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NORFOLK — The Norfolk Admirals added some firepower to the roster during the last 10 days, and all played a part in a 5-0 win over the Savannah Ghost Pirates Friday night before 5,037 at Norfolk Scope.
Carson Golder opened the scoring a little more than three minutes into the game. Brandon Osmundson, a native of Chesapeake, started the sequence with deep zone pressure behind the goal, forcing a bad pass by Savannah netminder Evan Cormier. Matt Crasa picked up the loose puck and slid it back into the crease, and Osmundson was able to deflect it in the path of Golder, who came flying down the center of the ice and fired home a goal.
It was the 17th goal of the season for Golder, who was reassigned to the Admirals from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, on March 20.
“We got an opportunist goal with Golder right there and then we settled in,” Admirals coach Jeff Carr said. “It was a really sloppy start for us. They had really good looks and (goaltender Thomas) Milic was great.”
With little more than four minutes remaining in the period, Ben Zloty doubled the Admirals’ lead from behind the net, flinging a puck that hit Cormier in the back and then trickled past the red line.
Less than a minute later, Colton Young connected a pass in front of the crease to Crasa, who took a stride to the right before snapping in a goal for a 3-0 lead. Young was acquired in a March 20 trade from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, where he totaled 12 goals and 13 assists.
Crasa, a rookie from Massachusetts Lowell, was signed to an amateur tryout contract last Saturday. It was Crasa’s first goal as a professional.
“We popped that second one in and it really gave us some confidence that we were gonna be good tonight,” Carr said. “Then (Crasa) gets that goal, and that third one really felt like it was gonna be our night, and we carried most of the play the rest of the game.”
Zloty knocked in his second goal of the night just 38 seconds into the second stanza. Even with the four-goal cushion, the Admirals were digging into corners, fighting for pucks and getting that extra stride in to block shots. Savannah didn’t reel off a shot on goal during theperiod until halfway through.
“The whole (defense) was really good tonight. They were leading with their stick and winning a lot of their own battles, which allowed our second layers to get in,” Carr said. “There was a lot of ice to cover on the back-checking, tracking and picking up, and defense just carried us.”
Midway through the third period, Bryce Brodzinski, from the defensive zone, released Hank Crone through alone on the left side with a leading pass. Crone corralled the puck and sniped it high past Cormier for the final margin. Crone also notched assists on both Zloty goals.
Brodzinski was also acquired in the trade from Greenville and was the Swamp Rabbits’ leading scorer with 21 goals and 29 assists. Crone was making his first appearance with the Admirals since being traded from the Idaho Steelheads, where he registered 15 goals and 39 assists, on March 18. He was a league MVP in the 2022-23 season as a rookie with the Allen Americans.
The Admirals (36-23-4-1) remained in third place in the ECHL North Division with 77 points, a point behind the Wheeling Nailers. The Trois-Rivières Lions are in first place with 90 points and have clinched a playoff berth. The Worcester Railers and theReading Royals are battling for the division’s final postseason spot with 70 and 68 points, respectively.
The Admirals have eight games remaining in the season, including five more at home, and next host Savannah at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in the second game of their penultimate homestand.
“We feel like we’ve been on the road the whole second half, so it’s huge,” Carr said. “Not only for rest, but just sleeping in our own beds, hitting the sun and getting to decompress. It’s been cold, wet, rainy and snowy, and with the long travel, I’ll tell you what: It wears on you.
“Right now with the nice weather and playing for our home crowd, we’re getting a little energy boost.”
