Santa brought the Admirals a new power play for Chirstmas, apparently.

Milwaukee went 5-for-7 with the man-advantage, and dropped the Rockford IceHogs 7-3 Monday night at the Bradley Center.  The win vaulted Milwaukee to 1st place in the division.

The last time the Admirals scored 5 power play goals in a game was March 1, 2008 at Chicago.  Goals by Santorelli, Peverley, Laliberte, Ellison, and Niskala.  The Ads won that game 6-4 behind Pekka Rinne in net.

It was a long break between games for the Admirals, but Coach Herbers liked the way they came out.

The Admirals were the first to put up a crooked number, and it came on the Mountain Fury Power Play. Scott Valentine got the puck to Teemu Laakso whos skated it into the near side circle and fired a shot that connected with all three pipes and in. Oddly, that wasnt the most impressive part. The impressive part is that he sniped it in where the smallest of openings was. If asked how he hit that “impossible” shot i am sure he would have said something like “I used to bullseye wombats in my T-16 back home, they’re not much bigger than [that opening].”

The second period had a light show, as 5 goals were scored in the stanza. The Ice Hogs got the show started when Jimmy Hayes put away a wide open goal off of a great pass from Rostislav Olesz, leaving Scott Ford in no-mans land. Ford did have a great view of the goal as he was doing his best Pete Rose impression towards the net.

The second goal came :58 later on what looked to be the very same play just with different actors.  This one stared David Gilbert as “The Passer” and Ben Smith as “Light the Lamp-er”.  Teemu Laakso played the role of “Scott Ford”, and Jerry Mathers as “The Beaver”, as the Ice Hogs took the lead 2-1.

That was all the Ice Hogs would get that frame, as the remainder of the second period belonged to the Admirals. It started with the Ads on the “2-Man Fury” and Mark Van Guilder getting the goal. At 11:08 Juuso Puustinen fired a shot on net form the slot that was initally stoped by Carter Hutton but MVG was there to pick up the loose change and cash in a goal. The tying goal was MVG’s 8th goal on the year.

The Fury kept flowing as it was Juuso Puustinen’s turn to light the lamp. 14:36 into the period with the Ice Hogs down a man, Victor Bartley and Gabriel Bourque played catch a couple times and then Bartley sent the puck over to Puustinen who fired a one timer that found its way though Hutton. The goal gave the Ads the lead and they kept the pedal down.

Exactaly one minute later with both teams at even strength, Gabriel Bourque was fighting for the puck down low and dished it a few feet to Ryan Flynn who was just behind the net. Flynn found MVG who was in front of the net took a stride to his right and fired a shot top side to beat Hutton for the second time in the game and gave the Ads the 4-2 lead.

Another 2-goal game for Van Guilder.  We asked Coach the obligatory why-is-MVG-so-awesome question after the game.

The lightshow continued in the third period. At 6:51 Chris Mueller put the puck in the twine after a shot was fired from the slot that was stopped but not covered.  Before Matt Moore could announce the goal the Admirals tacked another one on off of a redirect from Zack Stortini giving the Admirals a 6-2 lead and ending Hutton’s night. Alec Richards, his replacement, didnt stop the bleeding as Ryan Thang netted the Ads another Mountain Fury Power Play goal.

Byron Froese had a goal for the IceHogs during garbage time.

——–

NOTES:

Apparently, Ryan Ellis was just holding the power play back this whole time.  Here’s Coach Herbers on the power play unit.

– Jeff Foss was called up, and skated tonight with Tyler Sloan.  We asked Coach about that pairing.

I thought he held his own pretty well.

– Ellis did debut tonight for the Preds against the Red Wings.  He did not register a point.  He was -1 defensively, two minutes of penalties, three shots, two blocked shots, and two hits, according to the box score.  I cannot comment on how he played, as I was watching a more entertaining game here.

– What a great crowd!  You’re all coming back on Wednesday okay?  Also, did you notice they changed the warm-up music?  I guess they can keep the new mix.

So what do you think?  Is the power play fixed, or were they just fortunate tonight?  Did you miss Ryan Ellis?  Always enjoy the skating juggler?  And other thoughts you’d like to share on the game?

The Admirals turned the Bradley Center into the O.K. Corral scoring 8 goals in a lopsided victory, taking down the Abbotsford Heat 8-3 in Ian Herbers’ debut as Admiral sheriff.

