Both Magnus Hellberg and Jeremy Smith faced Grand Rapids at the Bradley Center this weekend, and both recorded basically the same results.

Smith got his second straight start in net Sunday afternoon after a nice showing in Rockford Saturday night.

After getting out to a 2-0 lead last night the Ads forced the IceHogs to play catchup. Against the Griffins, it was the exact opposite.

“We basically did the exact same thing Friday night that we did here today.” Evason said.

Grand Rapids got on the board just 3:01 into the game, when Andrej Nestrasil dragged the puck to the bottom of the left circle and whipped a wrister past Smitty.

Chris Mueller had a couple chances to answer. He was stoned on a nice one-on-one set up by Brad Winchester, and later tried to backhand a rebound, but the shot sailed over the net.

About ten minutes after their first goal the Griffins struck again, as Nathan Paetsch elavated a nice shot that was deflected in front out of mid-air by Jeff Hoggan.

Juuso Puustinen was on the ice for the goal, and though the replay looked good, Puusty said he and the rest of the team felt Hoggan’s stick was above the crossbar. He added they just “have to live with it.”

The Ads only got five shots on net in the first 20 minutes, while Smitty had let in two of the seven he’d faced.

The first half of the second period showcased some some good goaltending on both sides.

Recenlty recalled Jack MacLellan had a 2-on-1 but couldn’t get quite enough on his shot. Smitty made a nice glove grab, and not to be outdone, Tom McCollum responded with a nice save with his stick hand after giving up a rebound and dropping down to his right.

The Griffins tacked on another goal at 8:32 of the second period when Tomas Jurco put in a rebound off a nice save by Smith. There probably should’ve been someone to help clear it away, but nevertheless Grand Rapids increased its lead to 3-0.

Later, Patrick Cehlin wound up and fired on a 2-on-1 rush, but the puck went right to McCollum’s chest.

After missing some chances in the second period at even-strength, it would get even more frustrating on the power play in the third.

Milwaukee first got one back with the man-advantage. Victor Bartley missed a slapper wide, but then got a great feed from Mueller from the left corner to the high slot for a no-doubter one-timer.

It would unfortunately be the Ads only goal as they couldn’t ride any momentum despite two more quick power play opportunities.

Bartley had another good look on the first power play, but McCollum was able to close his five-hole just in time.

In the final seconds of the second power play, Joe Piskula couldn’t put home a nice centering attempt right in front.

“We struggle to score goals,” Evason said. “When we get down in hockey games it’s very, very hard for us to come back. Having said that we liked the look of our power play tonight,   It could’ve gotten us back in the hockey game, but it’s obviously an area we need to work on.”

Then the Ads started hurting their comeback hopes, mounting up penalties in the final five minutes.

Joonas Jarvinen went for slashing at 14:46 and when Milwaukee had almost killed it off, Henderson went for tripping.

After Henderson’s penalty, Hoggan scored his second goal of the game to ice it. Gustav Nyquist fed him from behind the net, and Hoggan was able to wrist the puck past Smitty.

The Ads goalie headed for the bench with about two minutes left, but a minute later, Jan Mursak nonchalantly took it down ice and tapped it into the empty net to make it 5-1.

Notes:

Michael Liambas missed last night’ and today’s games. Evason said it had something to do with the sucker punch he suffered in Lake Erie four games back.

Evason said Fordo is skating, but still no timetable on either he, or Beck’s return.

Questions:

Though neither played particularly well, which goalie played better against Grand Rapids this weekend? Who’s the starter going forward?

Evason talk about his team’s even-strength futility.

“We have to score on our PP. We’re not going to score five-on-five. It’s not us. We’re going to have to be opportunistic, get some garbage goals five-on-five and have our power play carry us down the stretch.”

With the way the power play has been going, what does that tell you about his confidence in the offense?

The Admirals outshot Grand Rapids 35-22, but they didn’t seem to have the finishing touch. It felt like after the Bartley goal they might have a comeback in them, but it quickly dissipated. Why was that in your opinion?

Jeremy Smith got his first start in four games, and he made the most of it playing with noticeable swagger.

The Admirals rebounded from a disappointing 5-1 home loss Friday, beating the IceHogs 3-2.

Smitty got some help from a rare 2-0 first period lead, as the offense came out of the gates strong.

Brad Winchester got the Ads on the board 7:57 into the first period after Chris Mueller poked the puck lose in the IceHogs’ slot. Mueller found a wide open Winchester who was able to reach out and sneak it past Henrik Karlsson.

