A power play goal in overtime by Zack Phillips gave the Norfolk Admirals (8-15-3-0) a 5-4 win over the South Carolina Stingrays (17-2-3-0) on Friday night at the Norfolk Scope.
South Carolina, who outshot the Admirals 42-24 in the game, got goals from four different skaters in the contest including forwards Dan DeSalvo, Tim Harrison and Max Novak, as well as defenseman Jordan Klimek. Defender Tom Parisi also picked up two assists in the game.
The Stingrays continue to lead the South Division standings through 22 games with 37 points and a winning percentage of 0.841.
Norfolk took the lead right away when forward Alex Rodriguez scored one minute into the game to make it 1-0.
South Carolina responded later in the frame, scoring on their first power play opportunity of the night to even things at 1-1. DeSalvo netted his third goal of the week and eighth of the season by slapping a rebound into the back of the net after an initial shot by Cole Ully at 8:37. Parisi was credited with the second assist on the goal.
Exactly three minutes later however, the Admirals grabbed the lead right back on a goal by Artem Ivanyuzhenkov at 11:37 to make it 2-1.
Before the end of the frame, Harrison got the Rays even again with his first goal of the season at 17:00. While shorthanded, the Duxbury, Mass. native ripped home a shot from the top of the right circle in the offensive zone to tie the game at 2-2. The goal, which was South Carolina’s first shorthanded tally of the season, came with assists by DeSalvo and defenseman Tommy Hughes.
Novak gave the Stingrays a 3-2 lead at 9:09 of the second, scoring his fifth tally of the season on a 2-on-1 opportunity after receiving a pass by Matthew Weis. Parisi earned the second assist on the play, his second helper of the night.
Then just 65 seconds later, Klimek banged a rebound past Halverson for his third goal of the season to make it 4-2 South Carolina at 10:14. Assists on the tally were credited to Harrison and forward Dylan Steman.
The Admirals got one closer at 18:31 of the second when Sebastian Vidmar converted on a penalty shot to make it 4-3.
SC held on to their one-goal advantage for almost the entirety of the third period, but after Norfolk pulled goaltender Brandon Halverson for an extra skater in the closing moments, captain Ben Holmstrom tied things up at 4-4 with an extra attacker goal at 18:17.
The Rays had a late power play for the final 1:27 of regulation and first 33 seconds of overtime when Admirals’ defender Samuel Thibault was called for interference but were unable to take advantage of the opportunity.
Then Parisi was whistled for slashing at 2:21 of the extra session which led to the game-winning tally by Phillips at 3:26 of overtime to give Norfolk the victory.
Despite the loss, the Rays held the Admirals to a combined total of just nine shots during the second and third periods, as well as overtime.
SC finished 1-for-7 on the man-advantage, while Norfolk ended at 1-for-5. Halverson finished with 38 saves to earn the win for the Admirals.
NEXT GAMESouth Carolina returns home to face the Greenville Swamp Rabbits during Teddy Bear Toss Night at the North Charleston Coliseum on Saturday at 6:05 p.m.
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