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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 1-0 in overtime against the Chicago Wolves Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

This contest dragged clean through regulation after numerous chances for the Admirals were matched by efforts in net of Pheonix Copley. Thankfully, a well orchestrated overtime goal score after a power-play during four-on-four saw the Admirals through to earn maximum points. The trigger man was Admirals leading goal scorer Pontus Åberg who now has sixteen goals this season. The Admirals are now a win away from securing their first Amtrak Trophy over the Wolves since the 2012-13 season.

After a scoreless opening period the gloves dropped in the second period to give fans something to cheer about. Cody Bass and Emerson Clark matched up off a face-off and the Admirals side of the two wearing the numeral 36 had the best of the exchange. Bass out-muscled Clark and landed several clean strikes before bowling him over into the boards.

Despite countless chances throughout the entirety of regulation this game pushed into overtime at a scoreless draw. The plus side of the overtime period for the Admirals was they headed into the frame with fifty-eight seconds of power-play time spilling over from the end of regulation. As the power-play came and went the two sides remained at four-on-four which is where the game finally had a breakthrough.

1:29 into the overtime frame, Kevin Fiala put in a tremendous shift that ended with a drop pass to cycle Trevor Murphy down the left wing and create a two-on-one wing to wing with Pontus Åberg crashing down the right wing. Murphy’s lightning pass connected and Åberg’s tap in beat Pheonix Copley beneath the pads for the Swede’s team leading sixteenth goal of the season.

Nearly lost in all the numerous chances had by the Admirals late in tonight’s game was the third shutout of the season for Juuse Saros. While he wasn’t tested anywhere near his counterpart on the evening, Copley made a season best thirty-eight saves in the overtime loss, Saros did what he needed to do early to give the Admirals a foundation to build from in the second period forward. Saros stopped all twenty-two shots he faced and earned his nineteenth win of the season.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Thursday the team recalled Joe Pendenza from the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Gaudreau-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Girard-Görtz, Devane-Pendenza-Bass, Oligny-Potter, Murphy-Aronson, Näkyvä-Elliott. Tonight’s scratches were: Colton Sissons (healthy), Cody Hodgson (undisclosed), Patrick Mullen (right hand laceration), and Johan Alm (lower body).

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Despite the lack of goals generated tonight can you look at the Milwaukee Admirals performance as a strong one that was matched by an equally outstanding effort from Pheonix Copley? What’s to be expected in tomorrow’s game in Chicago?

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The Milwaukee Admirals were able to claim a 4-3 shootout victory on the road over the Lake Erie Monsters Thursday night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Similar to last season’s finale in Cleveland between the Admirals and Monsters a little bit of magic by Kevin Fiala was required for the Admirals to squeak away with a victory. Fiala scored with 3:55 remaining in regulation to force overtime through an incredible individual effort. From there, overtime flew by and the Admirals mastery of the shootout continued. The Admirals have won all seven games they have played in the shootout this season and Juuse Saros has still not allowed a shootout goal.

This game opened with a rapid fire chance for the Admirals to get the ball rolling the right way tonight. Only thirty-four seconds into the game Kevin Fiala drew a tripping minor against Sonny Milano to put the Admirals to the power-play. The best chance of the quick opportunity was a Max Görtz shot that rang iron and trickled back out before getting cleared from the net. The Admirals would again be left begging for a finish.

A heavyweight tilt broke out between Cody Bass and Brett Gallant at center ice not too long after the Admirals opening power-play. Both men talked about it for a bit, they removed their buckets, and proceeded to absolutely throttle one-another with hard right hands again – and again – and again. Gallant had the final strike to get Bass down, giving him the edge on the fight cards, but that was by far one of the most exciting fights this season.

On the flipside of the scrap the Monsters were able to score the game’s opening goal from their first power-play opportunity. Milano was able to score from a near impossible angle as he shimmied down the left wing and down below the goal-line before unleashing a wrister that surprised Juuse Saros top corner of the near post and in. The goal for Milano was his eighth of the season and second in two-games against the Admirals.

