The Milwaukee Admirals won 4-2 against the Iowa Wild Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

In the opening to this game a pair of defensive mistakes led to the Admirals quickly being down 2-0. The difference maker came in the form of the timeout from Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason following the second Wild goal as forty-seconds later the Admirals found the back of the net. By the end of the first period the Admirals scored four unanswered goals. That’s precisely where the game would end after the mayhem of the opening twenty-minutes calmed down for the remaining frames.

“The gist was to simplify our game,” commented Evason of what was said to the team during the timeout. “All we’ve talked about is how hard Iowa was going to work. Which they did. We tried to make cute skill plays in our zone trying to come up our zone trying to come up the ice, didn’t get pucks deep, and all we wanted our group to do was simplify our game and work. Because that’s what Iowa is going to do. If we matched that we would have been fine.”

This game did not have the greatest of starts for the Admirals as a pair of defensive errors led to two Wild goals in the space of a minute. The game’s opening goal followed a mistake behind the net by Corey Potter that gave the puck up to Scott Sabourin who passed out in front of the net to Colton Beck. The initial shot was stopped by Saros but Beck pushed forward and popped in his own rebound to record his fourth goal of the season.

Just one minute later the Wild cashed in on yet another mistake by the Admirals in their own zone. A puck kicked free and into the high right wing for Brett Bulmer to scoop up and create a two on one with Rob Bordson to his left. The pass from Bulmer hit Bordson clean and the veteran finished with a backhander to beat Saros for his eighth goal of the season.

It was at this moment when a change was needed. Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason always preaches that there are two methods that a coach can do when his team needs a wake up call: you can either pull the goaltender or take a timeout. Just 4:04 into the first period the Admirals used their timeout and proceeded to get the proverbial hair-drier from Evason at the bench. The results that followed spoke volumes as the Admirals exploded for four unanswered goals to end the first period.

“I don’t care how skilled you think you are or that you actually are – it doesn’t work. It doesn’t beat the work and competitiveness of another team and another player,” said Evason. “We weren’t prepared to do that. That’s all. We were just trying to let them know that we needed to do that and they did. So, that’s a credit to them.”

Following the Admirals’ timeout it took forty-seconds for the team to get an answer goal. Matt White snapped a wrister on Leland Irving that was spilled in front of the mouth of goal where a pair of Admirals were crashing. Max Görtz was able to get a stick to the puck which trickled in just before Félix Girard could get in on the scramble. The goal for Görtz was his thirteenth of the season.

“He just had to wake us up,” said Görtz of the timeout taken by his head coach. “We weren’t ready at the start so that was a good timeout.”

Vladislav Kamenev went to the box for four-minutes following a double minor for high sticking at 8:05 of the first period. Within the first minor penalty the Admirals penalty kill delivered with a shorthanded goal. Adam Payerl won a footrace in neutral ice against Maxime Fortunus, fended off the veteran blueliner, and ripped a low wrister that powered through the pads of Irving to score his tenth goal of the season.

The Admirals managed to claw all the way back from their early deficit to claim their first lead of the game thanks to Cody Bass’ third goal of the season. 10:35 of ice time after the Wild scored their second goal of the game Bass delivered a wrist shot along the far left wing wall that beat Irving near post and in blocker-side to make it a 3-2 Admirals lead.

In the final minute of the first period Kevin Fiala’s scored his thirteenth goal of the season to make it a 4-2 Admirals advantage. Kamenev was able to hit Fiala with a home run pass from deep in the Admirals own zone. From there, Fiala had enough time and space to square up Irving, shoot, get the rebound off of Irving’s right skate, and pop the it home.

For all the fireworks that the first period provided it wouldn’t be until midway through the third period until the next bit of thunder hit. Cody Bass and Kurtis Gabriel paired up for a fight and the two traded some hard rights. The scrap ended with Bass losing his balance and Gabriel landing on top of him. That came just after Bass popped Gabriel’s helmet off with an overhand right. This one could go pretty much either way in the fight cards.

The game would end right where it did after all the drama of the first period. Funny to think that Saros may have been two defensive errors shy of yet another shutout tonight. Without those costly mistakes he was sharp in net once again and picked up his twenty-first win from twenty-eight starts this season.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played on Tuesday night the team reassigned defenseman Garrett Noonan to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Tonight’s line combinations were: Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, White-Girard-Görtz, Murphy-Pendenza-Bass, Oligny-Potter, Elliott-Aronson, Näkyvä-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were: Jamie Devane (undisclosed), Cody Hodgson (undisclosed), and Johan Alm (lower body). Prior to tonight’s game there was a late scratch involving forward Jamie Devane. That prompted Trevor Murphy to switch from defense to left wing for the second time this season. Tonight marked the return to game action for Patrick Mullen after missing the previous eight-games due to suffering a skate cut to his right hand against the Iowa Wild on 2/21/16.

