Admirals Drop Tight Game In Potential Playoff Preview

The Amherstburg Admirals dropped a one goal game to the Blenheim Blades, in what was a potential first round playoff preview on Saturday night in Amherstburg.

After getting first career goals from both Finnigan Russett and Cole Vaillancourt and holding a 2-1 lead early in the second period, the Admirals ran into penalty troubles in the middle frame. Good penalty-killing and solid goaltending from Joe Costea kept the Blenheim power-play in check, but the Blades were able to swing the momentum in their favour to result in goals by Joey Hayter and Justin Ewald coming less than two minutes apart. Finding themselves down a goal heading into the third, the Admirals weren’t able to muster enough chances through the game’s final 20 minutesnand fell one goal short in a 3-2 Blenheim victory.

With the two teams third and sixth in the standings, the game was a preview of a potential first-round playoff matchup, and it certainly had a playoff-like feel to it throughout. Despite a large gap of points between the two teams, the past three games against each other have been extremely close, including a thrilling Admirals victory on January 11.

The Admirals will now embark on their busiest week of the season that sees them play four games over a six-day span. The week begins on Tuesday night with a trip to Essex to take on the second-place 73’s, and will be followed by another road game on Wednesday night in Wheatley. The team will then settle in for two weekend home games, against the Sharks again Saturday night, and then will be back at home on Sunday where they will host the Mooretown Flags