The Milwaukee Admirals lost 2-1 against the Grand Rapids Griffins Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

A controversial “no goal” call in tonight’s game was the lone difference in Game Two. It looked as if Max Görtz made it a 2-1 game in the second period only to have the goal waved off for goaltender interference. The replay showed zero contact with Tom McCollum in net. In fact, no one was really even close to him. The Admirals would get a power-play goal in the third period from Vladislav Kamenev to legitimately make it 2-1 but the game stayed right there until the final horn.

“I get that I can look up there and I see the video, and the referee doesn’t have that option, we come in after the period and I can solidify what I saw,” commented Milwaukee Admirals head coach of the no goal call. “I guess the bottom line is it’s a shame that the ref can’t see the video too. We’re the second best league in the world and the referee should be able to go over there and look at that. And we don’t. It makes no sense. It makes absolutely no sense. I’m just talking to our goaltending coach Dave Rook and he’s like, “In the OHL they can do it – in the American League you can’t do it.” In a playoff game in the second best league in the world we can’t look and see if the call was correct? It doesn’t make any sense. It’s hard to take. It’s disappointing.”

The Admirals now trail the Griffins 2-0 in the series and need to do something they haven’t done all season long – win in Grand Rapids. They will need to do that twice in order to host Game Five in Milwaukee.

Despite a very strong start for the Admirals out of the gate it would be the Griffins getting on the scoreboard first. Patrick Mullen was called for a slash that gave the Griffins a power-play to work with. Martin Frk hammered a slap shot low and the save off the pads of Juuse Saros spilled right in front of the crease. In the scramble to get the puck away from the net Kristian Näkyvä kicked the puck with his skate and gave the puck right to Anthony Mantha for what would be a tap-in to make it 1-0.

Another power-play goal for the Griffins came in the second period. Following an Admirals power-play that went bust Jamie Devane was called for a high sticking minor. The Griffins then put the Admirals penalty kill in a spin cycle and opened up space for Tyler Bertuzzi to score a one-timer for his third goal of the playoffs.

A massive controversial moment came in the closing stages of the second period. Corey Potter let a slap shot loose from the right point and it deflected in off Max Görtz for what appeared to be a clear cut goal. It was instantly waved off and the explanation from the officiating crew was that there was goaltender inference on the play.

“What I see was, I see [Andy Miele], he’s a weak guy I think so and I went in there and pushed him away,” said Max Görtz. “I didn’t think I touched [Tom McCollum].”

The only part of an Admirals body near Tom McCollum in net was Görtz’s right skate in the top of the blue paint which came as he turned around to follow the puck into the net. The rest was purely a phantom call as traffic surrounded the front of the net. There was no contact. And the goal was disallowed with goaltender interference not being able to be reviewed in the AHL. The second period ended with a 2-0 Griffins lead and a massive roar of boo birds from the fans to the officials.

“When the ref came over I just asked him,” said Evason of talking to the officials about the decision for a no goal call. “I was watching the replay as he was talking I said, [Jarrod Ragusin] just talk and I’ll watch it. He said, “100% his foot is in the crease and he obstructs with the goalie.” And as I’m watching it his foot is not in the crease and he does not obstruct with the goaltender trying to kick his leg out to make a save. It’s a goal. Simple as that.”

Just past the midway point of the third period the Admirals were able to net a good goal which came from their fifth power-play chance of the night. Vladislav Kamenev was able to take a feed from Frédérick Gaudreau, whirl around in front of the net, and stuff five-hole on McCollum to score his first goal of the playoffs and draw the Admirals back within a goal.

With 1:47 remaining the Admirals pulled Saros to bring the extra attacker on. They then earned an in-zone face-off with 1:26 remaining and burned their timeout. They were unable to make anything happen with the net emptied and extra attacker situation and fell 2-1 to the Griffins. The difference, some could argue, was the no goal call which was the difference in the hockey game tonight.

“It’s tough, obviously,” said Görtz. “When you know it’s a good goal it’s tough. 2-1 there and go into this period we score one and we’d be in OT now probably. It’s tough, but you have to just let it go and still go hard. We were so close at the end. So, we’re working down there now so next game is our’s.”

Ramblings: Prior to tonight’s game the Milwaukee Admirals signed goaltender Janne Juvonen and defenseman Joonas Lyytinen both to PTO Contracts. Also of note, though not made official until game time due to his inclusion, the Nashville Predators assigned their first selection from the 2015 NHL Draft Yakov Trenin to the Admirals. The Russian forward made his professional playing debut tonight. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Richard-Trenin-Devane, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were: Jack Dougherty (healthy), Zac Larraza (healthy), Joe Pendenza (healthy) Janne Juvonen (healthy), Joonas Lyytinen (healthy), Aaron Irving (healthy), and Alexandre Carrier (healthy).

How poor has the officiating been in this series? What will the Milwaukee Admirals need to do in Grand Rapids to survive this series?

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 3-1 against the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Game One of this series saw a return to form for a Griffins team that had lost five straight games entering the playoffs. They battled hard to force the Admirals to take deep shots from the perimeter and were able to get around an early five-on-three power-play goal from the Admirals to score three unanswered goals to pick up the win in Milwaukee and take away the Admirals home ice advantage.

“We talked about obstruction a lot to the referees that we’re getting held up,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of the Grand Rapids Griffins work on defense holding down the Admirals offense. “But, if you have the willingness to not get held up, it doesn’t happen. We gave in way too many times to the hold up or the compete in those dirty areas.”

