Despite being outshot 43-19 in the game, the Admirals were able to make the most of their chances, en route to a 3-1 win over the Chicago Wolves Friday night in Rosemont.
Connor Shields, Brock McBride, and Patrick Coulombe each scored their first points as Admirals, and Mark Dekanich played like an all-star, getting his 22nd win of the year.
Connor Shields scored his first of the year, putting home a shot after a Grant Lewis attempt missed the mark, and a Brock McBride shot hit iron.
Coulombe was boarded by Andrew Kozek at the 16:03 mark of the first period, and Andreas Thuresson turned into the Incredible Hulk after that and dropped the gloves with Kozek. Thuresson got two for instigating, five for fighting, and a ten minute misconduct. I’m surprised he didn’t get a game misconduct for instigating, though. Didn’t there used to be an automatic suspension? And I’m also surprised that Kozek didn’t get shown the door too.
Anyway, Kozek got five for boarding and five for fighting. So when Thuresson’s instigator penalty concluded, that put the Admirals on a power play, and Ryan Thang was able to score as it was winding down. 27 seconds into the second period, he received a pass that was behind him, and twirled the puck into the net.
Arturs Kulda scored the Wolves only goal with a shot that seemed to be deflected en route past Dekanich.
And then Coulombe, who showed some toughness coming back from the board, gave the Admirals an insurance goal 3:42 into the 3rd. After a neutral zone turnover, he brought the puck into the offensive zone, and his wrister from the top of the right circle went off the far post and in the net.
NOTES:
Steve Begin played his first game in awhile (since January 22nd), and they played him on a line with McBride and Shields. But he didn’t finish the game. He left in the 3rd period, and it’s tough to say what the outlook is for him. We’ll ask Coach about it tomorrow.
The Admirals have points in 11 straight road games. January 13th at Manitoba was the last regulation loss on the road for Milwaukee. Maybe it’s too bad there are only five road games left?
The Moose come to town tomorrow after a 4-3 shootout win in Peoria Friday night. Dave Scatchard (remember him?) had tied it for the Rivermen with less than a minute left in the third, but the Moose went on to win in the bottom of the 7th round of the shootout.
Admirals Roundtable 
Great win for the guys tonight, hopefully they don’t lay a turd tomorrow. Got to keep the pedal down, even though the division is opening up a bit, got to keep the hammer down and drive toward the playoffs.
Aaron unleashed a couple incredible stats tonight and I think I wrote them down right.
The Admirals are something like 25-9-2-4 when being outshot this year. Thats freaking amazing.
Great to see the new guys stepping up and putting some points on the board, and great to see Andreas sticking up for his teammates.
On the other end, how about that Deveaux guy. 2nd loss in about a week where he goes after a player after the final horn blows. I always knew he was a whiney (insert unkind term here) but thats just taking it to a whole new level.
Gotta feel for Begin. Hopefully its not something that keeps him out long-term.
What a surprise. The Admirals beat Chicago for a change. Maybe Kozek shouldn’t have played like a goon and lost the game for his team. Maybe Chicago should spend some money and get a real goalie instead of the string of bums they have used the last two seasons. Deveaux could be a good player if he would straighten out. Congrats to the new Admirals. Time to roll up some victories and clinch the division.
I was at the game this evening, and it was interesting to say the least. First period the boys came out looking like they came to town to win. Second period saw a return to the wild, blind passing that just made me cringe. Third period came along and it looked like Chicago, when on defense, were playing frustrated (and looking a lot like the Ads at times), but on offense had a bit of rhythm going for them. I do like the way they continually center the puck, hoping for a team mate to be in the right place at the right time. And we left the center open more often than not.
Dex had a good night, but I have to disagree with Ryan somewhat on his all-star call. He didn’t let 42 shots get past him, and that’s great! Here’s the but- but most of the shots that hit him bounced off of him. He, in my little opinion, has a whole lot of trouble keeping the puck to himself. And he did a bit of behind the net wandering tonight, which in more than one instance could have spelled disaster. Stake him down and give him a Velcro jersey, and he’d be able to put his lucky star away. Until then, he’d better hope his star keeps shining brightly.
The Thuresson fight didn’t take long at all. From our vantage point, it looked like he just dragged it to the ice quickly, and maybe had a choke hold on numbnuts, uh sorry, Kozek. In any event, is this perhaps his way of going out with a bang? Anyone expecting him to be back next season? I’d be surprised to see it happen, though it would be a happy surprise.
Hopefully Begin’s injury is much less than what it looked like. He didn’t carry any weight on his left foot going off the ice, and 2 guys walked him to the locker room. Hopefully nothing is broken.
Oh, I’ll take a little credit for helping with Coulombe’s goal. He picked off the puck, ran it to the top of the right circle, and I yelled ‘Shoot it’. And he did. No matter that he couldn’t have heard me. Just doing my part to help.
One quick question- The ref tonight was Jean Hebert. Is he any relation to Ghislain Hebert? I noticed a similarity in their reffing abilities…..
The automatic game misconduct is for an “aggressor”, or an instigator during the last five minutes of a game, or a second instigator during the same game. Kozek didn’t get a game misconduct because while it was a rough hit, enough for a major penalty, Thuresson wasn’t injured.
During the 2nd period last night with the penalty boxes mostly full, we got to a point where everyone was eligible to leave the boxes except Thuresson, who when hearing everyone could leave but him said in a whiney voice: “Oooh, what did I do?” Good laugh had by all.
Oh, and no relation.