The Milwaukee Admirals were shutout 1-0 against the Texas Stars at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Saturday afternoon.

In what would become a defensive game, both the Admirals and the Stars received some impressive play out of their starting goalies. The Stars were led by Mike McKenna’s 28-save shutout in the win, while Anders Lindbäck allowed just one goal for the Admirals in a losing effort. This is the fourth time this season the Admirals have been shutout and the loss snaps a five-game point streak.

“We thought we played good. We just didn’t score,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason following the game. “Our power-play had to score. We generated on our power-play, majority of our chances were on our power-play, but we need to capitalize on it.”

The Stars would get on the board first on an incredible play from Sheldon Dries. Matt Mangene’s shot off the end boards bounced up in the air and was swatted on a backhanded shot from Dries. The miraculous shot squeaked by Anders Lindbäck and the Stars had their first goal less than three minutes into the first period.

Both teams had opportunities to get on the board in first, with the Admirals and Stars each getting breakaways early in the period. Both teams also had ten shots in the opening period and a power-play apiece, but the penalty-kill units were successful on both occasions.

The game would remain 1-0 Stars after two periods. This game was chippy from the start, and ultimately flared into a little Pierre-Cédric Labrie and Austin Fyten pushing and shoving. Labrie and Fyten went after each other before being split apart and guided to the penalty box for dual roughing penalties.

In the final period, neither team found the back of the net and the Stars held on to win 1-0. This game was a defensive battle that featured great goalie play and equally impressive penalty-killing units. The Stars’ penalty kill was a perfect 5/5 while the Admirals’ penalty kill was 3/3.

“We didn’t have much life five-on-five, not much jump, and when you have a day like that your power-play has to execute,” said Evason. “Not only execute but it has to produce. Unfortunately we didn’t get that done tonight.”

Both teams received excellent play from their starting goalies. For the Admirals, Anders Linback was terrific. He stopped 19/20 shots but was not given any help from his offense and was credited with the loss. For the Stars, Mike McKenna was even better. McKenna stopped all 28 shots he faced en route to a shutout.

The Milwaukee Admirals will look to shake this one off as they now hit the road for a four-game road stand. They will head to Manitoba for two with the Moose before heading to Texas to face off with the Stars for two. The team’s next home game will take place next month when the IceHogs come to Milwaukee on March 2nd.

“We have to step our game up,” said Evason of the upcoming challenge against the Manitoba Moose. “There is no better place to do it than against one of the best teams in the league. We’ve got to get our wins and it doesn’t matter who we play. We’ve got to play as good as we can here the rest of the way.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Wednesday night, there have been no roster moves made within the organization. Today’s line combinations were Trenin-Smith-Kirkland, Zolnierczyk-Zengerle-McNeill, Richard-Pettersson-Gaudreau, Labrie-Army-Moy, Oligny-Dougherty, Lyytinen-Granberg, Allard-Carrier. Today’s scratches were Cody Bass (upper-body), Trevor Mingoia (healthy), Trevor Murphy (upper-body).

What were your thoughts on today’s game? What were your reactions to seeing Andrew O’Brien and Tyler Kelleher on the opposing team? How do you think the Admirals will bounce back for their upcoming four-game road stand?

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