The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-1 on the road against the Cleveland Monsters Friday night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

For the Admirals tonight the case of rust versus rest came up rust. This was the Admirals first game in nearly a week and it resulted in the team’s first regulation loss since the home opener on 10/29/16 against the Iowa Wild. It snaps an eleven-game point streak that stretched from the end of October through the entirety of November. Adam Payerl scored his fifth goal of the season late in the third period to deny Joonas Korpisalo a shutout on the night.

This game got off on the wrong foot as the Admirals looked every bit the team that has been sitting without game action for nearly a full week. A turnover behind the net by Jonathan Diaby went to T.J. Tynan who quickly passed from the trapezoid to Daniel Zaar for a one-timer that beat Marek Mazanec before he knew what happened to make it a 1-0 Monsters lead.

Moments later there was a brief moment of elation for the Admirals that ended up being was waved off for a no goal call. Adam Pardy was able to wheel in on goal and provided what would have been a highlight reel goal for the veteran defenseman. Unfortunately some pushing and shoving in front of goaltender Joonas Korpisalo ended with Harry Zolnierczyk falling a bit too close to the netminder for the officials liking and the goal was waved off for incidental contact.

Miikka Salomäki was making his return to game action tonight on conditioning assignment from the Nashville Predators. Yet in the first period his bull in a china shop mentality did get the better of him with a stiff cross-check in the neutral zone. The Monsters entered the contest with the worst power-play in the league. That wouldn’t matter as a left wing shot pass by captain Ryan Craig found Zaar all alone with a trailing Pardy late to defend the redirected shot. Zaar would pick up his second goal of the first period and push his season total to five on the season.

In the second period, looking to inject his bench with some energy, Cody Bass dropped the gloves in the neutral zone with 6’7” defenseman Oleg Yevenko. The two had a very spirited bout and one that was pretty even in my fight card. The Admirals entered the night with the fewest fighting majors in the league this season. As a team this fight by Bass was just their fifth fighting major on the 2016-17 season.

The Monsters would extend their lead to 3-0 shortly after a power-play expired. After Jordan Maletta won an in-zone face-off the puck went back to Blake Siebenaler who passed off to his defensive partner on the left point Jaime Sifers. The slap shot from Sifers snuck past some traffic and beat Mazanec low to the glove side for the defenseman’s second goal of the season.

There was hope for yet another miraculous Cardiac Kids effort by the Admirals late in the third period. Harry Zolnierczyk and Adam Payerl were chipping around the left wing side of the net for a loose puck and Payerl got a shot elevated past Korpisalo to deny the Finn a shutout bid tonight. Payerl’s fifth goal of the season made it a 3-1 game with 7:44 remaining in regulation.

The hope was a long shot. The Admirals needed a rapid fire response the likes of which happened when they last played on the road against the Rockford IceHogs. A near chance by Justin Florek almost saw that happen to narrow the deficit to one-goal but Korpisalo fended it off. The Monsters would finish things off with an empty netter by Oliver Bjorkstrand for his seventh goal of the season. The 4-1 loss for the Admirals was their first in regulation in over a month. That last defeat in regulation came all the way back on 10/29/16 at the home opener against the Iowa Wild.

If there is any good news on the night it is that this game isn’t staying in the memory bank for too long. These two teams go right back at it again tomorrow night at 5:00 PM CST.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Saturday there were three roster moves of note. Tylor Spink was released from his loan to the Admirals and returned to the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL. Miikka Salomäki was assigned to the Admirals from the Nashville Predators on a conditioning assignment. Adam Pardy, who has been with the Admirals since being acquired from the Springfield Falcons, was then signed to an NHL contract by the Predators. Both moves took place on Wednesday. Speaking of the Predators, their injury troubles stand as follows: James Neal was pushed from day-to-day to week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury, Anthony Bitetto broke his hand and is expected to miss the next six weeks, Colton Sissons remains out with an upper-body injury, and Ryan Ellis partially participated in Thursday practice for the Predators but remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The Admirals had no scratches tonight with a fully stretched roster. Of note in tonight’s game, it appeared as though Salomäki did not play the entire third period. It is not clear as to the reason why that was the case.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Do you feel this result can be simply chalked up to the Milwaukee Admirals being stationary for six-days? Are you at all worried that the Admirals need better defensive depth at the moment with the injuries up top?

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The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-3 in overtime against the Manitoba Moose Saturday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

This result ends the Admirals five game winning streak but a two-goal performance from Trevor Murphy meant they pushed for overtime to extend the point streak to eleven straight games. The Admirals end the month of November with a record of 8-0-1-1.

It feels like it doesn’t happen enough but the Admirals were the first ones on the board tonight. It took the Admirals less than five minutes tonight to get a goal as opposed to the final five last night and the man scoring was recently added Cody Bass. The veteran forward stepped in down the right wing, measured his shot, and wired a wrister over the blocker of Eric Comrie that went bardown for his first goal of the season and first scored with the Admirals since 3/26/16 on the road against the Texas Stars.

Unfortunately the first period did end on a sour note. A clutch keep in at the blue line allowed a sustained attack for the Moose and eventually a goal to level the terms at 1-1. Dan DeSalvo was able to sneak a puck past Admirals starter on the night Jonas Gunnarsson to record his fourth goal of the season.

On that goal for the Moose it appeared as though Trevor Murphy has an injury scare regarding his left foot. He left the first period a few seconds early before the intermission horn sounded and was followed by Admirals head athletic trainer Doug Agnew. It must have been just a scare because he returned to the second period and ended up scoring his first goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game. Murphy put a wrister on net from the center point and it buzzed through a ton of traffic to catch Comrie unaware.