Here’s the sheriff on his first win, and what went well tonight.

The Ads started things off at 5:23 while on the Mountain Fury Power Play when Juuso “I’d like to buy a vowel” Puustinen fired a centering attempt on net from the near side boards.  Michael Latta was the man Puustinen was attempting to reach when it instead found the skate of the Heat D-Man Chris Breen.  The puck went in to give the Ads the 1-0 lead.

Just over 2 minutes later the Ads went back on the Fury Power Play and had the same success as the first. Puustinen fired a shot on net from the slot that was initially stopped but not covered up by Heat starting (and later relief) net minder Leland Irving. Taylor Beck was there right in front of the goalie to pick up the rebound and get it past the committed Irving. The tally gave the Ads the 2-0 lead and ended the night period for Irving who, faced 3 shots and only stoping one.  (Sound familiar, Atte?)

The back-up goaltender Joni Ortio barely had time to take his skate guards off before the lamp was lit and the horn made noise. Just two minutes after the change, Ortio let in the first puck sent his way. To his defense, it was a 2-on-1 break out and I dont know that any goalie would have gotten the save. Mueller and Bourque had the odd-man rush with just the Heat’s  Brendan Mikkelson on defense. The Ads duo had a great tic, tac, GOAL with Mueller being the one to seal the deal.

The Heat took a time out to gather themselves. It worked. Just :17 seconds after the Ads third goal and the timeout, the Heat scored off a rebound that came from a shot at the point. Jon Rheault was the man in front that got the rebound past Jeremy Smith.

The Ads answered right back at 15:15 when Zack Stortini grinded out a goal in front of Ortio. Mark Van Guilder put a shot on net resulting in the initial stop. Stortini gathered the puck and just started swating at it, finaly beating the goalie.

Again keeping with the two minute intervals, the Heat got a goal back on a delayed penalty. With Ortio on the bench to give the Heat the extra man, Dustin “Yo Adrian” Sylvester sent a pass from the far side point to the near side crease where Paul Byron was un-defended and uncontested for the redirect goal. I guess someone forgot that there was an extra attacker.  Whoops.

After all the smoke cleared on the first period, the score was 4-2 in favor of the Admirals. For those that did not pass advanced addition that is six goals. For comparison, that is as many Mountain Fury bottles as a six pack.

The Admirals wasted no time adding to the lead in the second period. The Heat decided that Irving had a long enough time out and put him back in the blue paint. He started right where he left off, letting in a goal and watching the red light flicker a sad shadow, as he grabbed a drink of some hardly earned water. With Bourque attacking the net from behind the goal line he attempted a wrap around. He fanned, and it turned into a great across-the-crease feed where Mueller finished off another goal from his linemate.

The Heat, refusing to go away quietly, tallied another goal off of a lazy backside defense taking the score to 5-3. On the power play, Byron sent a cross ice pass that was deflected by a d-man but not enough to keep it off of the stick of Sylvester who fired a shot past Smith. It was great reconigition by the Heat to find the open man down low…. Again.

The Admirals continued to make the goal judge earn his free meal and score two more in :31 seconds. Ryan Thang gets a goal off a face off win by Bourque and feed from Mueller. Then Michael Latta scored the second off a redirect that went in off his lower body. Scott Valentine had the original shot and earned his first pro point with the assist.

That is a 7-3 score after two periods, for those keeping track on your abacus.

Mueller got his hat trick goal in the 3rd period. He skated the puck in on the right wing and beat Ortio (yes there was another goalie change). Mueller scored a goal in each period, that has to be worth a bottle of Mountain Fury for sure!!!!!

Mueller talks about his line getting some good momentum.

NOTES:

– It wasn’t all peaches and cream tonight.  It wasn’t all beer and pretzels.  It wasn’t all frosties and oil changes.  Coach says that there are definitely some things he’d like the team to improve on from this game.

– The Admirals were outshot 35-19.  8 goals on 19 shots?  Won’t happen every night like that.

– Great win for Hebrie.  Obviously, based on this small sample size, Kirk Muller was holding the team back this whole time.

– With Kyle Wilson called up, and Robert Slaney unable to make it to Milwaukee in time, the team skated with 17 skaters.  And ten of them skated away with at least a point.