As the first period was grinding to a halt the Admirals found themselves earning an extended five-on-three power-play chance. Trent Vogelhuber was called for a hook and, just fourteen seconds later while attempting to fend off Pontus Åberg, Josh Anderson also took a hooking minor to give the Admirals 1:46 of five-on-three power-play. All that was required from there was a pass from Trevor Murphy over to the left wing face-off circle where a howitzer of a one-timer by Görtz signaled the end of the Admirals scoreless streak of 117:07 of ice time. The goal for Görtz was his twelfth of the season and seventh scored on the power-play.

Pontus Åberg was able to give the Admirals a 2-1 lead in the second period thanks to his fifteenth goal of the season. The Swede was able to fight off the defensive effort of Dillon Heatherington and, in the process, catch Anton Forsberg guarding the near post too much. Åberg labeled a wrister from the right wing that went against the grain and into the top shelf past the blocker of Forsberg.

The Admirals lead would be short lived as less than eight minutes after Åberg’s goal Daniel Zaar had an equalizer. The Monsters’ Swede was able to one-time a pass by Alex Broadhurst past Saros from close-range in the low right wing face-off circle to tally his seventeenth goal of the season. This was followed closely by a go-ahead goal for the scored by Anderson who beat Trevor Murphy with pace, alluded a poke check of Saros, and deposited five-hole to score his fourteenth goal of the season and make it a 3-2 Monsters lead.

As the game dipped below four minutes to play in regulation the Admirals saw a moment of sheer individual brilliance from Fiala. The 19-year old forward cut through multiple members of the Lake Erie Monsters, drew a penalty, managed to keep puck control as he plowed towards the net, and still had the ability to flick a puck up and over the right pad of Forsberg to equalize for the Admirals on his eleventh goal of the season.

The goal for Fiala would help force overtime which saw a frantic frame of three-on-three in which pucks were hopping everywhere. The game would spill into the shootout where once again the Admirals would get the job done.

Fiala was the first man up and fired a snapshot to the blocker side of Forsberg. Milano would follow up for the Monsters and miss the net entirely. Frédérick Gaudreau was next man up and he would get caught in too tight to Forsberg who gloved the shot down. Kerby Rychel had the chance to level things 1-1 in the shootout but he completely flubbed up his shot and it meant match point with Matt White next up for the Admirals. White dangled in on goal with speed before letting the puck glide clean through the wickets of Forsberg for the game-winner in the shootout.

The Admirals are now a perfect seven-for-seven in the shootout this season. Saros has not allowed a single shootout goal from thirteen shootout attempts. He stopped twenty five of the Monsters twenty-three shots on goal tonight to earn his eighteenth win of the season from twenty-five appearances.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played Tuesday night there were no roster moves made throughout the organization. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Sissons-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Gaudreau-Görtz, Devane-Girard-Bass, Oligny-Potter, Näkyvä-Elliott, Murphy-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Hodgson (undisclosed), Patrick Mullen (right hand laceration), Garrett Noonan (healthy), and Johan Alm (lower body).

While it might not have been the cleanest of games for the Milwaukee Admirals can a comeback result like this be just the boost the team needs?

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The Milwaukee Admirals lost 2-0 on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Tuesday night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

This game was really lacking serious energy from both sides as far as the first and third periods of play were concerned. Even the second period, which saw some chances created, only saw a taste of finishing quality in the dying seconds of the frame. In the end the Monsters really only ever needed the lone goal lead but would add a late secondary tally in the third period as Anton Forsberg shut the lights out on the Admirals – stopping all thirty-six shots on goal that he faced. The Monsters winning streak is now up to four-games and their point streak has extended to six-games.

The game’s opening goal wouldn’t come until late in the second period. Following their second penalty kill of the period the Monsters were able to get a two-on-two rush into the zone and score with 22.7 seconds remaining in the frame. Alex Broadhurst’s pass from the left wing cleared Taylor Aronson and hit Sonny Milano skating ahead of Colton Sissons. Milano would finish off in style past Marek Mazanec with a backhanded flick to record his seventh goal of the season.

With the Admirals pressing with the net emptied and extra attacker on a neutral zone face-off forced Mazanec back on the ice. The Monsters would pounce off of the draw and get a silky smooth backhanded goal from Daniel Zaar that went underneath the pads of Mazanec and in with 31.1 seconds remaining to make it a 2-0 Monsters lead from Zaar’s sixteenth goal of the season.