About six minutes later Daniel Bang grabbed his fifth goal of the season to put Milwaukee up 2-0. Winchester again made a great play, feeding Bang with a no-look backhanded pass, that Bang snuck under the right leg of Karlsson.

The Admirals finished the period with the lead in the shots category, outshooting Rockford 14-6. The quick start kept the pressure off Smitty, as he went on to stop 22 total IceHog shots.

Late in the second period, Patrick Cehlin continued to produce picking up his second goal in as many days after failing to score since Dec. 9th.

Cehlin beat Karlsson over his right shoulder with a nice wrister from the right circle to give the Ads their most commanding lead in over a month with a 3-0 advantage.

Milwaukee would need all of that cushion as less than a minute later Kyle Beach cut the deficit right back to two goals.

The IceHogs closed the gap even further 13:24 into the final period when Martin St. Pierre hit Jimmy Hayes at the at the left circle for a one-timer.

Smitty was able to hold on and earn the win, getting the Ads a crucial two points in a location that’s been tough on them in the past.

Notes:

With the win the Ads are now three points behind Lake Erie for the eighth spot in the Western conference.

The Ads went 0 for 5 on the power play, but were able to hold off all five of Rockford’s power play attempts.

Winchester and Bang each led the team with four shots on net, and each picked up big goals  to get the Admirals a rare cushion.

Questions:

The Ads were able to rally around Jeremy Smith, giving him a nice early cushion to work with, and he responded with a solid showing in net.

Do you think the recent competition with Hellberg and time on the bench was what Smitty needed to elevate his game?

Would you give Smitty the Sunday start?

February was a magical month for Magnus. Hellberg took home goalie of the month honors Friday after posting a 6-1 record in seven February starts.

After Friday night’s game, let’s hope the month of March doesn’t have an opposite effect.

Hellberg had one of his worst games of the season, letting in four goals before getting pulled for Jeremy Smith just after the halfway point. Midwest Division-leading Grand Rapids came in and took it to Milwaukee, running away with the 5-1 win.

The Ads returned to the Bradley Center with some new faces in the lineup, and some noted absences.

Joe Piskula took to the ice in an Ads jersey for the first time. Josh Shalla was up from Cincinnati, MVG was back from brief injury, Taylor Beck was out, Scott Ford is still out and  Scott Valentine was a healthy scratch.

Despite the scoreboard, the Admirals came out stronger than they had in previous contests, winning the first period shots battle 9-8. Coach Dean Evason even ventured to say he felt his team “out-chanced” the Griffins.

The first goal Hellberg allowed was probably the worst of the night.

After failing to score on their first two power play attempts, the Ads went on the kill when Mike Moore was called for holding a Griffon’s stick.

On the power play, Brett Skinner hit a wide-open Francis Pare just above the left dot and Pare beat a badly positioned Hellberg at the 7:31 mark for the 1-0 lead.

The Admirals answered about a minute and a half later when Patrick Cehlin scored his first goal since December 9th.

Joonas Jarvinen fired a blast from near the blue line and Cehlin was able to tip it home in front to tie things up.

Then the missed opportunities that would become a trend began. Chris Mueller used a nifty steal to set up a one-on-one break, but Petr Mrazek closed his five-hole quickly to stop the attempt.

With about five minutes left in the period, Shalla came off the bench and parked himself in front of the net and was nearly able to put one in. He had an empty net in front, but was stuffed by a defender.

The Cehlin-Reid-Shalla line had a productive first period, and later, with the game out of reach, Evason shifted Shalla up to play with Juuso Puustinen and Mueller.

Gustav Nyquist scored the first of his two goals just nine seconds into the second period, scoring from the slot with a nice shot over Hellberg’s left shoulder.

The Griffons made it 3-1 at 5:14 when Luke Glendening deflected in a shot from just under the blue line by Jan Mursak.

Daniel Bang had a great chance to get one back with 12:06 remaining, pulling off a move similar to his goal in Toronto. Bang stole the puck at neutral ice and set himself up on a one-on-one but was stoned by Mrazek.

Mursak would up Grand Rapids’ lead to three goals, taking the puck in from neutral ice, walking past Victor Bartley and beating Hellberg with a backhander right in front just past the midway point. That prompted the switch to Smitty.

At 16:36 Piskula sent Andrej Nestrasil sprawling into the boards, prompting a reaction from Glendening, who dropped the gloves.

