The Admirals won in dramatic fashion by the final score of 3-2 in overtime against the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday night. History was flipped as this time it was the Admirals on their home ice scoring with 0.4 seconds remaining and scoring the game-winner in overtime all off the tape of the same man. The man tonight was Viktor Stålberg who scored his second hat trick of the season with the Admirals.

“It’s such irony,” smiled Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “We lost to them 0.4 seconds in their building. Almost the exact same scenario. What goes around comes around, I guess.”

Viktor Stålberg’s ninth goal of the season opened tonight’s scoring off in the first period. Xavier Ouellet lost the handle of a puck flying back along the boards up to the blue line as the Griffins were in attack. Viktor Arvidsson instantly pounced on it. And Viktor and Viktor were off to the races with Nathan Paetsch between them. As Arvidsson was on the puck Stålberg managed to outskate Paetsch to make it a two-on-ziltch break. Arvidsson passed over from the right wing to his fellow Swede breaking down the slot for a tap-in past Petr Mrázek to make it 1-0.

With 1:20 remaining in the second period the Griffins were able to level the game at 1-1 on Kevin Porter’s tenth goal of the season. A long range clearance from the Griffins zone resulted in a skipping puck that alluded Johan Alm and led to a turnover out in front of Marek Mazanec. Tomas Nosek was able to tee up Porter as he broke from the left of Mazanec and across for a goal that snuck under the left pad.

The Griffins took their first lead of the game in the third period and did it with the AHL’s leading scorer Teemu Pulkkinen. Ouellet’s long range shot from the right blue line was snapped out of the air by Pulkkinen with a quick stick. The redirect was able to fool Mazanec in net and it went past him for Pulkkinen’s league leading thirty-fourth goal of the season.

There was 1:34 remaining when the Admirals pulled Mazanec in favor of the extra attacker. The last second push was just that. A last second push. On 18 February, it was the Griffins delivering an equalizing goal with 0.4 seconds remaining. Tonight it was the Admirals turn to equalize with the exact same time remaining.

“I thought we had some good chances,” said Viktor Stålberg. “Eventually we’d get a bounce. We haven’t had much of those bounces in the last couple of weeks. It was nice to get one.”

Kevin Fiala was firing a few pucks on net with the final flurry but, in a last ditch attempt to generate something before time ran out, he threw a puck from the right wing wall and it perfectly hit the blade of Stålberg in front of Mrázek for the simple redirect goal. The goal light and final horn hit at the exact same moment and the play needed a review to determine what time was left on the clock as that goal crossed. It was exactly 0.4 seconds just as the Griffins were able to do a few weeks prior. The goal was Stålberg’s second of the game and tenth of the season.

“Honestly, I was walking,” said Evason. “I looked at Stan [Drulia] a little bit. Triston Grant was in front of us and he said he was leaving too. I just turned and then [Clune] was going crazy so I figured we’d stick around.”

Not to be outdone by flipping the script of that game in Grand Rapids one week ago, Stalberg scored the game-winner in overtime to score his eleventh goal of the season, complete his hat trick, and give the Admirals the win. Joe Piskula’s bank pass off the boards through the neutral zone sent Stålberg loose on the left wing with Nick Jensen pressuring him on his drive to the net. Stålberg didn’t even get a shot off on Mrázek but, on his race to the net, the puck flipped up and past the current CCM/AHL Player of the Week and in to close out the game.

Andy Miele scored with 0.4 seconds to tie and then won the game in overtime only two weeks ago. Stålberg repeated that exact same feat to the letter tonight. Save for one item. Miele’s overtime winner that day took 2:09 of the period. Stålberg’s game-winner in overtime tonight was scored in fifteen seconds. From regulation defeat to overtime winner in just 0:15.4 seconds of ice time. The Griffins may still have their point streak of fourteen games going but their attempt to set a franchise record with an eighth straight win on the road stopped in Milwaukee tonight.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included Jonathan Diaby (undisclosed), Mike Liambas (right leg laceration), Miikka Salomäki (upper body), Garrett Noonan (healthy), and Frédérick Gaudreau (healthy). Joe Piskula made his return to game action after missing the previous nine contests due to a lower-body injury. Tonight’s hat trick was the third time this season that an Admirals hat trick was scored by a Swede named Viktor.

Was this the game of the year? How would you rate the Admirals performance tonight? Why was the Admirals first period effort not carried over through the rest of the game? Can a result like this be the launch pad the Admirals need to get back up to the top of the Midwest Division?

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The Admirals earned a 3-0 shutout on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Wednesday night. The Ads set a season low for shots allowed in a game with the Monsters only putting sixteen shots on net. One better, Marek Mazanec stopped each and every one of them to snap the Admirals five game losing skid.

After a slow start for the home side, birthday boy Daniel Maggio asked Jonathan Diaby if he wanted to drop the mitts in the first period. The two locked up and Maggio landed quite a few jabs out the gate. Diaby started to fair a bit better in the middle of the fight but Maggio started getting some solid overhand rights that took Diaby down. Give the birthday boy for Lake Erie the win, 29-28, in your three round fight cards.