Late in the first period the Admirals were given a golden opportunity to make a dent thanks to 1:14 worth of a five-on-three power-play. Xavier Ouellet went off for cross-checking Kevin Fiala. Nathan Paetsch went off for a holding penalty against Vladislav Kamenev. After a stuff attempt at the front of the net went bust for the Admirals the puck kicked back to the two men playing the point all the way low down to the face-off circles, Max Görtz and Trevor Murphy. Görtz controlled the skipping puck and laid off to the top of the right wing circle for Murphy who hammered a shot past Tom McCollum’s glove to give the Admirals the first goal of this playoff series.

Unfortunately for the Admirals their 1-0 lead only lasted 2:06 of ice-time. A point shot by Martin Frk was blocked down by Stefan Elliott. Almost everyone on the ice lost sight of where the puck ricocheted to except for Tyler Bertuzzi who rifled a shot to the net quickly that surprised Juuse Saros and leveled the contest at 1-1.

“We’ve got some momentum, and we’re excited, and we get a bad break,” commented Evason. “[Stefan Elliott] makes a great block and it goes right to them. And [Juuse Saros] gets screened. Yeah, they caught a bounce for sure. Not necessarily to gain momentum but to stop our’s.”

The Griffins would take their first lead of the game midway through the second period. Following a series of special teams and abbreviated power-plays the Griffins were able to work a well timed pass from Ryan Sproul to Martin Frk in the left wing circle where he uncorked at bomb of a one-timer that banked in past Saros on the near-side post.

After icing the puck, the Griffins were able to win a defensive zone face-off and then foot race to set up their third unanswered goal. Sproul delivered a hard shot that stayed low to the ice which Saros fought off. As the puck rebounded out it was kicked behind the net where Sproul continued his run, corralled the puck, and passed to the slot where Bertuzzi was able to smack in his second goal of the night to make it a 3-1 Griffins lead.

The loss for the Admirals effectively takes away the home ice advantage unless the team is able to snag Game Three or Game Four in Grand Rapids. Yet, the defeat means there is a chance for the Griffins to clinch the series in Grand Rapids regardless of tomorrow’s Game Two outing in Milwaukee.

“They came out strong tonight,” said Max Reinhart after the game. “They battled hard. I thought they earned that game even though we threw lots of shots at their goalie, he played well. It’s unfortunate for us.”

In net, McCollum earned the surprise start over the Griffins top goaltender this season Jared Coreau. McCollum managed to stop 32/33 shots on goal in the win. At the opposite end of the rink Saros delivered a great outing despite taking the loss. The Admirals netminder stopped 19/22 shots on goal including numerous key saves in the early stages of the game that kept the scoreline tight.

Under the reign of Evason the Admirals have now lost their last six straight playoff games over the course of three separate seasons. Evason’s playoff coaching record with the Admirals is now 1-7. In the last ten-years the Admirals have made it out of the first round of the playoffs only three times with the latest occurrence coming during the 2010-11 season.

“I think we just want to be more shooters, be able to get to the net, and knock in those rebounds,” said Adam Payerl of what the Admirals need to correct ahead of tomorrow night’s Game Two in Milwaukee. “There’s lots of rebounds sitting around. We just weren’t able to get our sticks on it tonight.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals regular season came to an end there have been several roster inclusions: Yakov Trenin, Zac Larraza, Joonas Lyytinen, Alexandre Carrier, and Janne Juvonen. Larraza was signed by the Admirals to a PTO Contract prior to the start of tonight’s game. Trenin, Lyytinen, and Juvonen have yet to officially be included as part of the Admirals roster although they are all currently with the team. In addition, players not currently listed as members of the active Admirals roster include: Cody Hodgson (upper-body injury), Taylor Aronson (away from the team due to personal reasons), and Johan Alm (out for the season with a knee injury). Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Richard-Pendenza-Devane, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were: Jack Dougherty (healthy), Zac Larraza (healthy), Aaron Irving (healthy), and Alexandre Carrier (healthy). Tonight marked the professional playing debut of Anthony Richard. Tonight’s attendance was 3,261.

What is your reaction to this result? What do the Grand Rapids Griffins seem to do that always gives the Milwaukee Admirals such problems 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.

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 7-1 on the road against the Rockford IceHogs Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

As far as the last two games of the regular season are concerned they aren’t exactly how the Admirals would have preferred to enter the playoffs. After getting punished for mistakes last night at home the Admirals were roughed up on the road by a team that simply played with far more desperation from the opening puck drop. The Admirals didn’t have anything to play for. The IceHogs, looking to punch themselves in as third seed of the Central Division, did. The game essentially played out to that script.

Before this game even came to a close the Grand Rapids Griffins lost 3-2 at home to the Bakersfield Condors. That result meant the Griffins finished fourth in the Central Division and have been punched in as the Admirals opening round opponent in the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Aaron Irving was making his professional playing debut tonight as a member of the Admirals. It didn’t take him more than two shifts to get a rude introduction to life at the AHL level. Vinnie Hinostroza dangled the 20-year old defenseman nearly out of his skates, sent him darting the wrong way, cut inside, and snapped a low shot that flew underneath the pads of Marek Mazanec for his seventeenth goal of the season.

