Admirals lose early lead, then game on a late goal

NORFOLK

It played out like a hockey version of that old Michael Jordan -Larry Bird commercial:

Between two defenders...

... around the net...

... past another Admiral...

... nothing but net.

And just like that, Jesse Joensuu drove yet another dagger into the Norfolk Admirals' hockey season.

Joensuu's one-man-beats-team magic with 57 seconds left capped a Bridgeport rally and dealt the Admirals a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat Saturday night at Scope.

Norfolk led 2-0 late in the second period and appeared set to sweep its two-game set with the East Division rival Sound Tigers. Instead, the Admirals (19-23-2-5) suffered yet another blow to their already slim hopes of re-entering the AHL East postseason discussion.

Prior to the Bridgeport comeback, the game played out as an extension of the magical play of Admirals goalie Riku Helenius, the 20-year-old Finland native who went 96:45 over three games without allowing a goal before the Sound Tigers finally solved him.

T he Admirals opened scoring when Mike Lundin lifted the rebound of a Brandon Bochenski shot over Bridgeport goalie Tobias Stephan at

4:46 of the second. Less than two minutes later, Justin Keller evaded a defender and Stephan to put the Admirals up 2-0.

But the Sound Tigers finally beat Helenius at 16:25 of the second period. Bridgeport pulled even at 11:43 of the third period.

From there, the game seemed headed for overtime until Joensuu split Admirals defensemen Daryl Boyle and Ty Wishart, circled the Norfolk net, evaded Justin Keller along the right faceoff circle and buried the game-winner.

The Admirals have no time to dwell on the loss, though, as they have a 5:05 p.m. game today at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.