Denis' 48 saves lead Admirals to sweep

By Brian J. French, special to The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK

The Norfolk Admirals gave up 50 shots on goal Saturday night, allowed a shorthanded goal and couldn’t get a shot during a 5-on-3 power play that lasted for more than a minute.

But Marc Denis rarely flinched in the face of a relentless Worcester attack, making 48 saves to lead the Admirals to a 4-2 win Saturday night at Scope and a weekend sweep of the Sharks.

The 48 saves were the most by an AHL Admiral in a game played at Scope.

“It’s nice to beat these guys, because they deserve to get swept,” Denis said in the postgame on-ice interview.

Except for a minute-long stretch late in the first period, Denis was impenetrable, easily topping the previous Admirals’ season-best of 38 saves by Karri Ramo on Dec. 7 at Philadelphia.

Paul Szczechura scored the go-ahead goal with 13:42 left in the second period, tapping in a pass from Kyle Wanvig on a 2-on-2 break past Worcester goalie Thomas Greiss. Wanvig added an empty-net goal with 20 seconds to play.

The start of Saturday’s game looked a lot like the end of the game Friday night, when the teams combined for 154 penalty minutes in the third period alone.

Wanvig and Worcester’s Brennan Evans dropped their gloves with 3:10 left in the first period, then Jay Rosehill and the Sharks’ Brad Staubitz engaged in a lengthy fight in front of the benches four seconds later. Worcester’s Jonathan Tremblay then took a shot at Karl Stewart during a stoppage three seconds after that, getting a slashing/ roughing double-minor.

But not only could the Admirals, who took a 2-0 firstperiod lead on goals by Norm Milley and Rosehill, not do anything with the extended power play, they allowed a shorthanded goal when Devin Setoguchi rebounded his own shot past Denis to tie the score at 2-2. It was Setoguchi’s second goal in 50 seconds.