Following a dazzling series of passes from the IceHogs, that nearly set up a goal, Ryan Hartman slightly bumped into Mazanec in the net. The two jousted slightly with their sticks before Hartman skated off. Jimmy Oligny must not have appreciated what he saw and proceeded to drop his gloves and give Hartman a one-punch slug. The result of the melee was a slashing minor and fighting major to Oligny with a slashing minor, unsportsmanlike conduct minor, and a ten-minute misconduct.

As momentum can tend to go from exchanges such as this you would have hoped for the Admirals sluggish start to have swayed for the better following Oligny’s quick scrap. Instead the IceHogs scored twenty-four seconds after the fact to take a 2-0 lead through another swooping play off the left wing that saw Jonathan Carlsson shake left, go right, and caught Mazanec cheating too far to the near post and went against the grain for his second goal of the season.

With penalties off of the Oligny and Hartman situation trickling Pontus Åberg was slapped with a slashing minor on a relatively harmless play through the neutral zone. This gave the IceHogs a five-on-three power-play that saw them work right to left on the point, from Dennis Rasmussen to Ville Pokka, and get a net front tip by Mark McNeill for his twenty-fourth goal of the season to make it a 3-0 IceHogs lead in the first period.

In the second period a pair of former teammates paired up for a scrap. Mike Liambas and Oligny started grappling behind the net and that turned into a series of punches with a take down by Liambas. By earning his second fighting major of the contest Oligny was given a game misconduct and given the boot.

Before the second period could come to a close the IceHogs were able to smack in a fourth goal. Tyler Motte dragged a puck in towards the net which popped off Mazanec’s pads and fell perfectly in-line with the oncoming rush of Chris DeSousa to tap in the rebound for his seventh goal of the season.

The start of the third period was complete and utter shambles for the Admirals defense. The IceHogs scored twice in the matter of ten-seconds to push their lead up to 6-0. First game a net front deflection tally for Hartman for his fifteenth goal of the season. Then a winding drive from center to left by McNeill to beat Mazanec for his second goal of the game and twenty-fifth scored on the season.

There was a slight smudge of silver on an otherwise brown colored lining tonight. Max Görtz was able to pop in his eighteenth goal of the season to deny Mac Carruth the shutout bid in an all IceHogs contest. Trevor Murphy was able to provide the dish wing-to-wing and Görtz’s debut regular season to North America ends with him finishing second only to Kevin Fiala on the Admirals individual scoring list.

With 6:10 remaining, and tempers for the Admirals boiling over, Fiala started to engage in some cross-checks in front of the Admirals crease and a scrum quickly broke out as well as a scrap between Adam Payerl and Tanner Kero. Payerl hammered Kero with several shots before the referees came in to save the 23-year old of the IceHogs from more punishment.

As penalties mounted and mounted late in the game the IceHogs cashed in on their second five-on-three power-play chance of the night. Hinostroza was able to push in a rebounder off of a Pokka shot that Mazanec shrugged aside to his right. Hinostroza was right there for the quick follow-up, his second goal of the night, and eighteenth of the season.

The Admirals regular season officially ends on a touch of a sour note but they come away with a record of 48-23-3-2 (101 points). Their 0.664 points percentage is the third best in the Admirals AHL history behind the 2005-06 team (0.675) and 2008-09 team (0.669). Their winning of the Central Division was the Admirals first divisional title since the 2010-11 season.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there were no official roster moves made. Janne Juvonen has joined the team recently from the Lahti Pelicans of Liiga (Finland) but has yet to sign an entry level contract for the Nashville Predators or amateur try-out contract (ATO) as a member of the Admirals. Juvonen was a seventh round draft choice of the Nashville Predators in the 2013 NHL Draft. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, AJ-Pendenza-Devane, Oligny-Irving, Näkyvä-Dougherty, Murphy-Elliott. Tonight’s scratches were: Patrick Mullen (rest day), Cody Hodgson (upper-body), Taylor Aronson (personal reasons), Anthony Richard (lower-body), Corey Potter (rest day), and Johan Alm (lower-body). The Admirals opted tonight to rest two of their veteran defensemen as a way to allow Jack Dougherty and Aaron Irving to log some ice time. For Irving tonight was his professional playing debut.

What is your reaction to this mess of a game? Are these last two games blips on the radar or a cause for concern? Does the idea of playing against the Grand Rapids Griffins in the first round concern you at all?

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 5-2 against the Bakersfield Condors Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

In the final regular season game for the Admirals at the Bradley Center the team saw their franchise record tying thirteen-game point streak come to an end. The loss also snaps a winning streak that lasted seven-games. The Admirals 2015-16 regular season finale is tomorrow night on the road against the Rockford IceHogs.

“It’s a shame that we didn’t play better because they were excited,” commented Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game in response to the fans at tonight’s game. “It was early. It was loud. It’s what our fans are. Unfortunately we didn’t deliver on it.”

A first period power-play goal provided the Admirals with an early lead. Zach Boychuk was called for a high-sticking minor which provided a platform for Pontus Åberg to deliver the goods once again. On the second face-off to the power-play Frédérick Gaudreau broke his stick, raced to the bench to get a new twig, and the Admirals were able to maintain zone control with the puck cycling down the right wing to Gaudreau. The play resulted in an eventual pass from Vladislav Kamenev in the right wing over to Åberg on the left wing where he took the pass first-time to beat Laurent Brossoit for his team leading twenty-fifth goal of the season.