The battle would do little to spark Milwaukee’s momentum, as they were outshot 14-9 in the final period en route to the loss.

Nyquist tacked on his second goal at 7:31, beating Smith from the right dot on a 2-on-1 rush.

The Ads dropped to five points behind Lake Erie for the eighth spot, and the team’s recent streak of two-out-of-three hockey came to an end.

Notes:

Evason said that Fordo and Beck have not yet skated since their respective injuries so there is no current timetable for their returns.

He said the Valentine scratch was meant to inspire competition with the recent additions of Piskula and Ford.

Speaking of the duo, Evason talked about the depth it adds to Milwaukee’s defense.

Piskula chimed in on returning to his home state of Wisconsin.

Hellberg said his honors were nice to receive, but he maintained “you’re only as good as your last game.” He was hesitant to single out any one goal, but admitted his performance wasn’t where he wanted it to be.

Questions:

Do you agree with Coach’s statement that the Ads had more chances than Grand Rapids? Do you feel that the score reflected the overall team effort?

What the Hellberg was up with Magnus tonight? He didn’t sound phased by post-honors syndrome, but he was definitely off his game from the start.

We got a look at how the team could respond on an off night from their goaltender and it wasn’t pretty. Evason again talked about the offense being “opportunistic” and facing a late, multi-goal lead is a tall order for a Milwaukee squad currently in a prolonged offensive rut.

Do you think the rest of this weekend could be the turning point for the season? Who do you think gets the start tomorrow night in Rockford?

What did you think of Piskula’s homecoming? He made some nice clears, but at least one bad turnover when he let the puck trickle to neutral ice, forcing a regroup late in the second period.

Milwaukee’s four-game road trip began and ended with losses in Lake Erie, as the Monsters brought the Admirals’ two-game win streak to a halt Tuesday.

Magnus Hellberg got his third straight start in net, and suffered his first loss in six games despite stopping 31 shots.

Hellberg wasn’t helped much by the rest of the team as all three goals came with the man-advantage. The Ads allowed eight power play opportunities, while failing to score on five power plays of their own.

At the other end of the ice, Calvin Pickard continued to stymie Milwaukee’s attack stopping 27 shots. In three games against Milwaukee this season, Pickard has stopped 91 of 94 shots.

David van der Gulik was a Milwaukee killer again, scoring two goals including the game-winner.

Cam Reid picked up the first penalty of his AHL career 7:35 into the game, going to the box for slashing. Up to that point, Reider had played 30 games without a penalty, an Admirals team record. Unfortunately his first trip to Johnson’s office was a costly one.

27 seconds into the ensuing power play, van der Gulik put the Monsters on the board, slapping in a rebound off a Karl Stollery shot.

At 17:50, Chris Mueller had the answer for the Admirals, forcing a turnover and eventually  firing a shot from the slot to beat Pickard on the break.

Despite his team giving up five power play chances in the first 20 minutes and being outshot 13-5, Hellberg kept the Ads in the game early with just the one goal heading into the first intermission.

The Ads stole some momentum back in the second period, outshooting Lake Erie 14-8, but Pickard wouldn’t yield the go-ahead goal.

Mike Sgarbossa, who assisted on the first van der Gulik goal, was tossed from the game after committing a dirty slashing penalty at 12:22. It was established that his penalty came with the deliberate intent to injure.

In the third period, van der Gulik picked up his second power play goal at the 5:26 mark, after an interference call on Mike Moore.

Cameron Gaunce fired a shot from the point and van der Gulik was able to tip it past Hellberg to give the Monsters the 2-1 lead.

With the Admirals trying to tie it up again late, Scott Valentine picked up a slashing penalty at 16:14 and an unsportsmanlike conduct call was tacked onto that.

The result was another power play goal to all but put the game out of reach for Milwaukee.

Bill Thomas made it a two-goal deficit with 2:14 to play, grabbing a rebound and beating Hellberg short side for his 19th goal of the season.

The loss set Milwaukee back in the playoff race, as it’s now three points behind Chicago for the eight spot in the West.

Notes:

Brian McGrattan was called back up to Nashville before the game and placed on waivers. Mark Van Guilder missed again with injury, and we’ll keep you updated on his status.

Michael Latta and Kevin Henderson each fired five shots to lead the team, but neither could find the back of the net against Pickard.

The Admirals were unable to score on a five-minute power play following Sgarbossa debacle. Both teams combined for a whopping 48 penalty minutes in a very unevenly played contest.