The Monsters only ever needed the lone goal from Milano the way they were defending. The Admirals may have registered a high number of shots on goal tonight but not many of those were from high quality scoring areas. It made for a rather calm night in net for Anton Forsberg who stopped every shot to earn his first shutout of the season and fourth of his AHL career.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played the NHL Trade Deadline took place. During the deadline the Nashville Predators acquired defenseman Corey Potter from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for future considerations. Potter had been playing this entire season at the AHL level with the Springfield Falcons where he played 52 games, had 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists), a plus/minus rating of +4, and 32 penalty minutes. The Predators also did a paper transaction that saw Viktor Arvidsson be reassigned to the Admirals prior to the NHL Trade Deadline in an effort to make him eligible to be part of the Admirals playoff roster. Not too long after the official deadline had passed the Predators immediately recalled Arvidsson from the Admirals roster. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Sissons-Gaudreau, Fiala-Hodgson-Åberg, White-Kamenev-Görtz, Payerl-Girard-Bass, Oligny-Elliott, Noonan-Aronson, Näkyvä-Murphy. Tonight’s scratches were: Jamie Devane (healthy), Patrick Mullen (right hand laceration), Corey Potter (yet to join team), and Johan Alm (lower-body). As noted on the Admirals pre-game show via Aaron Sims, defenseman Corey Potter has yet to join the team but the expectation is for him to meet up with his new teammates for practice tomorrow in Cleveland.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Is the Milwaukee Admirals inability to generate consistent offense becoming a major issue? What are teams specifically doing to the Admirals to squash their offensive chances?

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The Milwaukee Admirals lost 2-1 against the Chicago Wolves Saturday night at the Allstate Arena.

It wasn’t the dominate performance like the Admirals were able to lay down yesterday but much credit can be given to both defenses and especially both goaltenders. Jordan Binnington stopped 26/27 shots on goal for the Wolves while Marek Mazanec stopped 30/32. The difference in this game came down to a firestorm put up by the Wolves in the top of the third period which ended in a first career AHL goal for Justin Crandall.

This game was always going to unfold differently in the opening period than what was seen on the ice last night. The game was tighter defensively from both sides and the Wolves managed to force the better of the scoring chances in the first period by outshooting the Admirals 12-4.

Another thing that was evident this game would have happen is a carry-over from last night’s third period fisticuffs. Jamie Devane paired up with Nick Petrecki and uncorked the Wolves defenseman with several unanswered punches. In fact, I’m not even sure Petrecki ever threw or landed a punch in the exchange. He did skate away bloodied up. So that gives Devane a 10-8 decision in my fight card.

The Admirals would find the game’s first goal just fourteen seconds into the second period. Almost directly off of the draw to start the sandwich stanza the Admirals were in a sprint through the neutral zone and into Jordan Binnington’s goal mouth to score. The Max-to-Max connection ended with Max Reinhart dishing off to Colton Sissons in front of the net to score his eighth goal of the season. At just fourteen seconds, that goal was the fastest scored by the Admirals to start any period this season.

If the Admirals captain could do it – so to could the Wolves skipper. Pat Cannone hit a slap shot that clipped the stick of Garrett Noonan upon the release of the shot which changed the angle the puck took en route to the net. As Marek Mazanec was getting his glove up the puck ever so slightly dipped down to throw off the Admirals goaltender and give Cannone his first career 20 goal season as a professional hockey player.

At the end of the second period Emerson Clark took exception to a no-call for high sticking and took matters into his own hands by fighting Jimmy Oligny in neutral ice. Clark landed far more of the strikes thrown and gets the 10-9 decision from me on my fight card.

The Wolves took their first lead of the weekend after Justin Crandall scored his first career AHL goal in only his second career AHL game. The Wolves were really forcing the issue in the third period and, following a power-play off a Kevin Fiala high sticking minor, forced the Admirals to burn a timeout after relentless attacking shifts forced an icing. That spilled into the goal for Crandall where he scored short-side glove-side of Mazanec with a backhanded shot down the left wing to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead.

