The Milwaukee Admirals won 3-2 in a shootout against the Chicago Wolves at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Friday night.

The classic rivalry between the Admirals and Wolves lived up to the hype, as this one needed a shootout to decide a victor. Even with the Admirals getting outshot, they proved to be too much for the Wolves, winning 3-2 in a shootout. Justin Kirkland and Frédérick Gaudreau netted shootout goals while Anders Lindbäck used every inch of his six foot-six inch frame to help guide the Admirals to victory.

“I think we’ve grown as a team over the last month here,” said Lindbäck after the win. “I think we’re getting better all the time. We still need to figure out a way to play a full sixty-minutes and eliminate a couple of mistakes here and there. But I still believe we’re making progress.”

Within the first three minutes of the game, the Wolves took an early 1-0 lead thanks to Brandon Pirri’s fifth goal of the season. Beau Bennett fired a wrister that rolled up on Anders Lindbäck before Pirri tipped it in for the goal.

Later in the period, Tyler Moy deked around the left-wing circle and fired a wrister past Maxime Lagacé that found the back of the net and tied the game at one apiece. The tally was Moy’s fourth of the season.

Soon after Tobias Lindberg got out of the penalty box, he found the back of the net to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead. Paul Thompson delivered a shot that ricocheted off the end boards and set up Lindberg perfectly in front of the net as the winger delivered his fifth goal of the season.

The only score of the second period for either side came from Anthony Richard to tie the game at two. Trevor Murphy backhanded the puck from the right-wing circle to Richard who met the puck in mid-air right in front of the net. The score from Richard was his seventh of the season.

Still tied at two, the Admirals and Wolves headed to overtime. With some nice saves from both Lindbäck and Lagacé, this one headed to a shootout.

In the first round of the shootout, Justin Kirkland made the first shot and Teemu Pulkkinen was denied by Lindbäck. In the second round, Frédérick Gaudreau found the back of the net and so did Brandon Pirri. In the third and final round, Bobby Butler was denied a goal, but the likely hero, Anders Lindbäck, made the game-winning stop against Tomas Hyka. The heroics of Lindbäck secured a 3-2 shootout win for the Admirals.

“[Lindbäck] has been everything for us,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “Every night he gives us a chance.”

The Admirals will now hit the road for a New Year’s Eve matchup with the Grand Rapids Griffins at the Van Andel Arena to wrap up 2017.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals’ last game on Wednesday against the Chicago Wolves, the only roster move within the organization was Joonas Lyytinen being reassigned to the Atlanta Gladiators (ECHL). Tonight’s line combinations and defensive pairings were Butler-Smith-Moy, Zolnierczyk-Zengerle-Army, Richard-Pettersson-Gaudreau, Labrie-Kirkland-Bass, Murphy-Granberg, Oligny-Dougherty, Allard-Carrier. Tonight’s scratches were Tyler Kelleher (undisclosed), Trevor Mingoia (healthy), Andrew O’Brien (healthy), and Yakov Trenin (surgery).

What were your thoughts about tonight’s game? How impressive has Anders Lindbäck been for the Milwaukee Admirals so far this season? How do you feel about the Admirals through 2017 into the 2018 side of the schedule?

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