The name of the game tonight was momentum.
The Abbotsford Heat had very little momentum for the majority of the game. And when they did manage to get some momentum, the Admirals were able to answer back.
With the Admirals opening the 3rd period with a 2-0 lead (similar to last home game against Chicago), Abbotsford center John Armstrong scored just 1:47 into the frame. He took down Jon Blum along the near boards, picked up the loose puck, and fired a perfect shot over a well positioned Mark Dekanich.
21 seconds later, the Admirals zapped all the momentum out of the Heat.
Ads defenseman Brett Palin took a shot from the point that deflected off Linus Klasen en route to the net, giving Klasen his 6th goal of the year.
Coach Lambert says the huge goal came from sticking to the game plan.
Klasen also assisted on the Admirals first goal, a power play marker that also went in on a deflection. Klasen and Jamie Lundmark were at the point, and Klasen fed the puck over to Lundmark, whose slapshot went off a Heat defender and into the net.
Coach Lambert has great things to say about Klasen….and so does Linus Klasen.
I like the confidence. A lot.
Mark Dekanich looked like a #1 goalie tonight. And I’ve been hesitant to use that kind of language with him up to this point. But he played a helluva game. His rebound control was outstanding. There was a breakdown in the second period when a shot was deflected on its way to the net. He stayed with the deflection, and stuck a quick right pad out to stop a couple more follow-up shots.
But it wasn’t just Dekanich, as coach was happy to point out.
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NOTES:
Here are how your lines started:
Wilson – Lundmark – Halischuk
Thuresson – Geoffrion – Klasen
Thang – Van Guilder – Santorelli
Bourque – Bartlett – Mueller
– Scott Lehman played his first game of the season, and I think he held his own pretty well. He wasn’t afraid to be physical.
– Scott Ford…another awful fight, and he somehow got an extra two for roughing out of it. At least he didn’t get his face bloodied up this time.
– Mark “The Proof” Santorelli scored his second of the year. He was leading a two-on-one rush, and his shot went off of Leland Irving’s glove and in the net. Great to see The Proof on the scoresheet, but wow….that was a very weak goal for Irving.
– So far so good for the first 3-games-in-3-days stretch of the season. It’s a matinee in Chicago tomorrow afternoon, and the Wolves will be playing in just their second straight day. They lost in OT to Rockford Saturday night. Coach Lambert looks ahead to the game.
OK Roundtable — Here are some questions for you.
1) Got our first chance to see Jamie Lundmark. First impressions?
2) We know the offense that Klasen can provide. Do you think he’s holding his own on defense?
3) After two straight solid performances by Dekanich….would you play him again tomorrow?
4) Who will get benched in favor of Steve Begin tomomrrow?
5) Give us your unsung hero for the game.
Admirals Roundtable 
1-Lundmark certainly isn’t doing anything to hurt his reputation in Milwaukee. Goals early in back to back nights, shows he can produce…and hopefully that continues.
2- Does Klasen need to play defense? If he continues scoring the way he is, no reason to worry about his work in the defensive zone…but I haven’t seen any lapses to be worried about. He’s crafty enough with the puck to get out of tight situations, on offense and defense.
3- Dex is the man. He played excellent tonight, and Chet has been shaky in every start….and every start during his consecutive loss streak. If the game was against a team from another division, I’d give Chet the go just to give Dex a break, but I think we should stick with the starter vs Chicago.
4- Nobody ever said hockey fans were classy…and the IQ of the average fan will never put them in a position to run for office. Stay classy Ads fans.
5- David Poile. What a great night for the Predators organization. Pekka has a 30 save shutout vs a 5-1 Dallas team. Cal O’Reilly gets the only goal of the game assisted by Shea and Hornqvist. The Preds are showing off the depth of the organization by chugging along with key players like Suter, Dumont, and Goc missing from the lineup.
Lundmark – solid game. Would like to see him in a few more games before making a judgement.
I really wasn’t paying attention to Klasen in the defensive zone. The few times I remember seeing him he lagged behind the play.
Dekanich had a light workload tonight… I suppose you could start him again tomorrow. We’ve already dumped two games to Chicago, we can’t dump another to them this early in the season. Having a tie-breaker over Chicago at the end of the season (season series) would be big because I’m going to assume they’ll be towards the top of the division. The downside would be overworking Dex this early in the season.
Scratch Bartlett for Begin. Possibly Mueller.
Unsung hero… hrmm, maybe Van Guilder? He played solid in the defensive zone and did well in faceoffs in the defensive zone.
(Editors note — i changed question number four, after deciding to take politics out of the equation….so ManInTheBox was commenting on a different question….Just be advised….)
Good call on DP too. Good night to be a fan of this organization…despite what some wahoo on yahoo thinks…. http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ac-6996492 . We may have to Take Out The Trash sometime this week with that story….
wow, that guy is a great writer.
1. Lundmark is playing well and seems to fit in well with the Admirals system.
2. I don’t think he’s really been bad at defense but when you are on pace for 80 goals, who cares? Keep scoring goals and everything else can be forgiven.
3. I would go with Chet. 3 games in 3 days is hard to do especially with Wolves as the last opponent. In this case I think freshness is more important than a hot goalie.
4. I would scratch Bartlett or Bourque. Bartlett if you are using Begin simply as a grinder, Bourque if you want Begin as a secondary scoring option.
5. Andreas Thuresson played a good game. Klasen was once again wracking up the points but Thuresson really helps open up the ice for Klasen with his skating and hard work. I really love these two with Geoffrion if Geoffrion can get going in the scoring column.
I’m assuming the 4th question was about the booing of Barrett??? It’s what I expected, he’s not the popular choice. I think Walker would have been booed just as much if he were in attendance. By the way, had I known I would have gotten a free jersey out of it, I would have ran for governor too…
Who to scratch for Begin? Depends…will he play wing or center??? If it’s wing, I think Bartlett gets the bench..If it’s center, it goes to Van Guilder (or they push him to wing and Bartlett gets the bench anywho). Bourque’s physicality is what’s going to keep him around. I still love the way that little guy hits (plus that assist didn’t hurt either).
Scott Ford should stop fighting, tonight looked more like they were just trying to hug it out (and yes the roughing was ridiculous).
I was impressed with Lehman though, he looked a lot better than I had expected.
Yeah, the coaches and management have glowing things to say about Bourque, so his playing time is not in jeopardy at all. But Van Guilder and Bartlett have received some good praise too. Van Guilder has done a nice job in his role, and even scored a bit. Bartlett’s speed has been an asset, but he hasn’t been able to finish any chances yet. His roster status (2-way contract with Cincy) may be what ultimately makes him lose the number game. But his speed and energy would be missed.
Yeah, they’ve both played very well, I would think Van Guilder has a leg up on Bartlett, but when someone’s gotta be the odd man out it’s gotta happen. It’s a bittersweet situation, you’re upset that you have to sit somebody, but it’s nice having so many quality players that make it hard to make the decision. We seem to have our own “Vick Vs Kolb” situation in Milwaukee!