What were your reactions to that opening period tonight? How huge was the timeout from Dean Evason? What did you think of the second and third periods of play?

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The Milwaukee Admirals 5-2 on the road against the Rockford IceHogs Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bank Center.

Tonight’s game had a crucial point that appeared to change the narrative. The Admirals were leading 1-0 to start the second period when they were awarded a penalty shot. Their main trigger man to lead-off in shootouts, Kevin Fiala, was able to take it but was denied by a blocker save from Michael Leighton. From that moment the IceHogs would score four unanswered goals and receive a hat trick performance from Pierre-Cédric Labrie. The Admirals three-game win streak is over and the gap to the first place IceHogs just broadened.

“Leighton was outstanding,” cited Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “You think about the save on Kamenev. Obviously, the save on the penalty shot – that puts us up two – it’s a different game. He made several key saves in the game and was the difference for sure.”

This game opened with a pair of penalties taken by the IceHogs. At the second chance of asking the Admirals were able to come away with the goods. Vladislav Kamenev took a Stefan Elliott pass first-time and blew it clean past Michael Leighton. The goal for Kamenev pushed him into double digits for his debut season in North America.

In the opening minute of the second period the Admirals were awarded a penalty shot after Viktor Svedberg was called for closing his hand over the puck in the crease following a near chance by Adam Payerl. Kevin Fiala was able to take the penalty shot but his typical shootout move was blockered aside by Leighton to keep terms at 1-0 Admirals.

The IceHogs would get on the board not long after the failed penalty shot to level the game up at 1-1. After blocking a Trevor Murphy slap shot Pierre-Cédric Labrie was in some distress and looked to be making his way to the bench until an odd-man break presented itself. Jake Dowell had the puck in neutral ice and Labrie joined him to make it a two-on-zero facing Marek Mazanec. Dowell held back, allowed Labrie to take the breakaway, and he beat Mazanec to record his sixteenth goal of the season.

It took the IceHogs just 3:02 before they would score again to earn their first lead of the night. Jake Dowell was able to score from a redirect off of a Kyle Baun toss to the net from the right wing corner. Dowell’s shot squeaked in for his ninth goal of the season.

After Jamie Devane went to the box for high sticking the IceHogs made it three goals in the space of 4:49. Matt Fraser was able to snap a quick release wrister from the slot that jumped over the blocker side of Mazanec and in for his fifth goal of the season and first since joining the IceHogs as part of the Andrew Ladd trade.

The run for the IceHogs continued into the start of the third period with a fourth unanswered goal. Jonathan Carlsson was able to find Labrie all alone in the left wing on the back door of the net for a tap in. Mazanec had no chance to make any sort of a post-to-post stop to his glove side and Labrie had his second tally of the night and sixteenth of the season.

It had been sixteen games since Adam Payerl last scored a goal but he made the wait worth it. Payerl was able to generate a turnover and maintain the attacking zone before unleashing a backhander that just looped over the blocker of Leighton and fall into the net. Payerl’s ninth goal of the season made it a 4-2 deficit for the Admirals with 9:57 remaining in regulation.

Perhaps looking to get a spark going Félix Girard decided to drop his gloves against IceHogs captain Dowell shortly after a face-off scrum between the two. There wasn’t much to the fight. Girard appeared to lose his balance before much of anything could be done.

With the net emptied and extra attacker on for the Admirals Labrie would complete his hat trick. That sealed this game at a 5-2 scoreline. The Admirals three-game winning streak was snapped and they now have fallen beneath the surging Grand Rapids Griffins in the Central Division standings.

“Our division is so strong,” said Evason of the current battle for playoff spots within the Central Division. “It’s tough every night. It will be a battle right down to the end and we can’t take anything for granted.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Sunday the lone roster move made was the recall of team captain Colton Sissons to the Nashville Predators. Sissons will be taking part in the Predators upcoming four-game road swing in Western Canada and doing it wearing a new uniform number. He’ll be switching from #84 to #10. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Devane-Pendenza-Bass, Oligny-Potter, Murphy-Aronson, Näkyvä-Elliott. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Hodgson (undisclosed), Patrick Mullen (right hand laceration), Garrett Noonan (healthy), and Johan Alm (lower body).

