Admirals top Sharks - shut out by first place 73’s

A ceremonial faceoff was held Saturday night prior to the Amherstburg Admirals game against the Essex 73’s as part of “Pink the Rink” night. It is part of Breast Cancer Awareness Night.

A win and a loss for the Amherstburg Admirals this past week as they see their Provincial Junior Hockey League (Jr. C) record sit at 5-6-1-0 after a dozen games.

The Admirals got a little payback against the Sharks last Wednesday night in Wheatley, coming out on top of a 5-2 decision.

The Sharks had won the two previous meetings, but it took Amherstburg just 52 seconds to get things going.

“Against them we scored on our first shift. Liam Tiessen got his first junior goal and that brought some juice to the bench,” recalls Admirals’ head coach Zack Gervais.

It was 2-0 at the end of the first as Evan Klein connected but the Sharks closed the gap and trailed by one after 40 minutes. 

The Admirals dominated in the final frame as veteran centre Cory Leach got the winner followed by a pair of empty-netters from captain Drew Booker and Rory Sandison.

Amherstburg goalie Bennett Horrocks made 27 saves, picking up his second win in as many starts and lowering his GAA to a solid 2.16.

The host Admirals were blanked 3-0 by the West Stobbs Division leading Essex 73’s last Saturday night at the Libro Centre.

“The game could have gone either way. We had our chances and they had their chances. I’d like to see us shoot a bit more,” said Gervais.

It was scoreless in the first period, and it seemed as though the Admirals had a tough time getting the puck out of their own end due in part to a smothering Essex forecheck.

“It’s puck in and puck out, they swarm you,” noted Gervais. “We were a bit slow at the start of the game but we made some adjustments and it started to work.”

The score could have been higher but as the head coach said, adjustments were made. Admirals rookie blueliner Holden Wiley made a great diving play at his own blueline to fend off an Essex offensive opportunity.

Essex and Amherstburg went head-to-head again on Tuesday night back in Essex and Gervais expected a tough, physical game from the hosts.

Amherstburg is still without a couple of key players, Stefan Djordjevic and Brady Drouillard. In the eight games he has suited up for so far, Djordjevic has 11 points.

“He’s (Djordjevic) been out for five games straight. He’ll be out another week-and-a-half,” said Gervais.

It’s a busy weekend for the Admirals as they host Mooretown this Saturday and travel to Blenheim to take on the Blades the next night.

SLAPSHOTS… Great job by the local club to host Pink the Rink Saturday to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month… Assistant captain Allan Djordjevic recently hit a milestone, playing in his 125^th game… Former Admirals forward Dallas Kelly recently had a shorthanded and powerplay goal to help Lakeshore defeat Blenheim.

Admirals top Sharks - shut out by first place 73’s

By Fred Groves