Admirals rally, win finale in OT
After wait of more than a week, they’ll be in postseason
The Norfolk Admirals ended their regular season in style Saturday night, coming from behind to force overtime before 6,502 at Scope and winning 3-2 against Reading 3:55 into the extra period on Connor Fedorek’s goal.
The Admirals, who had been downtrodden for about a decade, have enjoyed a dramatic turnaround this season, which they completed by representing Virginia Beach for the weekend in their City Series promotion.
They gained their first playoff berth since rejoining the ECHL in 2015 and won six of their last seven games to finish 41-21-6-1, though their season ended with three games fewer and about a week earlier than expected.
Norfolk was scheduled to play at Newfoundland three times before the playoffs, but the ECHL Board of Directors recently voted to terminate the Growlers’ membership because their sale could not be finalized before a league-mandated April 2 deadline.
Coach Jeff Carr’s Admirals finished with 89 points in 69 games (1.29 points per game). Adirondack has 88 points in 67 games, with five more contests remaining, and the Thunder will need to finish with more points per game than the Admirals to gain the North Division’s No. 1 playoff seed. So Adirondack will gain the top seed if it finishes with 93 or more points but will be seeded No. 2, behind the Admirals, if it ends with 92 or fewer.
Both those teams will have home-ice advantage in the first round against opponents to be determined. The regular season ends April 14, with the Kelly Cup playoffs soon to follow.
The Royals (28-34-6-2), fighting for a playoff berth but currently out of position, went ahead 1-0 on Tyson Fawcett’s goal 9:23 into the first period, but the Admirals’ Andrew McLean answered at the 15:36 mark.
The score remained 1-1 until Reading’s Yvan Mongo beat goalie Yaniv Perets at 15:42, giving the Admirals 4:18 to try to force overtime.
They did, thanks to Gehrett Sargis’ goal at 17:43. Danny Katic gained his second assist of the night.
In overtime, Fedorek scored off assists from Sargis and former Hampton Roads Whalers star Brandon Osmundson to sent the crowd into a celebration.
Perets had 24 saves, while his Reading counterpart, Nolan Maier, made 29.
After officials assessed an eye-popping 248 penalty minutes on a wild Friday night, they only assessed 22 Saturday — 11 2-minute minors.