If the Norfolk Admirals can turn around a so-far miserable season, Saturday could be a night they remember.
The Admirals ended a four-game losing streak with a 3-0 shutout of Worcester at DCU Center in Massachusetts. Isaac Poulter made a 22-save shutout as they salvaged one victory in a three-game series and their first triumph in the fifth of 10 consecutive road games.
Norfolk (7-17-2-0), with 16 points, is in last place among the ECHL’s 30 teams and is 10 points out of a playoff spot about a third through the season. The Admirals have lost 15 of their last 18 games, but you wouldn’t have known it Saturday.
Chase Yoder opened the scoring 14:34 into the middle period with a short-handed goal off assists from Chesapeake native Brandon Osmundson and David Drake.
The Admirals’ defense made that precarious margin stand up until the game’s final stages, when Railers coach Nick Tuzzolino thought he had no choice but to pull goalie Thomas Gale.
Jack Jaunich, in his second game since Norfolk acquired him from the Kalamazoo Wings, capitalized with an unassisted empty-net goal with a minute remaining for a 2-0 edge. Kristóf Papp capped the night with another empty-netter with 22 seconds remaining.
Gale made 23 saves but took the defeat as Worcester fell to 12-11-1-1.
The Admirals will hope to continue that momentum after traveling to Glens Falls, New York, where they will meet the Adirondack Thunder (11-8-3-1) at 3 p.m. Sunday in their fourth game in five days.