With 1:30 remaining in regulation Mazanec made his way to the bench to bring on the extra attacker for the Admirals. There was a solid push with firm control in attack for the Admirals with the extra attacker on but some big stops from Binnington helped close off the 2-1 win for the Wolves in regulation.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there was no roster moves within the organization. This was the last game for the Admirals before the NHL Trade Deadline which takes place on Monday. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Sissons-Görtz, Fiala-Gaudreau-Bass, White-Kamenev-Åberg, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Elliott, Noonan-Aronson, Näkyvä –Murphy. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Hodgson (undisclosed injury), Patrick Mullen (right-hand laceration), and Johan Alm (lower-body injury).

What are you reactions to this follow-up performance from the Milwaukee Admirals? Is it simply a credit to the Wolves doing enough early and late or were the Wolves able to get the better of a tired all-around effort on the ice? Do you think anyone on the Admirals suited up for their last game with the organization tonight with the NHL Trade Deadline coming on Monday?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 4-1 against the Chicago Wolves Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

This was a return to form sort of night for the Admirals. Max Reinhart scored his second hat trick of the season for the Admirals to put the cherry on top of what was a great all-around performance that saw the team skate circles around the Amtrak Rivals.

“We thought we started real strong,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “We were a little worried about not getting rewarded early with our play. Then certainly when they made it 2-1 there was some dicey times and some tense times. We talked to the group afterwards that when it was 2-1 we didn’t panic, we didn’t lose our composure, we stayed calm, we played the game the right way, and allowed the game to unfold.”

The Admirals were able to take a first period lead thanks to the thirteenth goal of the season for Max Reinhart. The goal all started with a crafty bit of defensive work by Colton Sissons in neutral ice to start a rush into the attacking zone. Sissons left a puck behind him for a trailer to take a stab at and he would find that in the form of Reinhart. The Wolves lost sight of the puck after Sissons skated away and Reinhart took a slap shot first-time that ripped through Jared Nightingale, Scooter Vaughan, and the glove of Jordan Binnington.

In the second period Reinhart added his second goal of the night to make it a 2-0 Admirals lead. The Admirals managed to catch the Wolves in the midst of a sloppy change and a quick outlet pass through the neutral zone hit Reinhart down the right wing for a breakaway. Binnington sprawled low to take away the bottom of the net but he left room by his left toe – which is precisely where Reinhart would polished off the breakaway for his fourteenth goal of the season.

“I think I was cherry-picking a bit on that one,” smiled Max Reinhart. “But [Max Görtz] made an unbelievable pass. It was about a, I would say, about a 50 ft. pass and it landed about an inch behind the guy’s stick right on my tape. Pass like that you got to finish for him.”

The Wolves were finally able to solve Marek Mazanec late in the second period but it required a highlight reel effort from Zach O’Brien to get the job done. Vaughan chipped a backhanded pass from just in front of the Wolves bench to hit O’Brien in stride and the Wolves forward stickhandled Jimmy Oligny into a shot blocking squat, burned past him, forced Mazanec way up and out of the net to challenge him, and O’Brien stickhandled around Mazanec before reaching back towards the net to deposit the puck in for an amazing goal. The tally goes down as O’Brien’s seventh goal of the season.

In the opening five minutes of the third period the Admirals were in full-on attack mode. The Wolves were struggling to match the pace and the pace forced a turnover right in front of their own net that allowed Frédérick Gaudreau to score a gift of a goal for his thirteenth of the season.

The hats, and free shirts, would go flying after a power-play goal to complete the hat trick for Reinhart. The Admirals power-play setup ended with a one-timer by Cody Hodgson that trickled off Binnington. Reinhart was in the right place to quickly hop on the rebound where he would bank a shot off the back of Binnington and in for his third goal of the night and fifteenth of the season.

“[Max Reinhart] has been good,” commented Evason. “We think he’s been good since we flipped him to the wing – better than he’s been – and he’s been real real good all year. We’ve had different people called up at different times and he’s had to play a big role on our hockey club – certainly the first half of the season. He’s on the power-play, he kills penalties, he plays a hard game, an offensive game, and he’s sound. It’s not surprising that he’s had success.”