The Condors would level the scoreline in the first period. Juuse Saros was attempting to push aside a puck that trickled in on him and his flicking of the puck went out to Dillon Simpson. After cradling the puck up Simpson maintained a shooting position while edging to the left wing before snapping a low wrister that beat Saros to the glove-side for his fourth goal of the season.

It wouldn’t take long into the second period for the Condors to rally back and earn their first lead of the game. Inside of three-minute of the frame the Condors caught the Admirals in a sloppy change that saw three different wingers from three different lines out defending a counter attack. Saros was able to fend off an initial chance but no one was on hand to prevent Philip McRae from scoring an easy tap-in for his ninth goal of the season that made it a 2-1 Condors lead.

Before you knew it the Condors raced down on an odd-man rush to tag Saros once again. The Condors had a three-on-two break that stayed along the right wing and slot with McRae dropping a puck off for Josh Currie who smacked a hard shot that surprised Saros to the glove-side to make it a 3-1 Condors advantage. The goal for Currie was his ninth of the season.

“Crazy game there,” said Juuse Saros. “Of course not a nice game for me neither but [expletive] happens.”

In the final minute of the second period the Admirals managed to unleash Max Reinhart on a breakaway to get the game back within a one-goal deficit. Reinhart had a breakaway earlier in the period as he came out of the penalty box. He was hauled down on the play before he could get a shot away and no call was made on that shorthanded breakaway opportunity. He did on the second crack which was all set up superbly by Jamie Devane at the Admirals blueline to send Reinhart free from a pack of players around the Admirals center ice logo. From there, Reinhart held and whipped a backhanded shot that beat Brossoit near-post glove-side for his twenty-third goal of the season.

Another odd-man rush for the Condors came in the middle stages of the third period and, once more, Saros was beaten low glove. Currie’s second goal of the night came while maintaining good puck control whilst dealing with the pressure of Patrick Mullen. As Mullen yielded some space Currie slid off to the left wing, bettered his shooting angle, and ripped in his tenth goal of the season to make it a 4-2 Condors lead.

After a delay of game penalty against Mullen the Condors tacked on a power-play goal to take a 5-2 advantage. A slap shot by Brad Hunt was deflected in front of Saros by Matthew Ford that banked into the roof of the net for Ford’s team leading twenty-seventh goal of the season.

“We were very complacent tonight,” said Evason. “It’s the first time in a long time that we expected to do well as opposed to going out and working for our result. We’ll address it, clearly. We did and we will again in the morning. We certainly can’t have that complacency at this point. You just hope that it’s the one game and we go forward.”

The loss in net for Saros was his first in over a month’s time. He had entered the game having won his last eight straight starts. Tonight he stopped 28/33 shots on goal in the loss.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Tuesday night there have been no roster moves made throughout the organization. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, AJ-Pendenza-Devane, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were: Jack Dougherty (healthy), Cody Hodgson (upper-body), Taylor Aronson (personal reasons), Anthony Richard (lower-body), Aaron Irving (healthy), and Johan Alm (lower-body). The attendance of tonight’s game was 11,827. The Rockford IceHogs defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-0 tonight in Rockford to take sole possession of third place of the Central Division. The two teams entered the night tied for third place with the Griffins holding the tiebreaker over the IceHogs.

What are your reactions to tonight’s game? Was this loss just a long time coming? Can you tip your cap to the Condors or were those defensive lapses of the Admirals in the second period a real back breaker?

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 Chicago Wolves Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The Admirals point streak has now reached thirteen games which ties a franchise record that was set during the 1992-93 season. During this run the Admirals have a record of 11-0-0-2 and have won their last seven games straight. This closes out the Amtrak Rivalry this season in which the Admirals claimed the Amtrak Trophy by holding a 9-3-0-0 record over the Wolves.

“We’ve been resilient,” commented Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason in regards to the team’s current run. “Some nights we haven’t had our best and we’ve played a lot of tough games to play where teams are playing really loose and really hard. And we’ve been challenged. That’s good. We’ve been able to find ways, different ways, to win hockey games and clearly that’s a good sign.”

It wouldn’t be until the second period for this game to see the opening goal. Pontus Åberg picked up a puck in neutral ice and proceeded to carve from center to the right wing on zone entry where he hit Max Reinhart clean with a beauty of a saucer pass to give his closest competitor for the team lead in goals another tally. Reinhart’s goal was his twenty-second of the season which sets a career high for him in the AHL. His previous career best came as a member of the Abbotsford Heat in the 2013-14 season when he scored twenty-one goals.

“It’s good to get career highs,” said Max Reinhart. “It’s obviously a good season for me goal scoring-wise but that’s not something I’m looking forward to. One of my goals in the season is to help teams win and that’s what we’re doing right now.”

Following two quick penalties the Admirals were forced to endure a five-on-three penalty kill of 1:51 in length. After a quick cycle in front of Juuse Saros the Wolves were able to go from Ivan Barbashyov in the low right wing to a tap in from Danny Kristo in the slot that slid underneath the Admirals netminder. The goal for Kristo was his twenty-third scored this season.

With 4:32 remaining in regulation Jordan Schmaltz was called for tripping to give the Admirals their fifth chance on the power-play where they had yet to make a dent. All that went down was Kevin Fiala feeding Trevor Murphy at the top of the blueline where the Ads defenseman unleashed a howitzer of a slap shot that beat Jordan Binnington glove-side for his eleventh goal of the season.

