Editors note:  Because Ryan was elsewhere….doing…other things….tonight’s recap is brought to you by our friend and gamenite twitter czar, Andrew “Sutty” Sutliff.   Brace yourself….

Riding high off the 6-goal performance on Wednesday night, the Ads faced a well-rested team Friday night at the BC, and the visitors took it to the home team.  5-2 was the final.

It started well, with the Admirals getting the first goal 4:06 into the game.  The puck was brought into the Admirals offensive zone where Gabriel Bourque corralled it and fed a lead pass to Mike Bartlett.  #20 got behind Filppula to put on a deek and went back hand past a sprawling Joey MacDonald.  Bartlett’s 3rd goal on the year and Bourque’s 5^th assist.

So things were looking better than a shamrock shake at Christmas.  Then we found out our shake was just vanilla ice cream with green food coloring.

Brett Palin was sent to the bin for interference and it took the Griffins 25 seconds to make the game even. The puck was put on net causing a rebound to come out of the crease.  Starting goaltender Jeremy Smith slid forward in an attempt to gather the loose puck but two of his own guys (Mueller and Ford) were there to help him out.. Sort of… they ended up fighting each other, unable clear the puck.  It was then pushed to Brendan Smith on the far side of the ice. With J-Smith still out of the crease the B-Smith shot the puck, and the shot deflected to Tomas Tatar between the circles.   His shot was not denied.  It was a bad defensive sequence for all Admirals involved.

About half way through the 1^st period, (Andrew) Lord skated on water towards the goal and found a sinner in Brandon Straub. Realizing the demons ran deep in Straub, Lord attempted to exorcise them with his fists.  Straub had answers for Lord’s fists of salvation and ended up taking Lord to the ground. The demons may have won this bout but Lord will be back and ready for the ultimate deliverance, that is if he isn’t betrayed by his own team first.

The Griffins were not moved by the sentiment and found their way on the score board for the second time in the period.  With control of the zone the Griffins were moving the puck quite well. Brendan Smith sent a puck to Tatar who was on the far side of the ice just below the circle. He quickly sent the puck to the slot and found a crashing Emmerton, who went stick side to light the lamp. Klasen had a great view of the goal for he was right behind Emmerton and the man responsible for him.

1:40 into the second period Tatar put what looked to be a harmless shot on net. The puck was deflected from the blue line and began a beautiful flight to the net. The players were so amazed in its beauty they actually stepped aside to admire the butterfly fluttering through the air. I swear I saw one the admirals hold out their hand with a finger extended in hopes that just maybe this beautiful object would land on his finger in something reminiscing a scene from a Nicholas Sparks novel. As the red light flashed the serenity of the ordeal came to a stop and the Admirals realized they now were down by 2 goals.

At around the six minute mark Aaron Johnson carved a path to the sin bin for a hooking infraction.  43 seconds later the Griffins were carving a path in front of their bench as they slap gloves celebrating the second power play goal of the night. Jamie Johnson was positioned fighting for the puck behind the net and was able to feed the puck to Ilari Filppula who was just inside the right circle. Filppula skated in tight to the post and went straight to the top shelf like a drunk at an open-bar wedding, stretching the Griffins lead to 4-1.  Jeremy Smith’s night was over as the Admirals called on the recently re-called Chet Pickard for the rest of the game.

The Admirals had a spark of life at 12:17 of the 2nd.  Brett Palin kept the puck in the o-zone, blasted a shot on net to which Chris Mueller stuck his club out knocked the puck down.  With the netminder in position for the shot it became an easy put away for Mueller.  The goal was Mueller’s 11^th on the year and brought the Admirals within a pair of goals.

That folks was the end of the offense for the Ads on this night. The Griffins added an empty netter to make the final 5-2.

Items for discussion:

– Was it me or was Bourque the only player, well, PLAYING tonight? Every time he was on the ice he was hustling, finishing checks, and making plays happen.

–  So.  Chet Pickard.  He’s back.  How do you think he looked in relief of Smith? For that matter, what did you think of Smith’s outing? Choosing between very, and so very, how much did you miss Dex in net tonight?

– Do you like the sponsored last minutes of the 1st and 2nd period?  Buffalo Wild Wings with some love there.  Like it?  Love it?  Want some more of it?

– Speaking of your newest Nashville Predator, Mark Dekanich….he’s in Music City while Pekka Rinne recovers from an injury, and the time table that the Tennessean is reporting is 2-4 weeks.  Yowzah.

– What goalie do you want to see on the ice on Sunday? (need not be in organization nor need he/she be alive).  (Chuck Norris is disqualified….can’t go with him for this question)

– Anyone catch the Village People when they played after a game in the late 90’s?  How did tonight compare?

– Finally, Ryan…….you looked good.  As for how you sounded….let’s just say Matt Moore’s job isn’t in jeopardy!  Unless they ask me to do it….in that case, something has gone terribly wrong…  J/K….nice job tonight, Buddy.