Trailing 1-0 after two periods, the Adirondack Thunder scored twice in a 2:24 span in the third period and defeated the Norfolk Admirals in Saturday's Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead
The Adirondack Thunder defeated the Norfolk Admirals 2-1 in Saturday's Game 5.
The Thunder outshot Norfolk 23-22 and scored two goals in less than three minutes in the third period, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
Adirondack goaltender Isaac Poulter stopped 21 out of 22 shots on goal and picked up his second straight win. Adirondack leads the series 3-2 as they head back home for Tuesday's Game 6.
The game remained scoreless in the first period, with the Admirals holding a 9-5 shots-on-goal advantage after the first 20 minutes.
During the second period, the Admirals broke the deadlock with a goal from Josh McDougall, assisted by Carson Golder and Dmitry Kuzmin, at the 10:44 mark. It was McDougall's third goal of the postseason and his first since Game 3 in the first round.
Despite this, Adirondack outshot the Admirals 13-6 in the second period.
In the third period, Adirondack's Yushiroh Hirano scored the equalizer at 12:02, his second goal this postseason. Ryan Smith then scored the go-ahead goal just 2:24 later, his fourth goal in his last three games.
Poulter stopped all seven of Norfolk's shots in the third period, including one on Adirondack's penalty kill with under two minutes remaining in regulation, preserving the win.
Game 6 is scheduled for Tuesday, but the Adirondack Thunder will have to break the trend to wrap up the series. The road team has won all games in this series so far.
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