“Obviously [Trevor Murphy] shoots the puck as well as anybody,” said Evason. “You score goals from the top like that on a goalie in pro hockey the puck is moving. That puck was moving.”

The Wolves went empty net and extra attacker with 1:54 remaining in regulation and burned their timeout with 47.6 seconds remaining. As time was expiring Patrick Mullen was able to launch a shot from the Admirals own blueline to score into the empty net for his third goal of the season.

Saros was once again up to his now usual tricks. He stopped 28/29 shots on goal to record his twenty-ninth win of the season. He has won his last eight starts consecutively.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played a massive amount of roster activity took place. The Nashville Predators assigned Marek Mazanec, Corey Potter, and Anthony Richard to the Admirals. The Admirals then reassigned Brandon Whitney to the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) and signed defenseman Aaron Irving to an amateur try-out contract. Also in the news is the notable absence of defenseman Taylor Aronson who has left the team for the time being due to personal reasons. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz. AJ-Pendenza-Devane, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were: Jack Dougherty (healthy), Cody Hodgson (upper-body), Anthony Richard (lower-body), Aaron Irving (healthy), and Johan Alm (lower-body).

Thoughts on tonight’s game? How impressive were the Admirals in finishing this game tonight?

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 4-2 on the road against the Charlotte Checkers Sunday afternoon at the Bojangles’ Coliseum.

It is now a wait and see mode for the Admirals who extended their point streak to twelve games with today’s win. If the Lake Erie Monsters lose in any fashion tonight to the Rochester Americans the Admirals can clinch the Central Division title. It would be the Admirals first divisional crown since the 2010-11 season.

The Admirals were able to get out in front with a first period power-play from Pontus Åberg. Kevin Fiala instigated some post-whistle shoving to draw a roughing call against Kyle Hagel. From there the age old Admirals formula of placing a Swede with a right-handed shot on the left wing circle for a one-timer held true. Taylor Aronson fed the puck off to Åberg who unloaded with a first-time shot that rifled past John Muse for the Swede’s team leading twenty-third goal of the season.

The Checkers were able to answer back 1:36 into the second period off of a counter attack following a turnover from Fiala in the neutral zone. David Wohlberg managed to score to Juuse Saros’ glove side while falling down to make it a 1-1 game on his ninth goal of the season.

Taylor Aronson’s efforts to jump up in attack helped see the Admirals regain their lead by flipping a pass out from behind the net to Matt White. Aronson skated down from the point, swooped around the cage, and caught White just on the right wing side of the net with a pass that beat Muse to the near post for White’s twelfth goal of the season.

Åberg’s hot run as of late continued into the second period as he picked up his second goal of the game to make it a 3-1 Admirals lead. Max Reinhart ripped a shot from the left wing that Muse was able to shrug off to his right side but Frédérick Gaudreau was on-hand to recover the rebound and dish across the goal mouth to find Åberg for a tap in and his twenty-fourth goal of the season.

The Checkers managed to cut the lead down to one-goal by scoring with 14.4 seconds remaining in the second period. Justin Shugg was battling on the puck with Trevor Murphy in the slot. As the puck kicked towards the left wing a touch Shugg followed and followed with a wrister that hopped up on Saros for the forward’s twelfth goal of the season.

It was a testing third period for the Admirals as the Checkers dictated much of the action and dumped eleven shots on Saros. With a late power-play chance, and the net emptied and extra attacker on, the Checkers effectively had a two-man advantage as the clawed for an equalizer in the final minute of play. Yet, Vladislav Kamenev was able to score into the empty net shorthanded to seal this game up at 4-2 on the Russian’s fifteenth goal of the season. That was the Admirals eleventh shorthanded goal of the season and second scored in as many games.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played there were no roster moves made. Today’s line combinations were the same as yesterday with the Admirals dressing seven defensemen and eleven forwards: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Devane-Pendenza, Näkyvä-Aronson, Oligny-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen, Dougherty. Today’s scratches were: Cody Hodgson (upper-body), A.J. White (healthy), and Johan Alm (lower-body).

Thoughts on today’s game? Is this the best that Pontus Åberg has played as a member of the Milwaukee Admirals? How solid was Juuse Saros this afternoon in securing the win?

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 6-3 on the road against the Charlotte Checkers Saturday night at the Bojangles’ Coliseum.

This was about as nutty of a game as there has been this entire season. The second period, in particular, speaks for itself. There were twelve combined shots on goal in the second period that resulted in six goals being scored. The Admirals were able to win out in this track meet tonight to extend their point streak up to eleven games.

As has been the theme of this recent run for the Admirals they had a less than stellar start to the contest. The Checkers were dictating the early action and, as a result, earned the game’s opening goal. Brody Sutter whipped a wrister from the right wing circle that beat Juuse Saros against the grain and beat him to his blocker side. The goal for Sutter was his twelfth scored this season.

A little past five-minutes following the Checkers goal the Admirals equalized off of a brilliant rush off the defense by Stefan Elliott. The Admirals defenseman jumped up into the rush, motored down the right wing, swooped past Jake Chelios, and threw the puck low on John Muse that went between his legs to complete a dazzling goal for Elliott’s seventh of the season. The man with the lone assist on the play was Jack Dougherty who was making his professional debut with the Admirals tonight.