It took the Admirals fifty-five seconds into the second period to get the game’s first goal. Johan Alm made a great swooping play down the left wing. After he dodged the check of Gabriel Beaupre he fired on net and Calvin Pickard kicked the puck out to the path of Colton Sissons. An Austin Watson net front drive helped clear out the front of the net and Sissons was able to pop home his twentieth goal of the season.

Not too long after the Admirals got another puck past Pickard. Beaupre was torched again in defense. This time his clearing breakout attempt down the right wing boards was picked off by Ian White who immediately tossed to the front of the net where Felix Girard was all alone. It was a flashy finish for Girard’s fourth goal of the season and first since back in the middle of December at Toronto.

This game was heavily in favor of the Admirals throughout until the third period where they appeared to take their foot off the gas a little bit. That may sound poor but, thankfully, their defensive effort backed that up. With under three minutes to go, the Monsters emptied their net despite being on the penalty kill at the time. Joe Pendenza buried his seventh goal of the season to close the game off with an empty net tally on the power-play.

Marek Mazanec didn’t have to stop much but, when he was called upon, he was extremely confident in net. He stopped all sixteen shots he faced to earn his fourth shutout for the Admirals this season. The shots allowed by the Admirals set a season low.

Credit must be given to Mazanec for staying sharp throughout plenty of dead spots in the game without action in his zone. His highlight of the night came when the Monsters had just emptied their net and stopped Andrew Agozzino in his tracks on a breakaway chance.

Ramblings: Prior to the game, Frédérick Gaudreau was recalled to the Milwaukee Admirals from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Rich Clune was suspended for tonight’s game by the AHL after accumulating his third fighting instigator misconduct of the season (AHL Rule 46.11). He will be available for Friday night’s game against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Tonight’s scratches included Mike Liambas (lower body), Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Rich Clune (suspended), Joe Piskula (lower body), and Garrett Noonan (healthy). The win tonight for the Admirals gives them 30 wins on the season.

Thoughts on the win tonight? What was done differently that earned the result? How is the defense, now healthy with the exception of Piskula, looking to you?

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The Admirals lost 4-1 on the road against the Chicago Wolves Sunday afternoon. Outside of a power-play goal from Viktor Stalberg in the second period this was nearly a carbon copy performance for the Ads from Friday night when they were outworked by the Grand Rapids Griffins. Shane Harper took over for the Wolves in the second period with two goals and the game just never came in gear for the Admirals – who are now on a five game winless stretch.

This game kicked off with a dust up. Cody Beach caught Taylor Aronson up high with a check and was called for a rough on the hit. Rich Clune wanted to send the early message back at the Wolves and went right after him for a fight. By doing so, it nullified the power-play because Clune was tabbed with an instigator and misconduct.

What resulted was a poorly executed breakout play that led to a Wolves goal moments later. Kevin Fiala was starting the breakout from behind the net and Adam Burish got a stick to the pass to keep the puck in zone. The bouncing puck kicked on up towards the net and Burish got his shot off in front of teammate Ty Rattie to score his ninth goal of the season.

Things went from bad to worse as the first period went on. Mike Liambas suffered a scary looking leg injury after trying to deliver a check to Jani Hakanpaa following an offensive zone faceoff for the Admirals. Liambas got the check on Hakanpaa, bounced off of him, and crashed legs first into the boards with speed. He immediately clutched his lower shin and called for help off the bench. He required trainer Doug Agnew to get off the ice. Early report from Aaron Sims was that the team has stated Liambas did not suffer a break or sprain.

Having earned a power-play that carried over into the second period, the Admirals got level with the Wolves early through Viktor Stalberg’s eighth goal of the season. Viktor Arvidsson carried the puck down deep into the left wing and sucked the penalty killing unit of the Wolves in on him. He passed over to the opposite wing for the one-timed shot of Stalberg which bashed off the post and off of Jordan Binnington’s back and in for the power-play goal.

It then became the Shane Harper show. The Wolves winger scored two flashy goals back-to-back to give the Wolves a 3-1 lead. His first of the game saw him deke Jimmy Oligny off the right wing, power off Aronson, and poke the puck in past Hellberg. His second was a bit more simple. Harper set up low on the right wing circle and wired a shot against the grain of Hellberg high blocker side. Harper now has twenty-five goals on the season.

In the final minute of the second period the Wolves were able to net goal number four. Yannick Veilleux was able to get a redirect of a Hakanpaa point shot while fending off Aronson to score his sixth goal of the season. With the end of the second period came the end of Hellberg’s game in net. He stopped 17/21 shots on goal before giving way to Marek Mazanec for the third period.

The third period would cruise on by with no real quality chances on goal for the Admirals who are now on a five game losing streak. In their last four games the Admirals have also allowed four goals in each game. The Admirals only have a single win from their last eight games and are seeing the likes of Grand Rapids and Rockford both climb a little bit farther away in the Midwest Division standings.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Zach Budish (healthy), Joe Piskula (lower body), and Jonathan Diaby (healthy). After leaving the game with what would probably best be described as a “lower body” injury – Mike Liambas did not return to the game. The Admirals next play on Wednesday night when they take to the road against the Lake Erie Monsters. Of the next nine games on the schedule for the Admirals seven are road games.

What are your reactions from today’s game? What’s it going to take for the Admirals to get back on a roll? Is there any one particular issue that you’re noticing during this bad spell or is it a multitude of problems creeping out at once?

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