Admirals Hold Fort To Even Series With Essex

The Amherstburg Admirals defended their home ice in Game 2, just as their opponents did in Game 1, to bring their semifinal series to 1-1 and turning the best-of-seven series into a best-of-five in the process.

Bennett Horrocks stopped 42 of the 45 shots he faced, including 19 in a first period that saw the visiting 73’s receive the first three power-play opportunities of the game.

Holding a 1-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes on Stefan Djordjevic’s 10th goal of the playoffs, the Admirals were able to tilt the ice back in the middle frame, and answered Carter Dembinski’s equalizing tally with three unanswered goals on Essex netminder Tomas Kniaziew. Djordjevic scored his second of the night, in addition to Cory Leach and Drew Booker’s single markers to put the score at 4-1 in favour of the home side after 40 minutes.

Essex came out firing in the third and were able to cut the lead to one with six minutes to go in regulation, but Horrocks and the Amherstburg defence held the fort the rest of the way to lock down a 4-3 victory. With his stellar 42-save peformance, the rookie netminder has now posted 40+ saves in three of his six playoff starts.

With his two goals, Stefan Djordjevic has now posted three straight multi-goal games and has done so in four of his past five contests. His 11 goals leads the entire PJHL.

The series now shifts back to Essex for Game 3 on Tuesday night, with Game 4 back in Amherstburg on Thursday.