Life is as good as it’s ever been for the Norfolk Admirals since they returned to the ECHL in 2015.
With local product Brandon Osmundson providing two assists and Carson Golder scoring twice, they overcame a two-goal deficit Saturday night to beat Maine 4-2 before 5,469 at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
The Admirals (27-18-3-1) extended their winning streak to four games. They’ll try to finish a three-game sweep of the Mariners, who are affiliated with the Boston Bruins, when they face off in the series finale at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Norfolk, often downtrodden and never in the ECHL playoffs for almost a decade, has surged under coach Jeff Carr. The Admirals, who need a top-four finish among seven teams in the Eastern Conference’s North Division to end their playoff drought, are securely in second place for the moment. Even the first-place Adirondack Thunder, who have a 12-point division lead, might be taking notice.
The Admirals’ revolving door of goalies continued, with Finland’s Oskari Salminen gaining the victory Saturday via 24 saves. He has played 50 games, including this season, with the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose, which is affiliated with the Admirals and the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets.
Maine (19-22-5-0) went ahead 2-0 on goals by Curtis Hall 9:30 into the first period and by Zach Malatesta 6:46 into the second. But the Admirals pulled to 2-1 as Danny Katic scored at 10:42 of the second off assists from Osmundson, a Chesapeake native, and Thomas Caron.
Golder’s goal 3:32 into the final period tied the score at 2. Stepan Timofeyev then put the Admirals ahead with 4:11 left in regulation off assists by Osmundson and Golder.
Maine pulled goalie Brad Arvanitis for an extra attacker, but Golder foiled the strategy with an empty-net goal with 11 seconds remaining.
