Bridgeport, exhaustion flatten the Admirals

By TRIS WYKES, The Virginian-Pilot
© March 12, 2006

NORFOLK — Perhaps it was fatigue that clouded Shawn Thornton's
judgment and hindered his Norfolk Admirals teammates in a 5-2 loss
Saturday to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Scope.

Whatever the reason, the Admirals were behind from the start of their
13th game in 21 days and their second home contest in as many nights
following the longest road trip in franchise history. Friday's
Norfolk victory ended with Thornton, a team leader but prone to
occasional tantrums, earning a misconduct for trying to fight several
Sound Tigers. It didn't take a psychologist to realize he'd be out for
blood Saturday, and Bridgeport played him like a fiddle.

First, the Sound Tigers' Chris Thompson refused to brawl, absorbing
several Thornton cross-checks and slashes. And Thompson still kept his
cool seconds later after a Thornton body check that could have been
called a charge by referee Harry Dumas.

The resulting scrum near the team benches in the fourth minute earned
Thornton two minor penalties and a 10-minute misconduct. Bridgeport
used the 5-on-3 power play to take a 1-0 lead, and Thornton didn't
escape the penalty box until five minutes remained in the first
period. Thornton "wanted to get his point across but ... he does have
to control himself,'' said Norfolk coach Mike Haviland, who held a
closed-door meeting with the team after the game. "Maybe he thought he
was going to spark us with a fight, but that other kid wasn't going to
go with him.

"Thorty did what he did, but we also took some other dumb penalties.
We talked at the first intermission about how we had to get back to
playing.''

Nathan Barrett tied the game with a power-play goal in the seventh
minute, but the Sound Tigers led 3-1 after 20 minutes, and they sent
Norfolk starting goaltender Adam Munro to the showers with their
fourth goal midway through the second period.

By the time Bridgeport fired a shorthanded goal past relief netminder
Corey Crawford with 10 minutes left in the game, an announced crowd of
4,360 was deadly quiet and the score was 5-1.

Third-place Norfolk's lead over Bridgeport has dropped to two points
as they battle for playoff position. The Admirals host Hartford next
weekend and Portland the weekend after that, battling the Atlantic
Division's two best teams.

Notes: The Virginian-Pilot's three stars: Bridgeport's Jeremy Colliton
(1), Rob Collins (2) and goaltender Wade Dubielewicz (3). ... AHL
teams must submit their "clear-day lists'' Monday — essentially
playoff rosters. ... Pavel Vorobiev missed his fifth game with a
bruised knee. ... Ex-Admiral and current Portland Pirate Geoff Peters
has scored 20 goals for the first time in his career. ... Ex-Admirals
defenseman Steve McCarthy was traded from Vancouver to Atlanta shortly
before the NHL trade deadline Thursday.