This topsy-turvy game would see yet another response from the Moose. Early in the third period Jack Roslovic was able to deflect a long range shot taken by Nelson Nogier from the right point. The puck changed directions from just in front of the net to allude Gunnarsson and make it a 2-2 game from Roslovic’s fourth goal of the season.

The Moose would claim their first lead of the game with a power-play goal at the midway point of the third period. Jimmy Oligny was forced into a hooking call to keep J.C. Lipon from blazing past him at the Admirals attacking blueline and it gave the Moose their third crack at the Admirals penalty kill. After a quick low to high cycle a shot by defenseman Kevin Czuczman elevated hard enough to beat Gunnarsson over his blocker-side shoulder and in to record his third tally of the season and second scored on the power-play to make it a 3-2 Moose lead.

It just wouldn’t be an Admirals game without a comeback bid. This one didn’t take as long as most. Murphy seemed to unleash all of the fury into the known universe into a slap shot from the high left wing circle and it looked like the net almost lifted off its moorings. The goal for Murphy was his second of the night and season and it made it 3-3. The Moose had their one-goal lead for 2:31 of ice time.

This game would need overtime to decide it. As it happens, that’s all that would be needed tonight unlike last night and the Admirals really never saw puck possession during the three-on-three period. Chase De Leo marked his return to the Moose by netting the game-winner in overtime. His wrister beat Gunnarsson’s glove high into the top shelf for his fourth goal of the season.

The Admirals are now on the road for the next four games where they will get a dose of the Cleveland Monsters twice, Iowa Wild, and then the Grand Rapids Griffins. They next return home to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Saturday December 10th when the Chicago Wolves arrive for the next installment of the Amtrak Rivalry.

Ramblings: Today saw a frenzy of roster activity following the news that the Nashville Predators would be without James Neal, Colton Sissons, and Ryan Ellis for their upcoming two game road trip. This saw a mass recall from the Milwaukee Admirals that included: Kevin Fiala, Frédérick Gaudreau, Mike Liambas, and Petter Granberg. The Admirals recalled Anthony Richard and Jonathan Diaby from their ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones. The Admirals then brought Tylor Spink aboard on loan from the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL. Today’s NHL recall for Liambas was the first of his career. It was the second career NHL recall for Gaudreau.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? How do you feel the Milwaukee Admirals played tonight in the face off all the roster moves today? Are we beginning to like what we see in Jonas Gunnarsson?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 3-2 in a shootout on the road against the Rockford IceHogs Friday night at the BMO Harris Bank Center.

This game was a whacky one. The Admirals thoroughly deserved a win from their play tonight but nearly saw themselves on the wrong side of a 2-0 scoreline. It was looking that was until the final five minutes of regulation when the Admirals scored twice in just over two-minutes to force overtime where they would eventually win it in a shootout.

“We definitely have a resilient group,” smiled Milwaukee Admirals assistant coach Scott Ford after the game. “They continue to do the right things for the majority of the games because of the big chunks of time that we’re playing in other teams zones. We’re doing the right things and it is giving us a chance to win every night. We found a way to get the big wins in the close ones.”

The IceHogs got on the board first from their opening power-play chance on the night. The Admirals had almost killed the tripping minor against Trevor Murphy but with fourteen seconds remaining on the power-play defenseman Cameron Shilling’s long range wrister from the right point deflected off of net front traffic. The puck skimmed past the blocker shoulder of Marek Mazanec and the tally was credited to Schilling for his fifth goal of the season to give the IceHogs a 1-0 first period lead.

In the closing stages of the second period the IceHogs were able to extend their lead off a blistering counter attack. The Admirals were beginning to pin the IceHogs into their own half but, after a failed power-play, the IceHogs started opening up the game more. The transition from defense to offense quickly saw Tanner Kero racing down the left wing where he was able to spot the back post rush of Tyler Barnes. The pass was taken first time by Barnes who beat Mazanec to the blocker side to record his first goal since joining the IceHogs organization.

With less than five minutes remaining in the third period the Admirals were able to finally get on the board and deny Mac Carruth his shutout bid with a power-play goal. Alex Carrier was able to pick out Frédérick Gaudreau all alone in the slot as he was cutting towards the right wing. Gaudreau whipped a wrister past Carruth to score his third goal of the season with 4:47 remaining in regulation.

The Admirals most outstanding characteristic to this point in the season has been its resiliency. That shined once more as the Admirals were able to tie the game 2:04 after Gaudreau netted their first. A net front puck scramble went on for what felt like a life time. One can only assume the reason the whistle never came to freeze the puck was because they saw it free. As the battle kept on Vladislav Kamenev finally managed to secure a shot that snuck through to equalize with 2:23 remaining in regulation off of his fifth goal of the season.

This game would then be forced to overtime. That alone extended the Admirals point streak to ten straight games but the extra point was up for grabs. The frame saw its typical share of anxiety driven three-on-three open play but the best chances went more to the side of the IceHogs. Mazanec came up big in net during the overtime frame and helped see the game need a shootout.

The first man up in the shootout was the Barnes for the IceHogs and he deked himself past the chance to ever get a shot off. Then Kevin Fiala stepped up for the Admirals, showed a different shootout move, and worked a shot past Carruth to the stick side on a much more direct approach down the slot. He simply beat him with a quick release.