Questions:

The team finally wasn’t able to rally behind Hellberg. It’s hard to argue that he played well despite giving up three goals, but again the big goalie did make 31 saves and all three against him came a man down.

Did he look “bad” to you, or was this one more on the rest of the team?

Unlike the wins in Hamilton and Toronto, the Admirals played a lot more undisciplined Tuesday. It’s very difficult to win a game when you give up eight power plays. That being said, the Monsters were far from model citizens, but the Admirals couldn’t capitalize.

In short, I’d argue the Ads didn’t lose because they gave up a lot of power plays, rather they lost because the Monsters were simply better at utilizing the man-advantage.

Why do you think that is? Power plays are obviously supposed to provide an advantage, but on a consistent basis the Admirals have had better luck at even strength than against a shorthanded defense.

Another day, another stunning performance in net by Magnus Hellberg. The big goalie picked up his second shutout this month and won his sixth in a row as Milwaukee won again in the great white north 2-0.

Hamilton outshot the Ads in the first period 11-7, but Hellberg started strong, keeping the game scoreless.

Hellberg helped the Ads withstand two first-period power play opportunities from Hamilton, and the penalty kill would shine as a unit throughout the game.

Sticks were flying in second period as Kevin Henderson went to the box for high sticking at 8:19, while Louis Leblanc, Joonas Jarvinen and Gabriel Dumont would all pick up slashing calls.

The Ads would fail to score on a power play chance of their own, but they broke through at even strength three minutes after the midway point.

Juuso Puustinen got the Ads on the board with his ninth of the year. Puusty scooped up a rebound off a Henderson shot from the right circle, picking it out of the skates of defender Nathan Beaulieu.

The shot was a pretty one as the puck snuck in just under the crossbar, beating 2012 Calder Cup Champion Dustin Tokarski. With the goal Puusty became just the 29th player in the Admirals’ AHL history to score 25 goals in a Milwaukee jersey.

That would be the only goal on the board until the final eight seconds when Chris Mueller sent home an empty-netter for his team-leading 17th goal of the season.

Hellberg finished the night with 25 saves, which is a decently low total considering Hamilton had four power play chances and two minutes of four-on-four play.

After the 11 shots in the first, Hellberg faced just seven each in the second and third. The defense helped him out and kept the shots manageable, and when you do that it obviously makes it easier on your netminder.

Notes:

Brian McGrattan got a lot more involved with four shots on net to lead the team in that category.

Mark Van Guilder missed the game and reportedly needs to see the doctor. That’s all we know at this point and we’ll continue to keep you posted.

The win at Copps Colliseum was Milwaukee’s first since December 15, 2009 breaking a streak of three winless trips to Hamilton.

The team continued to play well with Hellberg in net. He kept the hot hand in his second start in two days. His February GAA is now at 1.10 and his save percentage is at .958.

Questions:

The Ads won their second in three games. That’s becoming the standard, even if it’s so far been a fairly small sample size. With 56 points, the Ads are now three points behind Lake Erie for that eighth spot. They’ll get a chance to narrow that gap Tuesday against the Monsters.

We’ve talked about Hellberg’s stats, but what do you think has spurred the team to perform better with him in net? Again, its not like the offense has been overwhelming.

Dean Evason talked a few games ago about his offense being “opportunistic” which has been the story in the last two victories. Does that seem like a fair expectation to you, or do you feel that the team should be scoring more based on overall talent level?

Is Hellberg giving up one or two goals on average the rest of the way going to be enough for Milwaukee to eek into the playoffs? It’s tough to think he’ll keep this standard of play up every start.

What else does this team need to do to keep rolling down the stretch, starting with Tuesday in Lake Erie?

Magnus Hellberg has enjoyed a wonderful February. The big goalie won his fifth straight game this month, as Milwaukee picked up a 3-1 victory over the Marlies in Saturday matinee action.

Hellberg stopped 19 shots to improve his February GAA to 1.31 and save percentage to .950.

The Admirals got the all-important first goal early as Mark Van Guilder and Anthony Bitetto assisted on Brad Winchester’s second goal of the year 1:46 into the game.

MVG took the puck to the left circle from behind the net and fed it to Bitetto at the point. Bitetto avoided a Toronto defender and fed Winchester who’s shot from the slot beat former Admirals goalie Drew MacIntyre stick side.

The Marlies would keep the pressure on, but Hellberg stood tall to neutralize two Milwaukee mistakes late in the period.

Hellberg made a great save on 3-on-1 rush with about five minutes left. He was able to stick out his right pad and rob Ryan Hamilton to keep the Ads up.

