A sold out Mile One Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland saw 21-year-old Igor Bobkov turn away 38 shots that led the Admirals to a shutout victory 2-0. The Admirals will depart St. Johns splitting the weekend series of back to back games against St. Johns.
Neither the Admirals nor the Ice Caps took the rains during the opening frame but both clubs did have special teams on the ice during the 1st. The Admirals had chances on the man advantage twice but their PP unit did not have the missing piece to the puzzle. Ice Cap’s stalled on both of their PP chances as well. Norfolk headed into the 2nd outshooting St. Johns 12 to 10.
The Admirals cracked into the led when new acquired defenseman Ryan Parent blasted a shot on Ice Caps goalie Eddie Pasquale. Devante Smith-Pelly found the Pasquale rebound and dished the puck out to line mate Patrick Maroon who stuffed it past Pasquale for his 4th goal of the 2012-2013 campaign.
With just seconds remaining in the middle period Admirals assistant captain Troy Bodie assisted on a semi breakaway John Mitchell goal. That was set up by being in the right spot at the right time for Mitchell who netted his 3rd goal of the season. Norfolk’s PK unit was summoned to work only 3 times that period while St. John’s only concentrated on their man advantage. The Admirals would repeat what they did in the 1st when the team outshot the Ice Caps 12 to 10.
Norfolk would band together to fight off St. Johns in the in the 3rd when the Ice Caps really found their offensive flair getting off 18 shots. However it didn’t shake Bobkov and his teammates who all stepped in to save the shutout . Norfolk only mustered 3 shots in the final frame.
Norfolk will sit idle until November 2nd when the Binghamton Senators come to Norfolk and play in back to back contests. Syracuse and Norfolk find themselves tied for the pole position in the Eastern Division of the Conference with 10 points.
