Milwaukee saw its recent hot streak flame out as Colton Sceviour scored in overtime to rally the visiting Texas Stars to a 2-1 win.
After a scoreless first period, Austin Watson, who’s been on a tear of late, gave the Ads the lead 2:17 after the break. Watson blasted a shot on net from the right wall, but as Christopher Nilstorp reached out to glove it, the puck trickled away from him. Daniel Bang handled it in front and fed it back to Watson and he was able to bank it in off Nilstorp’s left side.
Defensively the Admirals played sound hockey with good nights out of Jon Blum, Ryan Ellis and Victor Bartley and late in the third Milwaukee had killed off both penalties they’d surrendered. Then came a too many men on the ice penalty that frustrated coach Dean Evason.
It led to a goal by Cody Eakin with 6:25 left in regulation that tied the game up. A Matt Fraser shot bounced off Jeremy Smith’s chest and high over the heads of Blum and Scott Valentine who both tried to whack it down the ice in mid-air.
Instead the puck bounced to Eakin who beat a surprised Smitty.
In overtime, Tomas Vincour took a slapper from near the blue line that Smith couldn’t freeze as the rebound bounced right to a waiting Sceviour who put it past him.
Evason didn’t mince words describing the game-winner and his goalie’s night overall.
Evason also talked about his frustration with the too many men penalty that led to the game-tying goal and his disappointment with his team’s special teams play.
After Friday’s win over Chicago, Evason had talked about how much the power play was missing Taylor Beck and though it was good to see Beck back on the ice for the Admirals, Evason reaffirmed that he wasn’t back to form.
Some positives:
It’s still early and the division and conference have shown a lot of parity as Evason was quick to point out.
As far as individuals go, Coach was impressed with how Watson and Bang continued to create together, and with the play of Cam Reid.
Injury notes:
Evason said Ben Ryan is out with an “upper body injury” but is expected back soon. The same can’t be said on captain Mike Moore’s status on which Evason has “no idea.”
Questions:
So now that Beck is back and the power play didn’t seem to get much better tonight, how do you think the Ads should make it better?
What was your verdict on Smitty tonight? Do you credit those goals to his defense, him or some other mythical force at work?
Who impressed you the most tonight? Keep in mind up until those two errors, the Admirals had played a very disciplined game particularly defensively.
Hey it was a tough loss, but don’t forget that Christmas is right around the corner. And when you think hockey and Christmas nothing brings a smile quite like this.
Admirals Roundtable 
I think that’s the harshest criticism Coach has given us about any single player so far this season when he was talking about the goals Smitty let in. There were some huge rebounds out there.
It’s because a certain official twitter account said shutout on their feed!
I would think that coach would have a lot more to worry about than one goal Jeremy Smith gave up in overtime. For example- his lack of control and discipline on the bench which resulted in the “too many men on the ice penalty”. Let’s talk about some things that a coach is responsible for like the PP which is a whopping 9.3% 5/54 since November 2 and the PK which is an unimpressive 78.7%. Regarless of who is in the line up, on any given night, the coach should be able to figure a system to score on the PP and how to prevent goals on the PK? There are many variations of these and easy to obtain (look on the internet-hint). Maybe a little more work on the team and a little less work of his mouth to the press.
I agree with Gilmore T(uttle).
I agree it’s harsh criticism, but don’t forget guys when you’ve just lost a game you were expecting to win in overtime, there can be some knee-jerk reactions. It’s still early in the season and calling out a player is a sign that you want them to get better. If coach thought that Smith could’ve gloved it, he certainly let him know, and it’s tough love.
It’s interesting because after the game Smitty seemed shocked that Coach had called him out and didn’t seem to believe he was accountable. In that situation you obviously shouldn’t think it’s all your fault, but you should at least share a little bit of the blame. The way he talked about the goals led to believe that he didn’t think he could’ve done anything to stop them.
Gilmore T. – This is not Saturday morning pee-wee hockey at Wilson Park. J. Smith was weak Wednesday night vs. the Stars and the coach said so. Smith is a pro , you learn from it and move on. As you mentioned special teams are a joke , Power-Play could not be much worse.