A day after ending a four-game losing streak, the road-weary Norfolk Admirals resumed their struggles Sunday afternoon with a 7-3 defeat to the Adirondack Thunder in Glens Falls, New York.
Admirals goalie Christian Propp made 22 saves but gave up seven goals, three on power plays.
Justin Taylor led Adirondack with a hat trick and an assist, and Matt Salhany had the game’s opening goal and three assists.
The Thunder went ahead 2-0 in the first 7:23. Norfolk’s Chase Yoder cut the deficit to 2-1 at 13:55 of the first off assists from Chesapeake native Brandon Osmundson and Ben Zloty.
Taylor scored at 9:58 of the second, but the Admirals’ Kristóf Papp countered at 14:33 to leave the Thunder (12-8-3-1) with a 3-2 lead at the second intermission.
Taylor set the tone just 1:18 into the third period, and Ryan Wheeler and Luke Reid added goals for a 6-2 margin as the clock ticked under 10 minutes.
Kevin Conley netted Norfolk’s last goal at 10:40, but Taylor capped the scoring on a power play at 16:16.
Jeremy Brodeur, the son of Hall of Fame goalie Justin Brodeur, made 26 saves for the victory. It was Norfolk’s 16th loss in its last 19 games.
Having gone 1-3 in a five-day span, the Admirals (7-18-2-0), with 16 points, are in last place among the ECHL’s 30 teams and are 11 points out of a playoff spot about a third through the season.
They will rest before the last four of 10 consecutive road games. The next three will be Friday through Sunday, starting the day after Christmas, against the Greensboro Gargoyles (7-12-5-1) in North Carolina. The first two games will start at 7, and the finale will be at 3.