– Mueller’s hat trick was the first since Dave Scatchard scored three in the third period of an 8-1 win over the Chicago Wolves on April 9th, 2010.  And the last time the Admirals scored 8 goals was last season, January 28th, 2011 against the Peoria Rivermen.  I think Blake Geoffrion had like, 12 points in that game.

– The Bourque – Mueller – Thang line is back.  They’re like McRibb that way.  They’re playing like they did in the playoffs last year.  Hope they can keep that up.

– Oh, and we asked Herbie if he’s keeping the stache since the result ended so well tonight.

OK Roundtable — Give your best mazel tov’s to Coach Herbers’ first “Dubya” as head coach of the Admirals.  And I guess talk about whatever else you want to talk about with this game.  I won’t give you any more direction.  Just make it happen in the comments section.

If the Admirals come out of every 3-in-3 set this year with four points, that’ll bode well for the team.

Both the Admirals and San Antonio Rampage were playing their third game in three days Sunday evening, but a pair of first period Admiral goals created a hill that was too steep for the Rampage to climb, as the Admirals were victorious 3-1.

Coach Muller says the last two games have been some of the most complete hockey the team has played this year.

Why has the team been good so far closing out the three-in-three sets?

At 10:04 of the first period, Kyle Wilson gathered the puck along the near side boards and sent a pass to Juuso ” I’d like to buy a U” Puustinen. Juuso fired a slapper that beat Brian Foster top left to give the Ads the early lead. Puusitinen did a great job of getting into the open area, but full credit goes to Wilson who got the pass right on the tape while fighting for the puck along the boards.

Just over 5 minutes later Chris Mueller got a great feed from Taylor Beck to give the Ads the 2-0 lead. With Beck behind the net he fought off a defender and sent a nifty “no look” pass to the slot where a crashing Mueller got his stick on it and put it towards Foster.  It looked like Foster had it covered up, but either through a helping attempt by his own D-man or just sheer determination the puck squeezed though Foster’s 5 hole and trickled across the line for the goal.

The Rampage struck back at 14:30 of the second period with Bracken Kearns getting the tally. Kearns was skating in and attempted a shot on net when Victor Bartley went to the ice and deflected the shot. The puck bounced off of Bartley and was re-aquired by Kearns who fluttered a shot that beat Smith. It was a great second effort by Kearns to finish the play.

The Admirals went back on the attack right away.  This time it was Ryan Ellis who found himself on the GOOD side of a scoring play giving the Ads the 3-1 lead. Just as Nolan Yonkman’s two minute sentence ended at the Penalty Box Penitentiary, Gabriel Bourque dished a pass from behind the net into the slot where it found Ellis’ stick. Ellis wasted no time in sending the puck towards the net, beating Foster, who looked like he was over-committed on Bourque.

And that would be all of the scoring for this game as the Admirals cruised to the 3-1 victory.

NOTES:

– As aforementioned, it was very nice to see Ellis find a way to help his team offensively especially since he has been the center of many discussions around our water cooler on his recent string of bad turnovers and their direct correlation to goals against.  An improved game from him tonight, so Ryan Ellis — EYE Salute You.

– The Admirals again held their opponent to a low number of shots….it was 15 shots on goal tonight.  We asked Coach what he credits for that.

– Joel Champagne returned to the lineup as Ben Ryan sat out.  And this was the second straight game that Coach Muller went with Taylor Aronson instead of Scott Valentine on the D.  Here are Coach’s thoughts on the lineup changes.

– Good cheese race tonight.

– So the week ahead.  They’ll probably do what the rest of the hockey world will be doing….watch the griping reality television that will be Sidney Crosby’s return to action.  It’ll be a TV event not unlike the first time they put a man on the moon.  Everyone will remember where they were the night that Cindy Criesby was cleared to play an NHL game.  Of course they saved it for November sweeps!!!

So that’ll happen.  And then they’ll prepare for a pair of weekend games against the Charlotte Checkers after Thanksgiving.

After a bad bounce led to a quick Barons score 30 seconds into the game, the Admirals scored three of their own in the first period, and cruised to a 3-2 win over the Oklahoma City Barons.

Coach Muller says it was a team win.

As previously alluded to, the Barons took the 1-0 lead just 30 seconds into the contest.  As the Barons were entering the zone from the near side, Alex Plante sent the puck around the glass. Harmless enough, right? Jeremy Smith skated out behind the net to play the puck. Sounds logical, right? As the puck was about to reach Smith it hit a seam in the glass and shot out into the slot where Phillippe Cornet had what will be probably one of the easiest goals of his career. It was one of those, “what’ya gonna do” plays.