Elliott would be targeted moments later after another rush up ice into the attacking zone. As Elliott was cutting around Dane Fox on the left wing wall and racing to the slot, fired a shot on Muse, and was checked to the head by Brock McGinn as he watched his shot get shrugged to the side of the net. Elliott’s helmet went flying off and he stayed down for a few moments but was able to skate back to the Admirals bench under his own power.

The second period might rank as one of the craziest played this season with the Admirals on the ice. The two teams combined for two fights, twelve shots on goal, and six goals being scored with the goals being scored at even-strength, shorthanded, and on the power-play.

Sutter opened up the second period with his second goal of the game to regain the Checkers lead. His shot from the left wing circle took a deflection off of Kristian Näkyvä’s skate and slid underneath Saros for his thirteenth goal of the season.

There were then a pair of fights that followed one after the other. Patrick Mullen and Justin Shugg grappled for a bit before the Admirals defenseman took a scary fall that appeared to see him hit the back of his head on the ice. He was checked over by Admirals head trainer Doug Agnew on the ice and helped back to the locker room. Mullen was able to rejoin the action in the second period. Moments after that fight came and went Jamie Devane paired with Kyle Hagel and the Admirals bruiser unloaded massive uppercuts again, and again, and again. That fight may have dragged out long enough for the both of these two fights and Devane got his money’s worth.

The Admirals then scored twice in the span of 1:30 of ice-time to claim their first lead of the game.

Following a slashing minor against Adam Payerl the Admirals scored their tenth shorthanded goal of the season after Elliott managed to once again burn through the Checkers and scored a brilliant in-tight backhander for his second goal of the game and eighth of the season.

As Payerl exited the box from his penalty he joined Joe Pendenza on a quickfire two-on-one attack that ended with a lofted pass by Pendenza to get past Mike Cornell to reach Payerl in the left wing for a one-timer that beat Muse for his twelfth goal of the season.

Following the goal from Payerl the Checkers called it a night for Muse in net. He stopped 11/14 shots on goal before giving way to Daniel Altshuller who would proceed to face two shots on goal the rest of the second period and allow both pucks to beat him. More on that later because Justin Shugg was able to equalize for the Checkers less than two-minutes after Payerl’s goal that chased Muse from the net. Shugg’s snap shot alluded the glove of Saros for his eleventh goal of the season which made it a 3-3 game.

Altshuller was given a rude introduction to the contest thanks to great link up play between Félix Girard and Matt White. The first shot the Admirals were able to get on the Checkers goalie on in relief beat him with Girard tagging the charging run of White on the right wing to the back post. White’s goal was his eleventh of the season.

Dennis Robertson was called for a tripping minor to give the Admirals their first power-play late in the second period. As time was winding down on the power-play Mullen passed over from the point to the right wing where Kevin Fiala unleashed a slapper that blazed past Altshuller on the second shot he faced in the period to make it 5-3 Admirals. The goal for Fiala was his eighteenth of the season.

Midway through the third period the Admirals were able to tag Altshuller once again with Payerl scoring his second goal of the night. Vladislav Kamenev was able to carve his way through the Checkers defense but lost the handle of the puck just as he was breaking in on goal. Payerl was able to find the loose puck before anyone and whirled a shot from the left side of the net that surprised Altshuller near post and banked in off of him for Payerl’s thirteenth goal of the season.

With 6:14 remaining in regulation the game received its third fight. Jimmy Oligny and Cornell squared off and the heart and soul of the Admirals French Fries trio landed a hard shot that stung Cornell. As the Checkers defenseman was looking to answer that punch by Oligny he fell backwards hard and that was the end of that scene.

The fireworks and scoring would finally, mercifully, end right there. The Admirals may not have had their greatest defensive outing of the season but Saros was able to earn yet another win to push his season tally up to twenty-seven wins. Saros has won ten of his last eleven starts including his last six straight starts. He stopped 19/22 shots on goal tonight against the Checkers.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Wednesday night the team has seen the likes of Corey Potter and Marek Mazanec recalled to the Nashville Predators with Brandon Whitney joining the team from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. In addition, the Predators assigned defenseman Jack Dougherty to the Admirals after he finished up his junior playing season with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. The Admirals dressed seven defensemen and eleven forwards as Dougherty made his professional playing debut tonight in Charlotte. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Devane-Pendenza, Näkyvä-Aronson, Oligny-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen, Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Hodgson (upper-body), A.J. White (healthy), and Johan Alm (lower-body).

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Was this the craziest game of the season? Any slight concerns about the defensive outing for the Admirals tonight or does the way the offense responded lessen the sting of that? Should Brock McGinn have been given a match penalty for his head shot to Stefan Elliott? How will tomorrow’s game play out after a roller coaster such as tonight’s game?

The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-2 against the Manitoba Moose Wednesday night at the MTS Centre.

An explosive second period saw the Admirals get out of a 1-0 hole by stretching their legs a bit. The Admirals speed created several chances for them in this game including a three-point night for Pontus Åberg who is now the top goal scorer on the Admirals this season after tagging the Moose for a pair tonight. The Admirals point streak is now up to ten-games with a record of 8-0-0-2 and they have won their last four straight.