He outdid himself less than a minute later with an incredible left glove save. Joe Colborne had a lot of time to get his shot up, but Hellberg, who was stationed at the far post, adjusted to make the great diving catch.

The Ads got their first power play attempt at 13:37 of the second, when Jesse Blacker stuck out his left leg to trip Mattias Ekholm. It was a dirty play, but Ekholm was OK.

The Admirals would fail to score with the man advantage, but the offense put forth a nice effort for the period, outshooting Toronto 16 to five. They were rewarded by Daniel Bang’s eventual game-winner at 16:28.

Following another big save by Hellberg, Bang stole the puck at the blue line and scored stick side on a one-on-one breakaway. The unassisted goal was his first since Nov. 24^th (18 games) and his fourth of the year.

Beck was held on a breakaway less than a minute later to set up another power play, but the Ads failed to extend their lead.

At 8:15 of the final period, Spencer Abbott made things interesting with a wrist shot that clanged in off the left post to bring Toronto within one.

The Marlies would only register five other shots in the period, however, all of which were swallowed up by Hellberg.

On a power play, with MacIntyre on the bench, Winchester assisted on a Taylor Beck empty-netter to seal the win with 49 seconds to go.

With their fifth win in their last seven games, the Admirals were able to put Thursday’s 7-1 embarrassment at Lake Erie behind them and get back to two-out-of-three hockey.

Notes:

Scott Ford wasn’t in the lineup this afternoon, as he’s out with an unspecified lower body injury. His return is unknown and his MRI will be Monday.

The Ads played a disciplined game Saturday allowing just two power play opportunities and snuffing out both. They outshot Toronto 28-20 overall.

With 54 points, Milwaukee is still third in the Midwest Division and three points behind Chicago for the eighth spot in the West.

Questions:

The pattern held true again for Milwaukee as Hellberg got the win in net after a loss with Smitty between the pipes. The team did start faster than usual this time, which meant a lot as the game progressed.

It’s also interesting to note that Smith faced 39 shots Thursday, while Hellberg faced half of that today. The difference is, Hellberg made two huge saves he probably shouldn’t have to keep the Ads ahead early, while Smith’s let a few softies in here and there.

Do you start Hellberg again tomorrow? Recent history has shown Magnus can stay hot when you give him the ice time.

I’ll admit, I was skeptical of the “two out of three” idea when Dean Evason first mentioned it, but so far it’s been going pretty well. Milwaukee’s displayed an impressively short memory and that’s important when you’re in a rush to make the playoffs. What’s your take?

The good feelings left behind by Sunday’s 3-1 win over Abbotsford were nowhere to be seen last night.

The Admirals opened their four-game road swing with a 7-1 stomping at the hands of the Monsters.

It was a performance eerily similar to the Ads’ 8-2 loss to Charlotte five nights earlier, as Jeremy Smith faced a season-high 39 shots from Lake Erie, while his teammates struggled offensively in support.

Bill Thomas and David van der Gulik each picked up four points in the win over the Ads, as Calvin Pickard scored his 14th win in net this season for the Monsters, stopping 22 of 23 shots.

Thomas got Lake Erie on the board first with a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Smitty at the 15:24 mark of the first period. Harrison Reed scored just over two minutes later with a snapshot from the top of that right circle to give the Monsters a 2-0 lead.

Van der Gulik put in the rebound from a Thomas shot 1:42 into the second period, extending the Lake Erie lead to three goals.

Michael Liambas tried to spark the Ads by battling with Daniel Maggio, and at 6:41 Juuso Puustinen rattled home his eighth goal of the season off the crossbar to cut it to 3-1.

Unfortunately, that would be Milwaukee’s only goal as the Monsters ran away with the victory.

Lake Erie’s Luke Walker quickly killed any momentum gained off the Puusty goal less than a minute later, answering with a shot off the crossbar from the right circle to beat Smitty.

With the 4-1 hole already dug, Lake Erie tacked on three more power play goals from van der Gulik, Thomas Pock and Brad Malone in the third period to smother the Admirals.

Scott Ford’s return to the lineup wasn’t a happy one, as the former Ads captain made little impact on the outcome. He left the game in the second period, and we’ll keep you updated on his status. It’s not fair, of course, to single him out on a night when Milwaukee just wasn’t on its game. (He was -1, and the entire roster was -15.)