After the first goal it would have been easy for the Admirals to put their head down and say “it’s not our day again”. Instead they bounced right back with a  Mark Van Guilder goal. At the 8:33 mark, Ryan Flynn had the puck behind the net with a defender crashing on him. Flynn dished a great pass to MVG who redirected it past David LeNeveu, tying the game at 1.

The Admirals wern’t done yet. They only needed 1:20 to light the lamp again. This time it was on the Mountain Fury Power Play. (Serioulsy where is our internet money Roundys? Pay up.) Ryan Ellis had the puck at the point and fired a rocket that was deflected in traffic. The puck was re-directed to the far circle where Juuso Puustinen put a slap shot on net to beat LeNeveu short-side and give the Ads a 2-1 lead.

But wait! There’s more! About a minute and a half later, the Barons’ Taylor Chorney had a pretty bad turnover — reminiscent of Roman Josi’s from the last game. Chorney tried to pass the puck up to a player on his own team, the puck wasn’t even close and instead found Kyle Wilson’s stick. Wilson skated in uncontested and fired a shot that beat LeNeveu to give the Ads their 3rd goal of the period.

Three goals in six minutes.  Coach said it was good they capitalized when they did.

The Barons finally put up a crooked number with about four and a half minutes left in the game.  Chorney had the puck at the point. He fired a shot on net that was redirected by Phillippe Cornet. The puck somehow found light behind Smith off the redirect and cut the Barons deficit to one.

That was as close as they would get as the Admirals held on for a 3-2 final.

Notes:

Some shuffled lines tonight.

Bourque – Mueller – Stortini
Wilson – Van Guilder – Flynn
Thang – Latta – Beck
Ryan – Lajunen – Puustinen

After the first 3 goals I thought David LeNeveu really played well. He had some HUGE saves; among them some dandies against Roman Josi.

The Barons recorded 17 official shots on net (a few were added after the game). That sure makes life easy for a goaltender when you can keep the other team from him.

The Barons were a team playing their third in three days, after playing the first two at home, splitting a pair of games with the Charlotte Checkers.  They looked a bit tired.  But that’s life in the AHL, Holmes.

Questions:  Josi look better to you tonight?  Like the new line combos?  I don’t want to hear about the officiating…both teams got away with some stuff in the 3rd.  Do you think the team was able to keep the pressure on over the last 45 minutes or did you see a form of the prevent defense out there?  Ready to see Chicago again next Friday?  What was the funniest thing a player said to you during the camera night festivities?

Editors note:  Please welcome Sutty back to the Roundtable for his first post of the season!  -RM

The Admirals got more trick than treat on Sunday at the Bradley Center as they played host to the Texas Stars. In the last of a ‘3 games in 3 days’ set for the Admirals, they fell to the Stars 5-3.

Coach Muller, with the summary.

The  Admirals struck first with a great shot from Ryan Ellis 2:23 into the first. The Ads put a shot on net from close, then the puck was redirected to the point. Ellis corraled the puck and fired a shot from just above the near circle that beat a screened Richard Bachman.

The Stars answered back on the Power Play at the 16:54 mark. It was an odd goal but a goal none the less. Raymond Sawada was attacking the zone with a defender right on him. Sawada made an attempt at a shot and fanned on it, but recovered and got another attempt that succeded in beating Jeremy Smith. The play looked odd but it was great concentration by Sawada to finish the play and tie the game.

Coach Muller talks about the talented Texas power play.

Right before the first period came to an end Mark Van Guilder had an absolutly fantastic goal. For reference and validity I will not exagerate or embelish… MVG entered the zone and was confronted by Stars’ D-man Phillip Larsen. MVG absolutly and completly undressed Larsen with a deke leaving his jock strap on the ice. MVG then skated in on Bachman (who was in awe of what he just saw) and put the puck past the goalie to give the Ads a 2-1 lead. After the goal, MVG reached into the net grabbed the puck and skated up to Larsen and bit the puck in half. He was then heard saying something like “’cause thats what men do”. MVG then skated off the ice, casually chewing on the other half of the puck. Okay, okay, I made some of that up. He didn’t eat the other half…he was saving it for dinner.