Thoughts on tonight’s game? How big of a momentum shift was the penalty shot save made by Michael Leighton to this game?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-2 on the road against the Chicago Wolves Sunday afternoon at the Allstate Arena.

A run of five unanswered goals was enough for the Admirals to clinch their first Amtrak Trophy since the 2012-13 season this afternoon. The Wolves may have had a hot start in which they scored the opening goal but not much went their way after that opening period. They lost their composure, garnering twenty-seven penalty minutes, and then the game itself. This is the first time since the Wolves became the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues that the Admirals have claimed the Amtrak Trophy.

As was the case last weekend, the Wolves took to home ice in the first period and were fast right out of the blocks. Their hot start provided them with something they weren’t able to figure out how to do last night which was to get a puck behind Juuse Saros.

Yannick Veilleux was able to jar a puck from the right wing pocket away from Trevor Murphy and fall in-line with Ivan Barbashyov who rushed to the net but lost the handle. The puck came out into the slot where Zach O’Brien smoked a shot off the right pad of Saros which was kicked over to Jérémie Blain who shot high glove side on the rebound to score his third goal of the season.

The goal by the Wolves was scored 2:14 into the first period. On the flipside in the second period the Admirals were able to better that by four-seconds when a Cody Bass slap shot from distance beat Pheonix Copley’s glove for his second goal of the season and the one-hundredth point of his professional playing career. Bass stepped in down the right wing and smacked his slapper from just inside of the blueline. Copley simply fanned on the save attempt with his glove.

The temperature crept up a bit after a nasty looking tripping minor taken by Jordan Caron sent Kristian Näkyvä hard into the end-boards. This caught the attention of Jamie Devane who went after Caron who wanted no part of that fight. Thankfully, Jared Nightingale was willing to account for his teammate’s no-no and engaged in an evenly matched heavyweight tilt that could really be scored in the fight cards either way.

Kevin Fiala’s hot run of form continued with yet another maximum effort goal. Fiala was being hooked up on a rush to the net but continued to battle in on Copley before smacking a shot through space on the blocker side of Copley and the post. The goal for Fiala was his twelfth of the season and fifth scored in his last thirteen games.

Frédérick Gaudreau was able to mark his one-hundredth game as a member of the Admirals with a goal in the second period to make it a 3-1 Admirals lead off of three unanswered goals in the frame. Max Reinhart was able to slip a pass through to Gaudreau in front of the net and the Admirals AHL All-Star delivered a low change-up shot that caused Copley to open up the five hole. The shot went in clean underneath the pads and Gaudreau scored his fourteenth goal of the season. Also of note, Corey Potter set that play in motion by carrying the puck up into the rush and earned the secondary assist on the play to earn his first point as a member of the Admirals.

Towards the end of the second period the Wolves appeared to completely lose their composure and the end result were two carry-over five-on-three power-plays for the Admirals to start the third period. Trevor Murphy uncorked a slap shot that whistled past Copley high glove side for his ninth goal of the season. That was followed by Reinhart charging towards the front of the net from the right wing pocket at putting a puck in around the right pad of Copley for his sixteenth goal of the season. Murphy’s goal was scored on a five-on-three power-play and Reinhart’s was followed with the Admirals a man-up.

On yet another Wolves penalty they actually managed to work a prime scoring chance for themselves. Ty Rattie was able to corral a puck on the penalty kill and beat Murphy with speed to get a breakaway. Murphy put a stickblade in on the hands of Rattie on his approach to Saros. That signaled a penalty shot to be called. Rattie beat Saros on a backhander to record his eleventh goal of the season on a tally listed as a shorthanded penalty shot. That would see the game to its final scoreline of Admirals 5, Wolves 2.

In net for the Admirals Saros picked up his second win in less than twenty-four hours against the Wolves. The win is also the Finn’s twentieth of the season to stretch his AHL lead for wins by a rookie goaltender. He stopped twenty-eight of the Wolves thirty shots on goal today.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there were no roster moves made. In fact, today’s line combinations were exactly the same as last night: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard- Görtz, Devane-Pendenza-Bass, Oligny-Potter, Murphy-Aronson, Näkyvä-Elliott. Today’s scratches were: Colton Sissons (healthy), Cody Hodgson (undisclosed), Patrick Mullen (right hand laceration), Garrett Noonan (healthy), Johan Alm (lower body). Today was the second consecutive game in which Colton Sissons was scratched due to a potential call up with the Nashville Predators who next play on Tuesday in Winnipeg.

Was this game wacky with all its penalty calls or what? Beyond the penalty box shuffle what was your take from the Milwaukee Admirals win today?

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