Looking at the stats, this one just wasn’t pretty all around. The Ads went 0 for 3 on the power play, and the offense clearly wasn’t consistent enough to get into a rhythm. Adding to that, there were quite a few odd-man rushes created by bad turnovers on the Ads’ end.

It’s tough to blame the PK when the Monsters didn’t break through on the man-advantage until the game was all but decided. But it didn’t do much to help things down the stretch, surrendering three goals in four total PP opportunities.

Questions:

Evason said the decision to start Magnus Hellberg last Sunday was “an easy one.”

Smitty’s struggled mightily (to say the least) in his last two games, and he sure was stricken by that right circle tonight. Why do you think they went with him over Hellberg? It seems the Ads have been able to support the big goalie a lot more than Smith this season.

My biggest question is why? How do you go from beating the North division leader with Hellberg in net to dropping an absolute laugher to the third place team in that division with Smith?

Do you think not being the go-to starter that he was at the beginning of the season has thrown Smith off his game?

It’s not that he hasn’t had his brilliant moments. He has. It’s just that the team’s played better overall (especially recently) with the other guy between the pipes for some odd reason.

Why do you think that is?

If we’ve learned anything about Dean Evason, its that he’s quick to throw losses like this out the window. Do you think that’s best at this point, or is there something Milwaukee should take from this?

Saturday should’ve been Michael Liambas’ special night. The recent Admirals acquisition celebrated his 23rd birthday yesterday, but an 8-2 loss to Charlotte wasn’t the best gift.

Fortunately, his time to blow out the candles came Sunday as Liambas scored the game-winner in the third period of Milwaukee’s 3-1 victory over Abbotsford. It was his first career AHL goal in just his sixth career AHL game.

Despite Juuso Puustinen’s calls for the puck, Liambas saw his shot and took it, a theme the Ads have been trying to stress recently. A grinning Puusty joked about it after the game.

“I was calling for it, saying pass to me, pass to me,” Puustinen said from the side during Liambas’ postgame interview. “But he wants to be the hero tonight. And I’m cool with that.”

The Admirals were more than happy to put last night’s loss behind them, returning to winning form Sunday against the Heat.

The victory was Milwaukee’s fourth in five games, keeping Dean Evason’s two out of three campaign alive and kicking.

It was another solid start for Magnus Hellberg after getting the rest Saturday night. He won his fourth in a row stopping 23 shots.

Evason was happy with Hellberg’s job at keeping it close, particularly in the third period.

The Ads were outshot 11-5 in the first 20 minutes, and Abbotsford tallied the first goal of the game late in the period. Tyler Ruegsegger fired a nice shot from the top of the right circle that Hellberg never really saw.

Kevin Henderson answered for Milwaukee 2:08 into the second period with his second goal in as many games and 12th of the season.

With Michael Latta behind the net, Barry Brust unwisely tried to play the puck. Latta was able to beat him out and feed it to Henderson in front of the empty net.

After Liambas’ goal at 8:02 of the third period, the Heat pulled Brust with about a minute and a half to play.

Abbotsford didn’t even get a shot on net with the extra attacker, as Taylor Beck gathered a clearing attempt and fired an absolute bullet from just behind the red line that trickled into the empty net.

After both Beck and Puustinen had been scratched from the lineup last night, Evason was pleased to have both players back today.

Notes:

The penalties were there again for Milwaukee today, but fortunately so was the penalty kill. The Heat were held scoreless in six power play attempts and Evason felt the PK unit was much more agressive as a whole.

The Ads finished up the homestand 4-2 against some very tough opposition. Now comes a four-game road stretch with stops in Lake Erie, Toronto, Hamilton and Lake Erie again before they host Grand Rapids two Fridays from now.

Sunday’s big crowd helped bring in 22, 462 charity dollars in support of Milwaukee Children’s Hospital. Nice job, Admirals fans.

Questions:

Coach was all about throwing out last night’s game and a game the next day certainly helped. What did you see that you didn’t see last night? What made the big difference?

The Ads have battled back to within striking distance of the eighth spot in the West with 27 games left. Did their performance over the homestand change your opinion of their postseason chances at all? Does two out of three seem more fathomable to you now?

Friday night the Admirals’ locker room was abuzz with activity. Music was blaring, players were smiling and there was a good vibe about the place.

Saturday night you could hear a pin drop. Most of the players were gone, and there was no music, save for the faint strains of the REO Speedwagon concert out on the rink.

The Checkers came into the Bradley Center and put the Ads under the gun. And took the game on the run. (That’s the only Speedwagon lyric reference you’ll see. I promise.)