In the second round both Martin Lundberg and Gaudreau saw their attempts miss out. The game fell on the shoulders of IceHogs defenseman Erik Gustafsson to score on Mazanec to extend the shootout to one more shooter and he simply couldn’t get the job done. Mazanec was able to lay out and make a toe save to complete the Admirals comeback victory in the shootout.

The win for the Admirals is their fifth straight and extends their point streak to ten games. They now have a record of 12-2-1-1 (26 points, 0.813 points percentage) which makes them second in the entire AHL and Western Conference to only the Tucson Roadrunners (0.818 points percentage). The Admirals are tied with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the most points earned to this point in the season and the Admirals have played two less games than they have.

The Admirals are right back at it tomorrow night on home ice when they face the Manitoba Moose for the first time all season. The game starts at 6:00 PM CST at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and will be the last home game for a good while. The Admirals won’t be back on home ice until Saturday December 10th when the Chicago Wolves come to town. The Admirals will play four consecutive road games after facing the Moose tomorrow night.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Wednesday there were a few roster notes from the organization. The Nashville Predators recalled Juuse Saros and reassigned Marek Mazanec to the Admirals. After clearing waivers Cody Bass was assigned by the Predators to the Admirals. Matt Carle, who like Bass was placed on waivers by the Predators, did clear waivers but was not assigned to the Admirals. Carle announced his retirement from professional hockey after a twelve-year career today. Tonight’s lone scratch for the Admirals was healthy, Justin Kirkland.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? How did you feel Marek Mazanec looked in his return to the net? What is it about this team being able to comeback so often this season?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals won 3-1 against the Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

The Admirals point streak has hit nine-games and, with the win over the Griffins tonight, they have beaten every team they’ve faced on the calendar so far through the first fifteen games of the season through eight opponents.

“Some of these games could have went either way,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “Certainly the Cleveland games. Tonight, although it was 3-0 for a lot of the game, it’s a tight hockey game. We realize that we’ve been fortunate to get the right end of it but we do know that we’re playing good hockey and in all three zones as well.”

A good cycle from the Admirals top line tonight put them on top early. Matt White was swooping South from the left wing corner along the boards and passed to Trevor Smith who was charging North. The Admirals captain snapped a quick release shot into the top shelf over Jared Coreau to record his fourth goal of the season to give the Admirals a 1-0 first period lead.

The Admirals captain wouldn’t be done there, either. After a stretch of penalties in the second period the Ads would extend their lead with a power-play goal. Kevin Fiala fumbled the pass to him by Frédérick Gaudreau which caused a double clutch on his part to get a shot to the net. Once the Swiss native did release a shot the puck spilled off of Coreau and free to the net front presence of Smith to score his second goal of the night and fifth on the season to make it 2-0.

“He’s our captain for a reason,” said Evason of Trevor Smith. “He’s a pro. He works so hard. He is committed. He is great in the room. He’s such a professional and a team-first guy. He is nothing but positive for our group.”

With the Admirals scoring that power-play goal it snapped a run of twenty-eight consecutive penalty kills by the Griffins. That penalty kill streak lasted a total of nine games with the last power-play goal allowed by the Griffins coming on the road against the Charlotte Checkers on 10/29/16.

And as tough as that penalty kill was for the Griffins the Admirals would light the lamp once more on the power-play. Martin Frk sat for a high sticking call in the third period which set the stage for Vladislav Kamenev to score his fourth goal of the season. The Russian was stationed in the right wing circle and released a low wrister that trickled underneath Coreau for the Admirals second power-play goal of the night to make it a 3-0 lead.

The Griffins would deny the Admirals shutout bid after receiving a full two-minute five-on-three power-play following a high sticking minor from Jimmy Oligny and an unsportsmanlike conduct call against Petter Granberg. Robbie Russo’s one-timer from the high left point hit off the end boards and came out the opposite side of the net for Tomas Jurco to score into a wide open net as Juuse Saros had bitten hard from the initial shot attempt. The tally for Jurco was his first of the season and came in the first game of his conditioning assignment from the Detroit Red Wings.

It might not have been a shutout then for Juuse Saros but the 21-year old Finn had yet another terrific performance in net for the Admirals. He only allowed the lone goal that came from a two-man advantage for the Griffins. The other twenty-eight shots to the net he dealt with easily to earn his eighth win of the season.

The Admirals will next travel to face-off against the Rockford IceHogs on the road on Friday night. They will then return home Saturday night to play against the Manitoba Moose for the first time this season.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Saturday night in Cleveland the team reassigned Anthony Richard and Jonathan Diaby to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. With the roster trimmed down the lone scratch for the Admirals tonight was defenseman Jack Dougherty who was a healthy scratch.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Was this the best performance by the Milwaukee Admirals of the season so far?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-1 in overtime on the road against the Cleveland Monsters Saturday night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Admirals extended their point streak to eight straight games with the overtime win tonight in Cleveland. They have gone 7-0-1-0 in that stretch and have now played five overtime periods during the run. Tonight’s theatrics can be credited to Félix Girard who buried the game-winning goal after a crafty piece of play by Vladislav Kamenev rushing to the net created the opportunity to win it in overtime.

It was yet another scoreless period of hockey between these two teams to start things off this evening. The only thing of note for the first period is that there was a twenty-seven minute delay to repair a section of boards that were moving around freely near the Zamboni entrance in the Admirals defensive zone. The game was stopped just 6:05 into the contest. The players remained on the ice and around the benches during the length of the delay for rink maintenance.