The second period also had 3 goals in it with the first going to the Stars’ Matt Fraser. Fraser got in past the defense and was able to go 5 hole off of a Ray Sawada rebound.

I am sure it’s a goal that Smitty would like to have back, and I can assure you that isn’t the only one. Just under two minutes later with Michael Latta in the sin bin serving two minutes for a holding call, Travis Morin was the receipient of a goal that just trickled in. The shot was initally slowed down by Smith, but it got past him. Smith spun around to find the puck slowly sliding towards the back of the net, giving the Stars their first lead of the game.

The Admirals would knot up the game at the 7:02 mark off of a great redirect by Zack Stortini. Victor Bartley got the puck at the point and fired a shot on net. I initially thought that Bartley got the score but upon further review Stortini got his stick on it and redirected it. This was another great job of the Milwaukee Admirals getting traffic in front and getting results.

Coach Muller liked seeing secondary scoring from guys like Stortini and Van Guilder.

The stalemate was finally broken late in the 3rd when Tomas Vincour scored for the Stars on yet another goal I bet Smith wishes he could have again. Ryan Garbutt chased down the puck into the corner threw a centering pass to Vincour who was all alone between the circles. He fired a shot on net that just flat out beat Smith who looked to be in good position.

The Stars would go on to seal the deal with an empty net goal giving them the 5-3 victory.

———-

Here’s what Coach Muller says they’ll need to work on this week to start November better than the way they ended October.

Questions:   Just an off day for Smitty? How did you see the goals? Soft or not his fault?  Did they look tired by the end of the weekend?  10 goals against in two days….Oucheroo!  Better game from Ellis tonight in general?  Did you like the line combos they did without Thanger in the lineup?  What kind of candy did you get this year?  Ryan got an intro?  What was that?????

“It’s heartbreaking.  You work so hard all year long and put it all on the line….game 7…..words can’t describe how bad you feel.  I hate losing.  I can’t believe it’s over.”

That’s a dejected Jeremy Smith after the Admirals fell short in game 7 of their playoff series with the Houston Aeros.

After some good chances in the offensive zone, Casey Wellman led a 2-on-1 rush, and beat Smitty with an NHL caliber shot with 1:21 left in the 3^rd period, giving the Aeros the game-winning goal in a 4-2 victory Tuesday night.

Coach Lambert seconds that emotion.

“Total dejection is what I’m feeling, and the guys fought hard all series.  That’s part of playoff hockey.  There’s only one team that can win, and when you don’t, it hurts.”

The Nashville bump was there, as Matt Halischuk and Blake Geoffrion  figured into both Admiral goals, along with Gabriel Bourque.  But the late rush by Wellman took the wind out of the sails of the Admirals and everyone in the building.

With less than two minutes to go in the 3^rd period the Admirals were attacking the offensive zone. They had about three great chances with the puck bouncing all over the place, inches from lighting the lamp. The Admirals were playing up trying to get the game winner when the puck was sent out to Wellman, who was then off to the races with the 2-on-1 rush.  Roman Josi gave chase along the near boards, blocked the passing lane and got a little piece of Wellman as he fired the shot on net. Smith was out to play the shot but missed it as it rang home to the top right of the cage.

“It was a fast break, 2-on-1,” Smitty said.  “Pretty much the same thing happened two shifts before that.  I thought I had the save, and he made a good shot.  Beat me clean.  That’s my shot – I got to make that save.  You got to give credit where credit is due, so I just got to learn from it.”

Transcribing those words doesn’t begin to illustrate the glumness in Smitty’s voice.  Sounded like we just told him Christmas has been cancelled, and replaced with a second Arbor Day.

Coach Lambert says it was a mistake to allow that rush.

“We had three or four good chances before they were able the break away from us.  We got a little eager, we gave up a 2-on-1 and that just can’t happen. “

The Admirals were the first to score in game 7 and it was a pair of the newly reassigned Admirals that were in on the score. Blake Geoffrion passed the puck to Matt Halischuk down low and then attempted a wrap around. The attempt bounced off Matt Hackett’s pads and right to a crashing Gabriel Bourque, who scored top shelf at the 8:02 mark in the first.

I’ll take momentum shifts for 300 Alex. With just 12 seconds left in the first period the Aeros’ Colton Gillies stuffed home a rebound to knot the game at 1 aside.  With a shot from the point, the puck found its way through traffic and on Jeremy Smith. It was a nice save but Smith couldn’t track down the rebound from his back, and with the loose puck in the paint it easily found a home on the other side of the goal line.