The big crowd on hand had little to cheer about as the Ads fell 8-2 to Charlotte thanks to six power play goals. That tied an Ads record for most surrendered in a game.

Jeremy Smith got his first start in three games and stopped 18 of 26 shot attempts.

Coach Dean Evason didn’t mince words or try to blame any single element.

“Everything was bad. Our penalty kill, our forwards, our D, our goalie, our coaches,” Evason said. “The only thing we didn’t see, I guess, was our power play. We had one, so we can’t really say our power play was bad, because we didn’t see it. You just gotta throw the game away.”

Charlotte took the 1-0 lead 3:14 into the game on a power play. Zac Dalpe fired a shot from the right point that was deflected in by Riley Nash.

There wasn’t much action around the net the rest of the period, save for a nice play by Cam Reid to set up Chris Mueller 1-on-1. Reid worked the puck free from a pack of Checkers at neutral ice and fed Mueller who was stopped on the ensuing attempt. Shots were tied at 5-5 at the break.

In the second period it all went south for the Ads. Penalties kept piling up, and Charlotte capitalized in a big way. Moore went for tripping 11 seconds in, and Chris Terry made it 2-0 at the 1:35 mark.

Latta went for crosschecking, Dalpe made it 3-0. Winchester went for roughing, Nash made it 4-0. It felt like the cycle would never end.

Then it did when Jeremy Welsh put in an even-strength goal to make it 5-0, tipping in a Tommi Kivisto wrister.

Smith led the Ads out for the third period, a decision Evason made in the interest of playing it out and resting Magnus Hellberg.

“Our thought process was, Hellberg’s played three in a row, and we have three in a row, obviously. You never like to leave a guy in (at that point) obviously, but we knew after the second period that our group wanted to battle, and we knew Smitty would battle. That’s his personality.”

Mueller said the team had a “you never know” attitude during the second intermission.

The Ads started the final period with an early 5-on-3 that they killed off the front end of.

Reid, who was serving a two-minute slashing penalty for Michael Liambas (who had also been assessed a game misconduct), came out of the box and had a one-on-one rush.

He couldn’t get the shot on, and on the ensuing Charlotte possession Terry struck again on the power play. Welsh quickly scored his second of the game 30 seconds later to make it 7-0 with 17:08 to play.

The Ads finally did get on the board at the 11:16 mark when Kevin Henderson swooped in all the way from neutral ice and beat John Muse over his shoulder.

Michael Latta followed that up less than two minutes later with a nice slapper off a faceoff win from the right circle.

Charlotte extinguished any momentum off of those two quickies scoring less than a minute later to finish off the night.

Smitty stopped a shot on a 3-on-1 rush but Mark Van Guilder ran into him during the save, knocking him to the ice. The puck squirted loose, and with Smitty still down Sean Dolan fed Justin Shugg who had an empty net.

What do you say to your team after an 8-2 loss? According to Evason, absolutely nothing.

“I’m at a loss. It’s difficult to even put into words what happened. It was like what happened last night. If you told people we were down two goals, and we scored two empty-net goals and went to overtime, they’d be like ‘What? You’re crazy’. And say on the next night we just lost 8-2. You either look back and learn from both of them or throw them out and move forward.”

“We anticipated our group (would) go forward, as we talked about last night after the game. Maybe we’ll look back and say one of these two games was the turning point in our season. Who knows?”

Juuso Puustinen and Taylor Beck were both scratches for the game, and Evason said he’s confident one of the two will be back in the lineup tomorrow.

“I hope at least one. We’ll evaluate them tomorrow after some skating and some treatment. Both guys are skilled, obviously and Beck arguably had his best game (Friday) night, so it would’ve been nice to have them in tonight’s hockey game. We’ll likely have one of them back.”

As Mueller said, despite the bleak loss, the two out of three objective is still a reality for tomorrow’s game. Winning three in a row helped keep it in play.

At a certain point, the final score can mean what you want it to mean. Look back at the 8-2 win over OKC for evidence of that.

These games happen, but the timing wasn’t as opportune as Milwaukee may have liked. It looked like they’d perhaps turned a corner coming in.

Questions:

Evason didn’t want to single out any one thing in particular as he shouldn’t particularly need to. He’s a coach and we’re fans and observers. That being said this is a discussion site, so let’s discuss.

There were a lot of bad things out there, but which were the worst? The Admirals didn’t do Smith any favors with the constant, costly and unnecessary penalties. But could Smitty have also stopped some of those shots?

