Savannah goaltender Michael Simpson made 37 saves Friday on Military Appreciation Night as the Ghost Pirates downed the Norfolk Admirals 5-2 to start a two-game ECHL series before 4,682 at Scope.
Simpson, named the night’s No. 1 star, made more than 30 of those stops during the first two periods. That came while his team was building a 4-0 lead on goals by Nicholas Zabaneh, Liam Walsh, Robert Mastrosimone and Logan Drevitch.
The camouflage-wearing Admirals’ Kristóf Papp got the puck past Simpson with 1:51 to go in the second period, thanks to an odd bounce behind the net, and Jaydon Dureau’s back-door goal closed the gap to 4-2 with 2:33 remaining in regulation. Jack O’Leary assisted both goals.
Norfolk coach Jeff Carr pulled goalie Alex Worthington soon afterward, and Savannah’s Nick Granowicz added an empty-netter with 10 seconds remaining.
The Admirals (4-4-2-0) will get a rematch at 7:05 Saturday night against the Ghost Pirates (4-1-2-1), who are affiliated with the two-time NHL Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
It was Norfolk’s first game since the Admirals signed forward Timofey Spitserov of St. Petersburg, Russia, who took two shots against Savannah, and acquired a pair of forwards Friday in trades.
They acquired Brandon McNally, 33, from the Fort Wayne Komets for future considerations and regained former Admiral Alex Tonge from the Orlando Solar Bears in exchange for defenseman Dustin Geregach.
Tonge, 30, had 37 goals and 43 assists during the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons for the Admirals, then played in Europe before joining the Solar Bears.