It wasn’t a good start for the Admirals who spent a fair bit of the opening period on the penalty kill. The Moose earned three power-plays in the first period but the Admirals were able to limit shots to the net and kill off all three chances. The breakthrough for the Moose came from an unlikely source as Andrew MacWilliam thumped in a one-timer from the point that whistled through four bodies camped out in front of Marek Mazanec and in for the defenseman’s first goal of the season in his sixty-eighth game.

The second period was a much different story. The Admirals used their speed and generated eighteen shots on goal while whipping three pucks past Moose goaltender Eric Comrie to take a 3-1 lead.

On their first power-play chance of the night the Admirals scored their third power-play goal from three power-play chances in Manitoba this trip. Pontus Åberg passed from left wing to right wing where Vladislav Kamenev fired a rocket shot of a one-timer for the Russian’s fourteenth goal of the season.

After a savvy bit of defensive zone work by the Admirals, Max Görtz led a charge into the Moose zone that ended with a toe-drag, rebound, and tap-in goal by Félix Girard. Görtz’s shot came from the right wing as he cut towards the slot on a toe drag move. Comrie made the initial save put kicked the puck right to Girard who had all of the net to dump the rebound into for his fifth goal of the season.

With under two-minutes remaining in the second period the Admirals added a third goal that came thanks to a home run pass from Corey Potter. The veteran defenseman spotted a gap up ice and threw a puck from deep in the Admirals defensive zone to Åberg in stride and the Swede maintained a shooting position down the right wing and snapped a shot high glove on Comrie to record his twenty-first goal of the season.

Past the halfway point in the third period the Moose were able to cut the deficit and make it a one-goal game. Sean Escobedo’s shot from the blue line was fanned on but carried to the slot like a pass where Darren Kramer scooped it up and swiped past Mazanec for a goal to his glove side. The goal for Kramer was his seventh of the season.

As was the case last night the Admirals were quick to squash the Moose getting too close for comfort. Joe Pendenza had drawn a penalty but carried on his run down the right wing to deliver a pass back post where Jamie Devane was able to score his sixth goal of the season. The Moose would then be called for a hooking minor where Åberg put on a skill show, freezing Comrie in his place with a stickhandle, and then whipped the puck back behind him before he skated past the net. It was Åberg’s second goal of the night and pushed him past Max Reinhart for the team lead in goal scoring with his twenty-second of the season. The goals for Devane and Åberg were scored 1:12 apart from each other to give the Admirals a 5-2 lead that they would hold to the finish line.

Tonight was Mazanec’s first start in net in three-games and he came up with some high quality saves in his nineteenth win of the season. He stopped 27/29 shots on goal against the Moose and was the backstop to an Admirals penalty kill that killed all four Moose power-play opportunities tonight.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there were no roster moves made in the organization. The only thing of note was that Stefan Elliott officially rejoined the team after his reassignment from the Nashville Predators yesterday and the Admirals decided to dress seven defensemen for tonight’s game as a result. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau- Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard- Görtz, Devane-Pendenza, Elliott-Mullen, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Aronson, Murphy. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Hodgson (upper-body), A.J. White (healthy), and Johan Alm (lower-body). Tonight both the Rockford IceHogs and San Diego Gulls clinched playoff spots. Also taking place tonight was the Ontario Reign, who lead the AHL’s Western Conference on points percentage, managed to clinch the first ever Pacific Division title.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What do we all think of the current run of form by Pontus Åberg? How did Marek Mazanec look in his first game back in net after a solid run from Juuse Saros? Are you worried at all that the Admirals might be peaking too soon or can this run carry over into the playoffs?

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 4-2 on the road against the Manitoba Moose Tuesday night at the MTS Centre.

A strong second period helped see the Admirals get over the hump tonight against a Moose team that has had their number this season. Managing a two-goal cushion was a key to tonight’s game as the Moose twice, including late with their net emptied, rallied back to make it a one-goal deficit. The Admirals would never allow the Moose to rally back and level the score and Kevin Fiala marked his return to the lineup with an empty netter to end the Moose’s late theatrics tonight. The Admirals point streak is now up to nine-games.

It wasn’t the greatest of starts for the Admirals but they did a solid job on damage control by escaping the first period at a scoreless draw. Once the second period began it looked like the Admirals were a different team. They tilted the ice and, after Kevin Fiala drew a tripping call, scored with a delayed penalty against the Moose allowing for the extra attacker situation to make a different. Fiala threw a puck towards the net and Jimmy Oligny rushed up from the blueline and nearly scored off of a backhanded shot. Connor Hellebuyck made a great save on Oligny’s shot but left the rebound right in-line with Adam Payerl who popped it home for his eleventh goal of the season to give the Admirals a 1-0 lead.

Brendan Lemieux, the son of four-time Stanley Cup champion Claude Lemieux, was making his professional playing debut tonight for the Moose. Unfortunately for him, his first penalty taken as a pro came back to cost his team. As Lemieux sat for a hooking minor Patrick Mullen put a puck into Pontus Åberg’s wheelhouse and he unleashed a howitzer of a one-timer that rifled near post and into the top shelf. Hellebuyck has zero chance of stopping the shot by Åberg and it gave the Swede his first twenty goal season of his professional playing career.

Lemieux would redeem himself early in the third period by drawing a penalty against Taylor Aronson to get the Moose to a power-play where they would cash in. Jansen Harkins delivered a low shot from the left wing that Juuse Saros stopped with the pads but kicked the rebound out to the right wing where Brandon Denham was able to smack in his first career AHL goal to make it a one-goal contest with 16:18 remaining in regulation.

