Wednesday night hockey on Penn Street for the third straight week, the Norfolk Admirals sailed into town for the first of a two-game series. The Royals are still in contention for a playoff spot but nothing is settled yet, if the club misses out we may very well look back at this game as a turning point. The visitors from Virginia led 1-0 early in the second period before newcomer Jake Smith knotted it for the Royals, two more Norfolk goals sandwiched around a Tag Bertuzzi marker put the Royals down by one entering the third period. Fifty-one seconds into the period Joseph Nardi tied the score 3-3, thirteen seconds later Devon Paliani lit the lamp to put the Royals ahead. At this point the club had battled back from three one-goal deficits to take the lead, everybody in the building is standing up and roaring, you figure all the momentum is clearly on the home team's side, right? Wrong. The Admirals proceeded to score five times in the next twelve minutes to put it out of reach, Jake Bricknell's cosmetic score with thirty seconds remained brought the final score to 8-5. Anson Thornton suffered the loss as the record drops to 22-26-7, 13-14-3 at home. Game #2 is at the Arena on Friday the 8th, from there the club embarks on a five-game road trip, Take care, thanks for reading.