Ok, now I’ll take goals I’d like to have back for 1000. With Smith coming out of the net to play a puck behind the net, he mishandled a rotten bounce.  He took a couple more desperate stabs at it but had to leave it behind for the Aeros’ Carson McMillan, who gathered the puck and was able to get a quick shot in on the empty net as Smith couldn’t get back in time. That gave the Aeros their first lead of the game.

The Admirals would answer back at the 8:26 mark while on the Mountain Fury Power Play.  Geoffrion sent a puck down low to Bourque on the near side, who then sent a pass to Halischuk in the slot. Halischuk quickly sent the puck past Hackett to bring the match all square.

And then Wellman put the nail in the coffin, followed by an empty net goal from Warren Peters, who twisted the nail in the coffin while laughing and singing “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow…..”*

*Do you need me to tell you that the last part didn’t happen?  Didn’t think so.

Good game.  Can’t blame the officials.  Great crowd, especially with the Brewers in town.  Exciting finish.  It’s what you want a game 7 to be.  Only thing I’d change would be the final score.  And the second Aeros goal.  I’d change that too.

We’ll close this with one more quote from Smitty, and then open up the post for your thoughts and comments on the game and the campaign.

“There’s no tomorrow now.  Your season is over.  There’s nothing…. You look forward to training this summer, but nobody….. Winning championships is fun.  That’s what you work so hard for.  And to be let down, and let your teammates down it’s just a terrible feeling and not one I want to have again.”

Smitty, I think I speak for all of us when I say that you were marvelous this season, and unworldly in this post-season.  Hang in there, bud, and we’ll see you next year.

“Compete.”

That’s the answer Coach Lane Lambert gave after the game, when asked about what kind of an adjustment he’d like to see from his team when the series resumes in Houston Tuesday.

The Admirals laid a bit of an egg at the Bradley Center Sunday evening, held scoreless by the Houston Aeros, evening the series at one game apiece.  2-0 was the final score.

Rather than cherry pick some Coach quotes, we’ll give you the full unedited raw audio.  You can’t get this stuff on pay per view, ya’ll.

The Aeros were first to strike while Michael Latta and Grant Lewis were getting cozy in the sin bin, giving the Aeros the 5 on 3 advantage.  At 11:47 it was Warren Peters that beat Jeremy Smith off a juicy rebound to give the Aeros the lead.  The play started with the Aeros sending the puck around the point from station to station when they found Casey Wellman down low. Wellman tried a stuff attempt from point blank, resulting in the puck to coming out to the slot, and ending in a very easy goal for Peters.

The second goal for the Aeros was an odd man rush in the 3rd period created by a sloppy turnover just inside the offensive blue line.  With 3 Aeros players on the break out against two defensemen, the Aeros made one pass to the near side circle, where Colton Gillies fired a shot that beat Smith top right.  Ryan and I were trying to figure out what the Admirals’ forwards were doing.  The only thing we could figure was that they were checking out the out-of-town scoreboard on the corner matrix boards, maybe checking out the Caps vs Bolts game. The turnover at the blue line is what caused the rush, but the forwards didn’t seem all that interested in getting back to help.

The Admirals finished 0-6 on the power play, and were whistled for a couple of minor penalties down the stretch to further thwart any kind of flow or momentum.

Notes and Questions:

We would give you the lines but they were shuffled more than a paying dealer at Potowatomi.

How about the ‘ATO line’ of Watson, Conacher, and Latta?

Ellis:  Buying or selling after two games? Or, too early to tell?

How would you grade Smiths performance from 1-10?  With 1 being the backup goalie for the Islanders and 10 being ‘The Pekka’…

We did enjoy watching him scamper back on to the ice after starting a shift on the bench.  Don’t think I had ever seen a line change bringing the goalie back on.

What was the most frustrating part of this game for you?  Were the Ads that bad or were Hackett and Company that good today?  Did this look anything like the team that took care of the Texas Stars?

(We’ll throw in a bunch of audio in a separate post tomorrow….let’s just let it sink in for now, okay?)

