in hand. It's not impossible for Norfolk to catch the Checkers, but they have to win their next game in Charlotte to have any kind of legitimate chance. Honestly, though, I want no part of Hershey. I'd almost rather play Wilkes/Barre-Scranton or take the crossover into the Atlantic Division and play Portland or Manchester.

Norfolk's remaining schedule: at Charlotte on Monday, at Binghamton on Wednesday, at Syracuse next Friday and Saturday, and the season finale at Connecticut next Sunday. It's a brutal stretch of 5 road games in 7 nights, with uncertainty between the pipes because of injuries.

One bit of good news, with Worcester's 4-1 loss to Providence, the gap on the 4th place team in the Atlantic remained at 6 points. The Sharks have just 4 games remaining, so any combination of Norfolk points earned and Sharks points lost equal to 3 will officially clinch a playoff spot for the Admirals. But, right now, it feels like the team is backing into the playoffs, and that's not good.

Box score from TheAHL.com.