Norfolk, VA, January 8, 2011 – Jeremy Williams’ 20th goal of the season, with 37.2 seconds remaining in overtime, gave the Connecticut Whale a 3-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals Saturday night at the Norfolk Scope.
The victory upped the Whale’s league-high overtime win total to five, and came after the Admirals tied the score at two on a goal by Stefano Giliati with only 1:39 left in regulation. The Whale (20-14-2-5, 47 pts.) kept pace with the Portland Pirates, who beat the Manchester Monarchs 4-3 and remained tied with the Whale for second place in the Atlantic Division, and moved to within three points of the first-place Monarchs.
Cam Talbot, in just his second start in eight games, made 38 saves to get the win, improving to 11-6-2 on the season and 6-0-1 in his last seven decisions, as the Whale were outshot by a margin of 40-26. Brodie Dupont and Kelsey Tessier also scored for the Whale, and Tim Marks had the other Admiral tally. Dustin Tokarski make 23 saves in the Norfolk net.
It was the Whale’s first win in three tries on the season against the Admirals, who had taken the first two meetings between the two teams by a combined score of 10-3.
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Michael Del Zotto, in his third game with Connecticut after being assigned by the New York Rangers, did much of the work on the winning play. Del Zotto carried the puck through the neutral zone and down the left-wing side in the Admiral end, before passing to Williams at the opposite post. Tokarski slid to his left and robbed Williams on his first opportunity, but Williams battled for the rebound and jammed it in on second effort, as he was being knocked to the ice by a Norfolk defender.
The Whale carried a 2-1 lead into the third period and nearly made it stand up, despite being outshot 13-4 in the period. Giliati, though, earned Norfolk a standings point at 18:21 with his fifth goal of the year, on a deflection from Talbot’s right. The tip was on a shot from the center point by defenseman Radko Gudas.
The Whale had taken the lead at 17:50 of the second frame on Tessier’s seventh of the season, after dustup at 17:35 that saw Jared Nightingale fight 6-8, 246-pound Norfolk defenseman Vladimir Mihalik.
Todd White had a close-in shot stopped, but Tessier pushed the rebound back to him and then deflected White’s second try past a prone Tokarski.
Norfolk had by far the better of the play in the first period, but Talbot held strong in the Whale net stopping 14 shots. Tokarski, looking to end an 0-5-1 run, faced only six in the Admiral cage.
And the Whale rewarded Talbot’s efforts with a quick start to the second period, taking a 1-0 lead just 1:31 in on Dupont’s second goal in as many games.
Dupont broke up a Norfolk pass in the Connecticut end and chipped the puck clear, setting up a two-on-one with Williams. Using Williams, the Whale’s leading goal-scorer, as a decoy, Dupont got Tokarski to open up the five hole and slapped a shot through the goalie’s legs.
The Admirals finally solved Talbot at 13:24, as leading point-scorer Marc-Antoine Pouliot (9-22-31 in 28 games) heaved the puck at the net from the right-wing boards. It was deflected by Marks at the side of the crease, hit Talbot’s arm and deflected into the net.
The game was the Whale’s 41st of the season, marking the start of the second half. It was the third of a stretch of four straight road games, which the Whale will complete with a visit to Portland this Friday (7:00 PM faceoff). They then return home for back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday vs. Providence and league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, respectively. Ex-Boston Bruins greats Rick Middleton and Reggie Lemelin will be making a special appearance at Saturday’s game, which is a 7:00 faceoff, meeting and greeting fans and signing autographs in the XL Center atrium from 6:00-7:00 PM to promote the February 19 Harvest-Properties.com “Whale Bowl” at Rentschler Field. Sunday’s game faces off at 3:00 PM.
Connecticut Whale 3 (OT) at Norfolk Admirals 2
Saturday, January 8, 2011 – Norfolk Scope
Connecticut 0 2 0 1 – 3
Norfolk 0 1 1 0 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Jackson Nor (high-sticking), 0:27; Del Zotto Ct (slashing), 3:51.
2nd Period-1, Connecticut, Dupont 7 1:31. 2, Norfolk, Marks 2 (Pouliot, Labrie), 13:24. 3, Connecticut, Tessier 7 (White), 17:50. Penalties-Bickel Ct (fighting), 10:02; Valentenko Ct (hooking), 10:02; Angelidis Nor (fighting), 10:02; DiDiomete Ct (fighting), 12:44; Berry Nor (fighting), 12:44; Kennedy Ct (slashing), 17:35; Nightingale Ct (fighting), 17:35; Mihalik Nor (slashing, fighting), 17:35; Del Zotto Ct (hooking), 18:25.
3rd Period-4, Norfolk, Giliati 5 (Gudas, Berry), 18:21. Penalties-Williams Ct (delay of game), 11:23.
OT Period-5, Connecticut, Williams 20 (Del Zotto, Williams), 4:22. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Connecticut 6-12-4-4-26. Norfolk 14-11-13-2-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 1; Norfolk 0 / 4.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 7-2-2 (40 shots-38 saves). Norfolk, Tokarski 6-11-1 (26 shots-23 saves).
A-4,888
Referees-Jeff Smith (49).
Linesmen-Mark Hamlett (81), Scott Pomento (25).