I think you would be hard pressed to find two teams that are any more evenly matched than the Milwaukee Admirals and the Texas Stars. Game 6 went to extra innings and this was the 3^rd time it  happened this series. Both goaltenders were solid, special teams were, well, special and this was another epic game. But alas, much like Highlander, there can be only one… Winner, that is….  Tonight, that winner was….. We’ll find out right after these messages…..  Okay, I am sure you read the headline. It was the Admirals that went supernova on the Stars when Mark Van Guilder scored at the 10:42 mark of the second overtime on Monday evening at the Bradley Center.

The win is good enough to clinch the series and send the Admirals to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, where they will face the Houston Aeros. The series will start this Friday at the Bradley Center and you better get your tickets, yo.

But let me tell you about this great game six, and how the Admirals  were able to advance to the second round.

The Admirals struck first at 4:20 into the initial period, with Mike Bartlett getting his first goal of the series. Andreas Thuresson tried to drive the puck to the net from the short side. The puck was stopped as Thuresson and Kelsey Wilson both tried to hack it in. Wilson got a piece of the puck and it caromed to Bartlett crashing the short side and fired it home for the 1-0 lead.

The Stars were able to even the score at 4:41 into the second stanza with Taylor Beck in the sin bin for a holding the stick penalty.  Dan Spang skated through the slot and fired a shot from between the circles. The shot was turned aside by Jeremy Smith but the rebound came back out towards the far side. Scott Ford attempted to clear the puck to the boards but was robbed by Colton Sceviour, who put the shot in the net to tie the game.

The Admirals started the 3^rd period off with a bang.  Just 1:22 in, Thuresson (finally) lit the lamp to give the Ads a 2-1 lead. Wilson was down low and sent a pass to Bartlett along the far side. After Bartlett gathered, he sent the puck to the high slot where Thuresson fired a wrister that beat Bachman. The Admirals had great movement with the puck and Wilson had a nice screen going in front to make the play a little harder for the net minder.

The Texas Stars would not be out done as Travis Morin tied up the game with a nifty goal. Raymond Sawada, Admirals nuisance extraordinaire, was behind the net when he found Ondrej Roman in the near-side circle. Roman sent a pass to Morin in the slot drawing his back to the net. Morin then spun around sending a no-look backhand shot that found the top right corner of the cage. This was a definite ‘hats off to ya’ kind of play that can only be credited to a great shot.

So we went to the first overtime period, where the Stars outshot the Admirals 13-2.  And the Stars dominated the period even more than that stat suggests.  The Admirals even had some PK time, but were able to keep it out of the net.

The ice was a little more even in the second OT period.  And all it took was one sequence in the offensive zone to net the game winner.  Ryan Thang was tripped up at the blue line trying to enter the zone. He got up and stole the puck back from the defender and carried the zone. Thang then put a shot on Bachman from the near circle along the boards. The rebound came right back from the direction it was shot, and Van Guilder gathered it and sent the puck to the back of the net, and sent the Stars packing.

What an exciting series.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS:

If the Admirals had lost this game….would it have been pretty demoralizing?  Like, no chance to win game 7?

Kelsey Wilson had a goal disallowed near the end of the 2^nd period, as he hiked the puck in the net.  Bummer that the call went against us, but the ref was right there, and we think it was the right call.

Special teams – the Stars 1-8 (and they scored on an abbreviated power play), and the Admirals were 0-3.  Think some of them were kind of ticky-tack for a playoff game of this magnitude, and weren’t exactly called both ways.  But pretty much every team can say that after any game.  So we won’t harp on that.

The penalty kill is only as good as your goalie, and the Admirals penalty kill was pretty darn good.  Speaking of goalies, Bachman played pretty lights out too.  Give us your best adjective to describe the goaltending in this game.

Josi and Laakso were good.  They were very good.  They’ve been quietly awesome this series.

Wilson was great in front of the net.  Glad to have him back.

Thuresson – it’s great that you scored.  You’re still on notice.

We made not have sold out the arena, but the fans that showed up were fantastic.  You could feel the playoff energy in the stands.  And thanks to everyone who made it through night with me on twitter.  I was in a dark place, and you gave me light.  Smiley-face, winky, clown.

So.  Friday and Sunday here.  Tuesday, Thursday, Friday down there.  And then Sunday (Mother’s Day) and Tuesday here.  Put it on your calendars, and bring Mom to the games.

We’re hoping to cash in our fake Internet money that Roundy’s totally owes us, so we can get down to Houston.  We’ll let you know how that goes….