The Admirals would open the scoring at the midway point of the second period. Admirals captain Trevor Smith broke into the attacking zone and delivered a drop pass to the tape of the trailing Kevin Fiala who scooted in and then labeled a low wrist shot over the left pad of Joonas Korpisalo who couldn’t get his glove to it. The tally for Fiala was his second scored for the Admirals this season. Alex Carrier picked up the secondary assist on the goal to extend his scoring streak to seven straight games.

Unfortunately the 1-0 scoreline wouldn’t hold up in Cleveland tonight. The Monsters were able to respond to Fiala’s goal less than six minutes later to knot things up at 1-1. Nick Moutrey whipped a shot from the right wing that Juuse Saros was able to fend off but the puck trickled between his pads and the net front defending Jack Dougherty. Moutrey continued his run, wrapped around the net, and was able to swat the loose puck in as he stood next to Aaron Palushaj at the doorstep to record his third goal of the season.

This game, like so many lately for the Admirals, would need overtime. It was the team’s sixth game requiring overtime this season and fifth overtime game from their past seven games. Perhaps experience from having so many is the reason why they’re succeeding in the department as the game wouldn’t need a shootout.

Vladislav Kamenev worked deep in the Admirals attacking zone and made a very skillful play in the left wing corner to create space for himself and then cut loose towards Korpisalo. The puck seemed to jar loose as Kamenev ran on goal but it fell free for Félix Girard who popped in his second goal of the season to record the game-winner in overtime and see the Admirals take two-of-two from the Monsters in Cleveland.

This was a hats off performance for both goaltenders tonight. The two Finns in net made some really spectacular stops to keep the game level at 1-1. Korpisalo gets the tough luck loss stopping 21/23 shots on goal while Saros improves to 7-1-0-1 in nine starts this season as he stopped 30/31 in the win tonight.

The Admirals are heading back home from Cleveland after tonight. Their next game is on Wednesday when they’ll take on the Grand Rapids Griffins in their first trip to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena this season. That game starts at 7:00 PM CST.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played on Thursday there were a few notes related to the roster. Anthony Richard was assigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) and played last night. In the Cyclones 5-4 overtime loss to the Atlanta Gladiators Richard scored his first career goal and assist of his professional playing career. Richard played with the Admirals in Cleveland Thursday night, played in Cincinnati Friday night, and traveled back to Milwaukee today where he will rejoin the Admirals once the team returns from their travel back from Cleveland. The Nashville Predators then assigned defenseman Anthony Bitetto to the Admirals on a two week (fourteen consecutive days) conditioning assignment. Bitetto took part in a conditioning assignment with the Admirals last season and played in six-games. He can play for the Admirals for up to five-games on this stint which will end following the contest in Cleveland on December 2nd. Tonight the Admirals dressed seven defenseman which made tonight’s line combinations look as follows: White-Smith-Fiala, Zolnierczyk-Kamenev-Gaudreau, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, Florek-(rotating)-Görtz, Oligny-Granberg, Murphy-Dougherty, Pardy-Carrier, Bitetto. All scratches tonight were healthy: Diaby, Kirkland, and Richard.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? How do you feel about the Milwaukee Admirals persevering through all of these overtime games? Given the look topside do you feel Anthony Bitetto will be with the Admirals for the full length of his conditioning assignment? Once Bitetto’s conditioning assignment does wrap what will that mean as far as the Nashville Predators defensive setup and will the Admirals end up getting someone from them to make space?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals won 1-0 on the road against the Cleveland Monsters Thursday night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Admirals defense and goaltending was the story tonight in a very tight contest. Juuse Saros was making his return to game action after a quick back-up spell for the Nashville Predators. It was his first game since the first Saturday of November and he responded with a thirty-five save shutout over the Monsters. It was his first shutout of this season and fifth of his AHL career. The Admirals point streak is now up to seven games.

This game was about as tight as it has been yet this season. It wasn’t until 10:14 into the second period when the game saw a puck trickle past a goaltender. Even then the goal did not count. Aaron Palushaj raced down the left wing and swooped across the mouth of goal to put a shot in on Juuse Saros. It looked like the Admirals goaltender had made a spectacular glove save, he held the mitt out after the shot, but the puck crawled underneath him and glided across the line. The whistle did blow before it did. And, after a lengthy video review, it was determined to be no goal. The safe assumption for the reasoning being that the whistle came before the puck crossed the line.

The deadlock finally broke courtesy of an Admirals power-play goal before the midway point in the third period. Frédérick Gaudreau was stationed behind the net and timed a pass to the slot as Alex Carrier glided right to left in front of Anton Forsberg. The movement screened Forsberg just enough as Gaudreau’s pass met Matt White for a one-timer that hit twine for his team leading seventh goal of the season that finally broke the deadlock with 12:37 left to play in regulation. The Monsters had a run of killing twenty-nine consecutive penalties on home ice to start the season prior to White’s first career AHL power-play goal.

From that point forward a tip of the cap could go to the Admirals defense. Not only did the penalty kill deliver a perfect performance on the night, stopping all six Monsters power-play opportunities, but the lockdown the group provided made scoring chances so difficult to come by. There were multiple blocked shots and several great reads to be disrupted in passing lanes and clear the zone.

The Monsters had two late power-play chances. The final of which saw them take their timeout with 2:12 remaining and the players on the ice seemingly negotiated their way to playing with the net emptied as well as with the power-play advantage. For effectively having a two-man advantage the Monsters only posted one shot on goal in that last push. The Admirals defensively took care of the rest and helped guide Saros and the team to a shutout performance.