After Jordan Hill was called for tripping the Admirals answered the Moose’s power-play goal with one of their own. Mullen was able to pick out Max Görtz who was all alone at the right side of Hellebuyck. It was a quick trigger shot for Görtz to capitalize on the surprise element for the Moose penalty kill and goaltender who lost sight of him and the second Swede to score for the Admirals on the power-play on the night pushed his goal total to seventeen.

With 2:01 remaining in regulation Hellebuyck made his way to the Moose bench for the extra attacker to hop on and look for a late rally. This nearly all paid off. The Moose were able to score quickly into their first bid with an extra attacker on to make it a 3-2 game. John Albert’s shot from the left point took a harsh deflection or two in front of Saros and bounced past him with 1:47 remaining in regulation. Chase De Leo was credited with the goal. It was his seventeenth scored this season and his fifth goal from seven games against the Admirals.

The next wave of attack for the Moose with their net emptied didn’t have the same story pan out. Instead the Admirals were able to get a puck out to Kevin Fiala who skated the puck into the empty net to seal the game off with his seventeenth goal of the season.

This game marked the third consecutive start in net for Saros and his hot run continued. He has won nine of his last ten games with a 1.56 goals against average and 0.941 save percentage during this recent run. Saros has played in three games against the Moose this season and won all three starts. These two sides lock up for the last time in the 2015-16 season tomorrow night, once again, in Manitoba.

A look to the AHL’s Central Division standings right now will show that all teams in the top four have now played seventy-games this season. The Admirals currently hold a five-point lead to the second placed Grand Rapids Griffins who are now tied with the Lake Erie Monsters. The Rockford IceHogs, who lost in overtime tonight to the fifth placed Charlotte Checkers, are now seven-points back of the Admirals.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Saturday there were a pair of roster moves made. The Nashville Predators recalled Cody Bass from the Admirals and reassigned Stefan Elliott to the Admirals from his emergency recall assignment. Elliott was unable to arrive to Manitoba in time for the start of tonight’s game but is expected to take part tomorrow. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, AJ-Pendenza-Devane, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Aronson, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Hodgson (upper-body), Stefan Elliott (traveling), and Johan Alm (lower-body).

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Would you chalk up the first period as a lull that was swiftly corrected in the second period? Whether it be Arvidsson, Åberg, or Görtz – how good have those Swedes been for the Admirals from the left wing circle on the power-play?

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 2-1 against the San Antonio Rampage Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The Admirals have officially punched their ticket for the 2016 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs. Their run of twelve consecutive AHL playoff appearances came to an end last season but, with the win tonight, they’re right back in. The Admirals are just the second team in the Western Conference to clinch a spot. The Ontario Reign were the first Western Conference team to clinch and did so on 3/27/16.

“It was frustrating last year,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of returning to the playoffs. “I think everybody remembers it. A lot of guys were here, a lot of guys weren’t, but we certainly were. It’s nice. We’re clearly a proud franchise. It’s nice to get back for sure.”

It wasn’t the best of starts for the Admirals. The Rampage quickly earned three power-play opportunities to rack up shots on goal early. Juuse Saros and the Admirals penalty kill were able to weather the early storm and the first period ended on a high note with Max Reinhart polishing of a breakaway on the backhand to score his team leading twenty-first goal of the season. The goal was eerily similar to the one Reinhart scored against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Tuesday night.

Midway through the second period the Admirals got on the board from an unlikely source. Pontus Åberg rifled a puck low to the net but was aiming for the backdoor run of Jamie Devane who got the easy tap in while both skates were in the blue of the crease. The goal for Devane was just his fifth of the season and ended a goal drought of fifteen games.

Under the three-minute mark, down a pair of goals, the Rampage sent Reto Berra to the bench to bring on the extra attacker. With 2:32 remaining the Admirals burned their timeout ahead of an in-zone face-off and the Rampage would score from a behind the net play by Mikko Rantanen to tee up Borna Rendulic for a shot that stayed low and got underneath Juuse Saros to deny the Finn’s shutout bid. The tally for Rendulic was his fourteenth of the season.

The game would end right there and it was yet another brilliant effort in net for Saros. He stopped 25/26 shots on goal to earn his twenty-fifth win of the season. His best work came in a first period that saw the Rampage mount a hot start with three power-plays that ended in eleven first period shots.

“He won the hockey game for us,” said Evason of Juuse Saros performance in net. “Simple as that. We weren’t good in the first. They were real good. Juuse kept us in the hockey game, not only in the first, but all throughout.”

The road ahead for the Admirals is a length road trip and one with a solid travel schedule. Monday morning the Admirals will travel to Manitoba where they will play on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will then travel to Charlotte for games on Saturday and Sunday.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played on Tuesday defenseman Stefan Elliott was recalled by the Nashville Predators under emergency conditions. The Admirals also signed forward A.J. White from UMass-Lowell to an ATO Contract. He made his professional hockey debut tonight wearing Mark Van Guilder’s old #29. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, A.J.-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Devane-Bass-Pendenza, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Aronson, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were: Kevin Fiala (healthy), Cody Hodgson (upper-body), Johan Alm (lower-body).

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Is Juuse Saros starting to cement himself as the Admirals first choice netminder? What did you think of A.J. White in his professional playing debut?

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.