Barberio, Mark

Ouellet is money in overtime.

NOR-6
HER-5 (OT)

Jaroslav Janus allowed 5 goals on 37 shots for the win. There's still no clear changing of the guard between the pipes, in my opinion, after this performance.

First Period
HER Mink, (1) (Aucoin, McNeill), 6:42 (PP)
NOR Gudas, (1) (Ouellet, Fornataro), 13:21
NOR Gudas, (2) (Smith, Fornataro), 18:38
HER Collins, (1) (Mink, Aucoin), 19:46

Second Period
HER Bourque, (4) (Aucoin, Wellar), 6:01
HER Ford, (2) (Sjogren, Greentree), 11:04
NOR Conacher, (2) (Wyman, Angelidis), 16:44
NOR Ashton, (4) (Dimmen, Johnson), 17:12

Third Period
NOR Conacher, (3) , 8:59
HER Micflikier, (2) (Aucoin, Mink), 13:15 (PP)

Overtime
NOR Ouellet, (2) (Angelidis), 1:06

Cory Conacher and Michel Ouellet were the game's first and second stars.

Mark Barberio had his points streak snapped, but Carter Ashton and Tyler Johnson continue their offensive mastery.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Does this open the door for Janus to take the starting job?

HER-7
NOR-5

Dustin Tokarski allowed 6 goals on 22 shots for the loss before being lifted for Jaroslav Janus, who allowed 1 goal on 11 shots the rest of the way. The numbers are ugly. Tokarski has a 6.35 GAA and .788 sv% in his first two starts, after being injured for much of training camp. My guess is that if Janus' next start is successful, he may be the #1 for a little while.

First Period
HER Bourque, (2) (Micflikier, McNeill), 4:47 (PP)
HER Flemming, (1) (Bourque, Wellar), 10:11
NOR Wyman, (1) (Smith, Tyrell), 15:32
NOR Johnson, (3) (Ashton, Barberio), 17:02 (PP)

Second Period
HER Eakin, (1) (Flemming, Richmond), 2:02
HER Bourque, (3) (Aucoin, Micflikier), 8:07 (PP)
NOR Barberio, (1) (Ashton, Johnson), 9:32
HER Micflikier, (1) (Mink, McNeill), 12:05 (PP)

Third Period
HER Eakin, (2) (Bourque, McNeill), 2:07
NOR Ouellet, (1) (Gudas, Wright), 2:25
HER Aucoin, (2) (Mink, Bourque), 6:06
NOR Panik, (1) (Picard), 16:26

On the bright side, Mark Barberio (3 GP, 1-5-6), Tyler Johnson (3 GP, 3-2-5), and Carter Ashton (3 GP, 3-3-6) continue to rack up points at an obscene clip. 2 points a game for any player is ridiculous. 2 points a game for a d-man like Barberio (pictured) is fantastic.

Norfolk hits the road for a rematch with Hershey tomorrow night. Again, the big intrigue will be between the pipes, where Jaroslav Janus will likely play, and if he does well, there may be a change in the depth chart for a while in net.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

Comeback kids bury the Checkers.

CHA-5
NOR-6 (OT)

Dustin Tokarski allowed 5 goals on 29 shots for the win. He should be thankful his guys picked him up tonight.

First Period
NOR Ashton, (1) (Conacher, Barberio), 6:37 (PP)

Second Period
CHA Matsumoto, (1) (Sanguinetti, Boychuk), 4:26 (PP)
CHA Samson, (1) (Peters), 8:20
NOR Johnson, (1) (Barberio, Tyrell), 10:00 (SH)
CHA Samson, (2) (Sanguinetti, Matsumoto), 14:48

Third Period
CHA Boychuk, (1) (Krueger, Terry), 6:08
NOR Angelidis, (1) (Smith, Picard), 8:01 (PP)
CHA Matsumoto, (2) (Bowman), 12:44
NOR Labrie, (1) (Quick, Fornataro), 13:19
NOR Picard, (1) (Ouellet, Smith), 16:38 (PP)

Overtime
NOR Ashton, (2) (Petiot, Wright), 1:55

Carter Ashton (pictured) and Tyler Johnson were the game's first and second stars. The kids are alright.

Mark Barberio starts his season with assists in triplicate.

Alexandre Picard had the biggest goal of the game on the power play to cap a 2 goal third period comeback and send the game to overtime. Who started the comeback? Pierre-Cedric Labrie with a nifty move to cut past the defense and cut the deficit in half. Somewhere Bolt Prospects writer and secret P-C Labrie fan Chad Schnarr is cringing and chuckling.

Norfolk outshot Charlotte 45-29 in the victory.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

A brave Norfolk Admirals team has nothing to be ashamed about effort-wise in this playoffs.