These two lock horns once again on Saturday. The start time is a tad unusual as far as Saturday games go, 4:00 PM CST. Note that. After the Admirals finish up in Cleveland they will return home on Wednesday to face-off against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played on Tuesday night there were a few roster moves made within the organization. The Nashville Predators reassigned Juuse Saros to the Admirals and in-turn the Admirals reassigned Mark Visentin to their ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones. Tonight not only saw the return of defenseman Adam Pardy who missed Tuesday’s game due to a lower-body injury but also saw a shake-up in the forward group with Justin Kirkland being rotated with Anthony Richard causing lines to shuffle. Tonight’s line combinations looked as follows: White-Smith-Fiala, Zolnierczyk-Kamenev-Gaudreau, Richard-Florek-Görtz, Liambas-Girard-Payerl, Pardy-Carrier, Oligny-Granberg, Murphy-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were both healthy: Kirkland and Diaby. In tonight’s Nashville Predators game Pontus Åberg scored his first career NHL goal.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? How well did the Milwaukee Admirals play as a team tonight? Do you feel Juuse Saros showed tonight that he could filter up and down between the Nashville Predators -if needed- to give Marek Mazanec a boost in game action at the AHL level?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals 3-2 in overtime against the Charlotte Checkers Tuesday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

This year’s group is becoming the cardiac kids at this point. It was yet another display of resiliency that saw the Admirals come all the way back from 2-0 down late in the second period to earn not just a point by reaching overtime but the full allotment with the overtime winner from team captain Trevor Smith. The Admirals have extended their current point streak to six straight games.

“We’d rather not be as resilient as we have been the last few nights,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of what was discussed with the team after the game. “The good part is that we are. If we can figure it out, put a first period together, maybe get a lead, we’d like to see ourselves handle that situation as well. Certainly happy with the way our guys competed and battled and stuck with it again.”

A loose puck battle out in front of Jonas Gunnarsson went the way of the Charlotte Checkers to open the scoring up tonight in the first period. Andrew Poturalski just so happened to be in the right place at the right time when the puck squirted loose to him on the left wing side of Gunnarsson to pop in a rebound and make it 1-0. The tally for Poturalski was his fifth of the season for the Checkers.

The game was staying really tight until five minutes into the second period during an Admirals power-play when the Checkers had a prime opportunity to increase their lead. The Admirals fumbled up a puck at the blue line and the Checkers had a two-on-none shorthanded breakaway. What did it result it though? Absolutely nothing. The Checkers stayed too close and passed themselves too close to the doorstep of Gunnarsson who was able to swat away they’re shorthanded effort towards his blocker side. It could have been a disaster. It ended up just being a gaffe on the part of the Checkers.

After a grinding shift in attack the Checkers did get rewarded with a goal to get that 2-0 lead that alluded them earlier in the second period. Valentin Zykov unleashed a rocket of a wrister as a puck fell to him in the low right wing circle. His shot flew over the glove shoulder of Gunnarsson and banked in off the crossbar and down for his fourth goal of the season.

At the end of the second period the Checkers had a power-play following an interference call against Harry Zolnierczyk. Fortunately, a great penalty kill by Kevin Fiala forced the Checkers into negating that advantage and taking a penalty of their own. Once the four-on-four situation ended Zolnierczyk was able to rip a wrister from the slot that beat Michael Leighton to the glove-side for a power-play goal and his first goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game.

The resiliency of the Admirals has been displayed throughout this season long five-game homestand. That attribute turned up once again as the Admirals finished their rally from down 2-0 to equalize early in the third period. Frédérick Gaudreau was working along the blocker side of Leighton in the low left wing when Vladislav Kamenev delivered a pass towards him and Gaudreau threw a bad angle shot in on the veteran netminder. The puck kicked up and snuck in on the near-post to give Gaudreau his second goal of the season and make it a 2-2 contest.

This game would need overtime to be decided and the Admirals would complete the comeback with a win. Matt White would draw in two Checkers into the left wing corner and deliver a backhanded pass to Admirals captain Trevor Smith who was all alone on Leighton. Smith waited for the five hole to open up and got the shot through for his third goal of the season.

Tip your cap to the new Swede on the block, Gunnarsson. This was his second outing of the season. His first came in an abysmal 6-1 effort from the Admirals on the road against the Iowa Wild. He waited patiently to get another go in net and had the chance tonight to finally shine. He stopped 23/25 shots on goal against the Checkers to earn the first win of his North American professional playing career.

“It feels great,” smiled Jonas Gunnarsson. “It feels a lot better than last time, for sure. It’s been awhile but it was fun being out there again. I’m happy we came back and got a win here. It feels great.”

The Admirals complete the season long five-game homestand with a record of 4-0-1-0 and now have a record of 8-2-1-1 (18 points, 0.750 points percentage). They are next off to do battle with the defending Calder Cup Champions the Cleveland Monsters on the road this Thursday (6 PM CST) and Saturday (4 PM CST). The next time the Admirals will be back on home ice will be next Wednesday when they play against the Grand Rapids Griffins (7 PM CST).

“I can’t describe how great it is for us to be here,” said Evason of the five-game homestand at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. “Bradley Center was wonderful to us but this place has a character to it, has a feel to it that its our rink. I think our fans feel that way. Even on a Tuesday night when there’s not a lot of people here it’s loud, there’s energy, it’s excitement, it’s bright. Our dressing room is so comfortable. It’s a working environment that is good for the staff and it’s great for the players. I think they really respond to it.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Saturday there were a few roster moves made and all of them came at the goaltending position. The Nashville Predators recalled Marek Mazanec in response to a day-to-day injury to Pekka Rinne. This meant the Admirals needing to recall Mark Visentin from their ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were: Adam Pardy (lower-body injury) and Anthony Richard (healthy).