Spending so much time on the penalty kill also heavily impacted the offense, and any possible support of Smitty at the other end of the ice. When you’re constantly a man down, it’s really difficult to get into any sort of a groove.

It’s hard to gauge the power play, as coach said, based on one chance, but you’d think down 3-0 that the Ads would’ve taken a little more advantage of the opportunity. They spent way too much of that power play in their own zone.

Trashing the game and moving on is probably the right mindset to have, especially with another one the very next day as Mueller commented. Unlike the last two weeks where the team would have days upon days to reflect on a loss, the next-day scenario helps in this case.

But is there anything, in your opinion, the Admirals should take from this game?

Chris Mueller didn’t want his bobblehead night to end.

With just a minute left to play, facing a two-goal deficit, Mueller sparked a fast and furious comeback that was capped off in overtime. Opening the hat trick weekend in style, Milwaukee picked up its third win in a row 5-4 over San Antonio.

From the get-go the Ads looked much better than they had the past few games, but despite taking a 5-0 shot advantage early, the Rampage scored on their first shot 3:49 in.

Former Admiral Mike Santorelli nearly shook Victor Bartley out of his skates and put a shot on net that bounced off the post. Quinton Howden was there for San Antonio to put the rebound in for the 1-0 lead.

Milwaukee answered at 9:11 when newly returned Mattias Ekholm tied the game thanks to a nice screen from Daniel Bang. Jared Gomes poorly attempted to clear the puck out of the Rampage’s zone, and Ekholm was there to fire a quick shot as soon as it got to him.

Coach Dean Evason was pleased with what he saw from both Ekholm and newcomer Brian McGrattan.

The Ads ran into some penalty trouble in the second half of the period, as San Antonio built a 3-1 lead thanks to two separate power play chances.

Santorelli one-timed in a pass from Zach Hamill to beat Hellberg on a 5-on-3 chance. Then with just under a minute to go before the break, Jed Ortmeyer’s blast from the point found the back of the net.

Both Evason and Mueller said they were surprised at the scoreboard heading into the first intermission. Both felt the Ads had thus far been the better team.

That attitude would show through for the rest of the game as the Ads scored again in the second period.

After a holding call on Jon Rheault, Taylor Beck showed nice patience on the power play, deking back and forth a few times in front to get Jacob Markstrom out of position before letting his shot fly.

Around the game’s midway point, however, San Antonio dampened the Ads’ rejuvenated hopes with a tipped in goal from Garrett Wilson.

The lead would stay at 4-2 until near the end of the third period. That’s when the real fun started and one Admiral made everyone hastily rework their three star votes.

With Hellberg on the bench, Brad Winchester threw a shot on net that was blocked in front. Mueller scooped it up and flipped it past Markstrom with exactly 1:00 on the clock.

Then Milwaukee’s assistant captain improbably struck again with 20.5 seconds left. Winchester fired another shot that rebounded off Markstrom and Mueller snuck it past the sprawling goalie to tie it at 4-4 and send the game to overtime.

Riding a full head of steam, the Admirals wouldn’t be denied in the extra period. In a mad scramble in front Captain Mike Moore sent the crowd into a frenzy, knocking the puck out of the air and in.

The horn sounded briefly as the refs didn’t immediately signal and skated off to the side to review the play. While San Antonio desperately argued that the puck had cleared the top of the net, the replay confirmed the game-winner was good.

As the Ads celebrated in mob fashion at center ice, Markstrom picked up a game misconduct, flinging his stick in frustration.

Moore had little doubt as soon as the puck crossed the line.

Notes:

Evason was quick to acknowledge that he was already looking on to Saturday’s game, but even the forward-thinking coach admitted this one was special.

Hellberg had a so-so night compared to his last two brilliant starts stopping 27 of 31 shots. Evason was fine with the big goalie’s performance.

Questions:

So the team’s predominant feeling was that they deserved better than the late two-goal deficit. That’s evidenced by their 41 shots. Did you think the Ads had the comeback in them all along? How about after the first Mueller goal?

Did the presence of a certain Packer wide receiver drive the team to victory?

71 games, 551 penalty minutes. That’s Brian McGrattan’s record-breaking stat line from his 2004-05 campaign with Binghamton. With both him and Liambas now in the lineup do the Ads strike you as a grittier, tougher bunch?

Who do you think we’ll see in net tomorrow? Will they give Hellberg a rest or save Smitty for the Sunday game?