NOR-3
WBS-6

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Wins the Series 4-2

Dustin Tokarski allowed 4 goals on 27 shots, including an unsuccessful third period penalty shot by Joe Vitale in the third period. Considering the winning goal was essentially a 3-on-1, there's not much more Tic could've done tonight. He finishes the playoffs with 1 shutout, a 2.20 GAA, and a .924 save percentage, and he looks like a lock to be Norfolk's starter next season. In all likelihood, Cedrick Desjardins will be the backup in Tampa Bay next season, and Tokarski's play down the stretch seems to indicate he's the type of netminder who wants and needs to be the clear cut #1 in order to be at his best after struggling a bit as a tandem starter with Desjardins. He's regained the title of the Lightning's "Goaltender of the Future" and the priority for next season, his third pro season, will be for Tokarski to prove he can be that consistent #1 goalie before potentially moving up to the NHL in the 4th season of his pro career. At least, that seems to be what the plan is for Tic.

First Period
WBS Wagner, (1) (Walker, Craig), 2:13 (PP)
WBS Wagner, (2) (Potter, Walker), 3:58 (PP)
WBS Wagner, (3) (Wallace, Potter), 18:36

Second Period
NOR Pouliot, (4) (Ritola, Vernace), 14:18
NOR Jones, (1) (Ritola, Milam), 16:03 (PP)

Third Period
WBS Vitale, (2) (Wallace, Collins), 7:23
NOR Wright, (1) (Fornataro, Pouliot), 10:35 (PP)
WBS Wallace, (1) (Vitale, Potter), 18:57 (EN)
WBS Sill, (1) (Strait, Thiessen), 19:21 (EN)

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

When you consider the Penguins came into this series the best team in the Eastern Conference, and the Admirals had to win their last game just to avoid having to cross over into the Atlantic Division, the Admirals have nothing to feel ashamed of in playing this series so tightly. The hard work and character of this Admirals team is worthy of mention, and the team and organization have come such a long way in 4 seasons since the Lightning started their affiliation with Norfolk.

Coincidentally, the East's crossover team, Binghamton, just knocked off Manchester in Game 7 to advance to the Atlantic Division final against Portland. One wonders what shape a Norfolk/Manchester series might have taken if Norfolk hadn't beaten Connecticut to close the regular season.

The big question now is what this Norfolk Admirals team will look like next season, with several of their older players facing contract decisions and several of the Lightning's best young prospects ticketed for Virginia next season.

Will veterans like Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Chris Durno, Mike Vernace, Mathieu Roy, and Troy Milam be back with the team next year? What about long-time pros like Blair Jones, Mike Angelidis, Mattias Ritola, and Vladimir Mihalik? Mihalik and Ritola just finished their 4th years of pro hockey and Jones and Angelidis finished their 5th. Many of these players will surely have opportunities to play in European leagues next season. We know Johan Harju will, for instance, and the question is whether Johan will stay in North America after a disappointing second half. And will Kevin Quick's time in the Lightning organization be over as well?

Conversely, the Admirals will need to free up spots for several of the Lightning's top prospects. Carter Ashton and Charles Landry have already made appearances for the club this season in the playoffs. Richard Panik and Tyler Johnson seem like locks to be in Norfolk next season, too.

Next season could be a big change for the Admirals organization, as the last vestiges of previous regimes pass on. Change is inevitable for a minor league club, but the Admirals seem destined for even more change than is the norm. The good news is that they seem to have good goaltending locked down and even better coaching after a successful inaugural campaign by Head Coach Jon Cooper and assistant Mike Flanagan along with player development consultant Steve Thomas. This group seems to have taken a decent foundation laid by earlier teams and made it even stronger this year, and that foundation can help the new Admirals grow to be even more successful than this year's edition, in time. Look at how well guys like Mark Barberio and Radko Gudas took to the league this season. It portends good things.

Box score from TheAHL.com.

What an awful week for the Lightning organization.

WBS-2
NOR-1

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Leads the Series 3-2

Dustin Tokarski allowed 2 goals on 25 shots in the loss. He's dropped to 2-3 in these playoffs, but he's got a very respectable 1.82 GAA and .937 save percentage thus far.

First Period
WBS Petersen, (1) (Sterling, Hutchinson), 8:06 (PP)
WBS Petersen, (2) (Sterling, Hutchinson), 19:13 (PP)

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
NOR Barberio, (1) (Ritola, Milam), 9:45 (PP)

Mark Barberio was the game's second star. Congratulations to him on his first professional playoff goal. It was a big one, as it got the Admirals back in the game and Norfolk nearly cracked Brad Thiesen a couple of time to knot up the score afterward. But, in the end, it was not meant to be.

For the Lightning and Admirals to get swept in 5 home playoff games this week is just rough to take. Rough. To. Take. It hurts. Things looked so promising after the weekend when the teams took all 3 games they played. I certainly didn't expect a week of futility like this. Painful.

Box score from TheAHL.com.