Thoughts on tonight’s game for the Milwaukee Admirals? Do you feel like this nature of coming back in games is the way things are going to be throughout the season or just an early hiccup? What did you think about Jonas Gunnarsson’s start in net tonight for the Admirals as well as Jonathan Diaby’s return to the lineup?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-3 in overtime against the Grand Rapids Griffins Saturday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

This one was a heartbreaker considering how the Admirals rallied back from a 3-0 hole to earn a point in overtime. There were some blunders in this game and it ultimately cost them the outright win over the team that eliminated them from the playoffs last season.

“We talked to the group after that they did not deserve that result,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “We played hard. We played real hard and for us to fight back like that.. clearly it’s disappointing with the effort that we thought that we got from most all our players. The effort was there. It’s disappointing, but we do have to use it as a positive that the resilience is good.”

A big gaffe from Marek Mazanec allowed for the Griffins to take a first period lead. Mazanec, who is known for being pretty good at handling the puck, got a bit overconfident with his abilities and passed from his net into traffic to essentially set up the primary assist on a Colin Campbell tap in. The goal for Campbell was his second of the season and, outside of empty netters, I doubt they’ll be any easier than that.

The Griffins extended their first period lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal from Mitch Callahan. The Griffins power-play came following what appeared to be a shoulder to chest hit by Mike Liambas that knocked over Tomas Nosek but was called an elbowing minor. After a shot by Martin Frk hit off the pads of Mazanec the rebound kicked over to the left wing where Callahan was able pop the puck in with the Czech netminder scrambling out of position. The goal for Callahan was his third of the season.

It took the Griffins just forty seconds to score once again. The first goal allowed by the Admirals was a blunder from Mazanec. The third goal allowed was plain bad luck. Kevin Fiala was tripped up and it spurred a rush for the Griffins that had a tight two-on-one in on goal. The pass across from the left wing to the right wing by Louis-Marc Aubry ended up getting deflected by Admirals defenseman Jack Dougherty and right through Mazanec to make it a 3-0 Griffins lead in 10:22 of ice-time. The goal does get credited to Aubry as the last Griffins player to touch it before going in and it was his second tally of the season.

A power-play late in the second period appeared to finally calm the Admirals down and shake the life back into their offense. It didn’t result in a power-play goal but thirty-one seconds after the white hot power-play came to a close a different sort of white hot took center stage. A shot from the point by Jack Dougherty deflected off of Matt White’s stick in the slot and past Griffins goaltender Eddie Pasquale for his team leading sixth goal of the season.

The Admirals would answer right back only twenty-nine seconds later to cut the deficit to a single goal advantage for the Griffins. Adam Pardy managed to race in down the right wing and whip a wrister while shuffling between defenders to record his second goal since being acquired from the Springfield Falcons.

A noteworthy hit took place in the final two minutes of the second period. The Admirals were countering out of the defensive half of the ice when Harry Zolnierczyk attempted to dump a puck around Joe Hicketts and skate around the opposite side of him. Rather than get into a foot race Hicketts went for a low hip check to the knees of Zolnierczyk and sent the veteran forward airborne and landing onto his head. Justin Kirkland went straight after Hicketts but no fight took place. After the scrum dissipated the lone penalty assessed was a roughing minor against Kirkland. Thankfully Zolnierczyk returned to the contest and nothing came from the following Griffins power-play.

Ads sustained plenty of attacking pressure throughout the third period but would still find themselves trailing 3-2 late. At 1:41 the Admirals used their timeout and brought Mazanec to the bench to play with the extra attacker. The Admirals would cash in after Kevin Fiala’s shot to Pasquale fell free and was jammed in by Adam Payerl for his fourth goal of the season to complete the three goal deficit comeback.

The Admirals would earn a point by pushing the game into overtime but sadly the same situation that started the game ended it. Mazanec tried an up-ice pass from his net and it went right to the tape of a Griffins player for a goal. The area where it hurts even more? The goal scorer was the man behind the low hit on Zolnierczyk – Hicketts.

“I saw our guy. He was looking at me and so I thought I could give it to him and he’s going to go,” said Marek Mazanec of his pass in overtime. “The pass didn’t work out for me as I expected. I wanted to make a difference in the game and it didn’t work well. It cost us the game.”

The defeat for the Admirals snaps a four game winnings streak but they do claw back from 3-0 down tonight to earn a point from a game they may have easily thrown in the garbage early. It was still a hard earned point, disappointing finish, but another point earned from a night when things weren’t close to as good as they can be.

“We can’t continually say we’re a resilient group and that’s great and we keep coming back,” stated Evason in response to the team’s comeback efforts in recent games. “You have to correct why we’re being a resilient group. We want to be a resilient group being up and maybe showing our discipline in being resilient.”

Next on tap for the Admirals will be the Charlotte Checkers on Tuesday night which will finish up the team’s season long five-game homestand. It will be the first meeting between the Admirals and Checkers in the 2016-17 season.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Wednesday they recalled defenseman Jonathan Diaby from their ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones. Diaby, along with forward Anthony Richard, were healthy scratches for the Admirals tonight. With the overtime loss tonight the Admirals are now 9-18-2-3 against the Griffins the last three seasons including last year’s playoff series.

What were your thoughts on tonight’s performance for the Milwaukee Admirals? Would you feel Marek Mazanec is ready for an NHL return after a showing such as tonight or should the Nashville Predators keep him down for longer? Despite the poor opening period did you appreciate the response from the second period onwards?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals 5-4 in overtime against the Chicago Wolves Wednesday morning at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

This game was nothing short of a thrill ride in front of the Admirals second ever school day crowd. The atmosphere was actually matched by the entertainment on the ice as a tightly played game pushed into overtime and saw one more piece of brilliance out of the first-year pro defenseman Alex Carrier to net the game-winner and stretch the Admirals winning streak to four games.

“It was all over the place,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of today’s contest. “We thought we started real well. First period was as good a period as we’ve played. No penalties. Everything was flowing. We were able to play four lines, rolling. And then we turned the pucks over in the second period. Mistakes on our PP. Mistakes on our PK. Breakdowns. Turnovers. It turned into an ugly game and then we corralled it in again at the end.”

The Admirals appeared to have the much more alert and awake start from the opening puck drop. Their pace was giving the Wolves problems and keeping them pinned on defense. The Admirals were able to capitalize off of this energy as a quick turnaround in and out of the offensive zone spearheaded a play that saw a returning Harry Zolnierczyk bat a puck toward the net that trickled free for Adam Payerl to lift past Jordan Binnington to score his third goal of the season.

At the final horn of the first period a tussle broke out between Matt White and Morgan Ellis. It was determined, somehow, that the lone penalty to assess on the play would be a roughing minor against the Wolves’ Ellis. The Admirals started the second period on the power-play and managed to score twenty-four seconds in through Frédérick Gaudreau’s first goal of the season. Gaudreau was working the high left point, moved in low while measuring his shot, and wired a wrister to the blocker side of Binnington to make it a 2-0 Admirals lead.

The Wolves would answer back shortly after the Admirals power-play goal and did so after their first power-play of the contest expired. Brad Hunt whipped a backhander to the net that alluded the pads of Marek Mazanec and fell to a redirect to the right wing for Ivan Barbashyov. The quick tip beat Mazanec and Barbashyov had his sixth goal of the season to cut the Admirals lead in half at 2-1.

The second period momentum would stick with the Wolves to see them level things after a successful penalty kill. A great individual effort by Andrew Agozzino saw him cut through with pace and in on Mazanec with a very short run to the net. He was able to stickhandle and get a shot up and over the glove of the Czech goalie to record his first goal on the season and make it a 2-2 game.

Heading towards the midway point in the third period the Wolves run continued. After a trip against Conner Bleackley the Admirals power-play group passed themselves into trouble which triggered a two-on-one shorthanded rush. Agozzino kept the puck in a shooting position and snapped a wrister to the low glove of Mazanec to score his second of the game and season to give the Wolves a 3-2 lead.

With under eight minutes left to play in regulation the Admirals were treated to the skills of Kevin Fiala. The Switzerland native took a hard wrist shot from the left wing that spanked off the end-boards with pace and worked back out in front of the net and back to Fiala’s path for a follow up shot that he threw above the glove of Binnington to score a goal a day after being reassigned to the Admirals from the Nashville Predators to make it a 3-3 game.

The Admirals penalty kill was motoring along strongly right until their fourth kill of the game which came in the closing stages of the third period. Magnus Pääjärvi unloaded a wrister from the high left circle that sawed through traffic and flew in high over the blocker of Mazanec and in for a power-play goal and Pääjärvi’s third tally of the season. Thankfully, just twenty-five seconds later, the Admirals answered right back. Matt White put used traffic to his advantage to put a shot on goal from the slot that found a way past bodies and Binnington for his fifth goal of the season to quickly make it 4-4.

“Matt White has been great,” stated Evason. “He’s a pro. He conducts himself that way. He’s got skill in all areas of the game. If we didn’t have as many penalty killers than we have he’d play even more. Plays on the power-play. He’s just a real good good player.”

The game would need overtime and it started with two players in the penalty box, Kevin Tansey for elbowing and Fiala for cross-checking. The Admirals penalty kill would manage to work out of the Fiala penalty and at four-on-four in overtime Gaudreau hit Alex Carrier on a stretch pass that saw the first-year pro score a dazzling game-winning goal. Carrier won a footrace down the right side of the slot and label a shot top shelf before the Wolves defense could close him down. The game-winning goal for Carrier goes down as his third goal scored this season and all of those have come in back-to-back games.

“I didn’t even see the puck go in,” smiled Alex Carrier. “But I saw the fans screaming. So I was happy.”

While I’m certain he would have to have a few goals allowed back it was a rather nice outing in net from Mazanec. The Czech goalie, making his debut with the Admirals this season after starting the year with the Predators, stopped 21/25 shots on goal and came up big a number of times from the second period to the finish.

The Admirals next play on Saturday night when they get to seek out a slight bit of 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs revenge when the Grand Rapids Griffins turn up for the first time on the calendar this season. That game has a 6:00 PM CST puck drop and will be the fourth game of this five game homestand which concludes next Tuesday night when the red hot Charlotte Checkers come into town.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Saturday there have been quite a few roster moves made. The Nashville Predators recalled Pontus Åberg and Juuse Saros from the Milwaukee Admirals. The returning move saw the Predators reassign Kevin Fiala, Marek Mazanec, and -later in the day- Harry Zolnierczyk. The Predators won last night 3-1 and in the contest Åberg logged 14:20 of ice time from nineteen shifts in his NHL regular season debut. Åberg’s NHL debut came during last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. With thirteen forwards now in camp the Admirals actually had to make a scratch this morning. The odd man out today was Anthony Richard who was a healthy scratch. Today’s attendance was 8,631.

Thoughts on today’s game? How impressive has Alex Carrier been to start his pro career? What was your assessment of Marek Mazanec and Kevin Fiala’s Admirals debuts for this season?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-3 against the Iowa Wild Saturday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

The Admirals have now beaten every team that they have faced in the 2016-17 season after avenging last weekend’s defeats to the Wild. Tonight it was the young guns breaking out with career firsts to go along with two two-goal nights from Pontus Åberg and Alex Carrier. The Ads have claimed the first two games of their season long five game homestand and now have a record of 6-2-0-1 (13 points, 0.722 points percentage).

“Iowa they play hard, heavy. I don’t know They’ve changed coaches. They’ve changed personnel,” smirked Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “But whenever they play us it’s a battle. They’re physical. They’re fast. They work. They compete. And it’s a grind for us every time we play them.”

The Admirals were able to get off to a quick start after a Pat Cannone slashing minor put them on the power-play three-minutes into the contest. Alex Carrier was working the right point and snapped a low shot through traffic and rebounded off Wild goaltender Alex Stalock into the low left wing. Pontus Åberg raced to win the rebound and recorded his third power-play goal of the season and fourth overall to make it 1-0 Ads inside four-minutes.

In the Admirals second trip to the power-play moments later things weren’t so sparkling. The Admirals allowed a shorthanded two-on-one between Colton Beck and Pat Cannone which forced a huge stop out of Juuse Saros. Unfortunately the Wild would zip right back with a shorthanded breakaway with Kurtis Gabriel scoring on a backhander to level the contest up 1-1.

If the first four minutes of the first period was a bit crazy the final four minutes was even more so. The Admirals youngsters had some firsts. Jack Dougherty was able to hammer a slap shot from the right wing circle against the grain of Stalock for his first career pro goal. A secondary assist on his goal went to his pal and WHL rival last season Justin Kirkland who, by doing so, earned his first career pro point.

1:04 of ice time after Dougherty scored his first pro goal another first year pro on the Admirals blueline followed. Alex Carrier unleashed a slap shot from the high right point that flew top shelf over the blocker side of Stalock to make it a 3-1 Admirals lead on the Québec native’s first career pro goal.

The hype surrounding the situation may have had the Admirals mentally check-out for the final minute of the period. Following Carrier’s goal it took the Wild thirty-two seconds to answer back. The Wild had a quick rush through the Admirals zone that had three crashing towards the net. Mike Weber leapt up from defense to take a lead pass from Grayson Downing. Weber’s initial shot was stopped by the right pad of Saros but Weber was able to get his own rebound before he sailed wide of the net to make it a 3-2 game on his first goal of the season.

It would take until the midway point of the second period before the next tally took place. Nick Saracino went for a wrap-around shot swooping from the left wing to the right wing but his shot flew across Saros and out to Marc Hagel. Saros was committed to the shot by Saracino and it was an easy enough finish on the back post for Hagel to make it level at 3-3 from his first goal of the season.

Despite a lackluster second period the Admirals were able to find a dagger of their own during a run of nonstop Wild offense. An outlet pass from Trevor Murphy sent Åberg on his merry way. It looked like a line change was going to happen behind the play but Åberg kept pushing down the right wing, double pumped his wrister, and wired a low shot past Stalock’s blocker-side and in for his second goal of the game and fifth of the season.

“Pontus Åberg was so good tonight,” said Evason. “So good we doubled him up in the third period to try to get him out there a little bit more. Not only because he was doing things right offensively. His speed, tenaciousness on the puck defensively. His forecheck. He is doing everything to not be in the American Hockey League. I can tell you that.”

The entirety of the third period felt like a “keep away” drill by the Admirals. Late in the last frame of regulation they earned a power-play and capitalized. Justin Florek had broken his stick trying to set a pass up in the high slot. Rather than get a new stick Vladislav Kamenev came on in his place to bail the Admirals out of a brief four-on-four. The pressure sustained and a puck fell back to the point for a howitzer shot by Carrier for his second goal of the night to make it 5-3 Admirals.

“I think the second one was better than the first one actually,” smiled Alex Carrier when speaking about his two-goal performance. “Because the first one I wasn’t sure it was me. I thought it was [Frédérick Gaudreau] that tipped it. So, I wasn’t sure. And then right away they score another goal. So that was not as good as I thought but then the second one was a lot of fun. Nice pass by [Trevor Smith]. It wasn’t the greatest shot, not the hardest shot, but I’ll take it.”

Despite an empty net extra attacker push for the Wild, which also saw a power-play come with an Åberg tripping minor, nothing came of it. The Admirals defense in the third period played lights out and it was quite impressive to see them cruise through full-strength hockey and shut the door.

The Admirals are back on home ice Wednesday at the top of the morning, 10:30 AM CST, for the organization’s second ever school day game. They’ll face the Chicago Wolves on that day. The came back from 2-0 to beat the Wolves in yesterday’s 3-2 shootout.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there were no roster moves made within the Nashville Predators organization. Pontus Åberg has produced 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in the Admirals opening nine games of the season. Juuse Saros improved his individual record to 6-1-0-0 from seven starts this season to go along with a 1.99 goals against average and 0.929 save percentage.

Chatterbox: You can listen to tonight’s post-game interviews ASAP right here.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Is the Admirals offense starting to pick up the pace? Are you more impressed by the Admirals defensively than offensively?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.