The hat trick for Reinhart was his second of the season. The last Admirals player to score two hat tricks in one season came last year when Viktor Stålberg accomplished the feat. It is the Admirals fourth hat trick of the season: Reinhart, 12/21/16 @ Rockford… Åberg, 1/16/16 @ San Antonio… Murphy, 2/5/16 @ Bakersfield… Gaudreau, 2/12/16 vs. Rockford… Reinhart, 2/26/16 vs. Chicago.

They talked about it a few times in the game but finally decided to uncork the rage and do the damage. Cody Bass and Jacob Doty let loose on what was a very fast but very high energy scrap that ended with Doty getting the better of the final exchanges. This would seemingly spill into more emotionally charged play as Trevor Murphy delivered a high hit on Jordan Caron as the two were about to battle on the forecheck. Caron went after Murphy with some sucker shots that drew the attention of Gaudreau who then proceeded to get some more Caron swats. Somehow, the end result of the second altercation was matching minors for Murphy (interference) and Caron (roughing).

With 39.6 seconds remaining in regulation Adam Payerl and Jared Nightingale decided to provide a teaser for tomorrow night’s game in Chicago – in theory. The fight they displayed ended quickly after a slip and a fall from Payerl with Nightingale landing on top of him. That would be the first and last time all evening the Wolves were on top of the Admirals.

Perhaps lost in Reinhart’s hat trick performance was a terrific and calm night in net for Mazanec. The Czech goaltender stopped 29/30 shots on goal en route to his sixteenth win of the season. Mazanec is now two-wins shy from matching his previous career high for wins in an AHL season. He had eighteen-wins in the 2013-14 season from thirty-one appearances and eighteen wins in the 2014-15 season from forty-eight appearances. Tonight was Mazanec’s thirtieth appearance and twenty-ninth start of the 2015-16 season.

“I think we played well,” said Frédérick Gaudreau. “Sixty-minutes from everybody. For sure, it is fun to play against those guys. It’s a good rivalry. It was a great game tonight.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Wednesday the team recalled defenseman Garrett Noonan from their ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones. The Nashville Predators also announced that they re-signed defenseman Anthony Bitetto to a new two-year contract this afternoon. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Sissons-Görtz, Fiala-Hodgson-Åberg, White-Kamenev-Gaudreau, Payerl-Girard-Bass, Oligny-Elliott, Noonan-Aronson, Näkyvä –Murphy. Tonight’s scratches were: Patrick Mullen (right-hand laceration), Johan Alm (lower-body), and Jamie Devane (healthy). Tonight’s attendance was 9,852.

Thoughts and reactions on tonight’s game? Have you missed the Amtrak Rivalry or what? Was this a return to form for the Admirals?

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 6-4 against the Rockford IceHogs Wednesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

In a battle of the top two teams of the Central Division the Admirals were overpowered by the IceHogs early and never recovered. Juuse Saros became the first Admirals starting goaltender to be pulled from net all season after allowing three-goals on nine-shots. The IceHogs kept the hammer down and now have sole possession of first place in the Central Division standings.

“We were getting soundly beat with speed,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “Lost coverages. Turnovers. It wasn’t our group in the first period.”

It didn’t take long for the IceHogs to stack the deck against the Admirals. Inside four-minutes the IceHogs picked up the opening goal through Ryan Haggerty’s seventh of the season. Haggerty beat Stefan Elliott with speed to win the left wing edge, he carried across the goal mouth to stretch Juuse Saros, and then deposited smoothly to Saros’ glove-side.

The next IceHogs goal came four-minutes later and was another scenario where they beat the Admirals on the rush. Ville Pokka leapt up from defense and was able to catch the Admirals defensemen out of position with Elliott as last man back, Jimmy Oligny out of the play, and Pontus Åberg was racing to guard Tanner Kero who cheated behind everyone down the left wing. Pokka’s past went wing-to-wing over Elliott to pick out Kero for a tap in and his fourteenth goal of the season.

The first period damage didn’t end there. Mark McNeill tagged Saros for his fourteenth goal of the season and the IceHogs third goal from nine shots on goal. That would mark the end of Saros night in net as well as the first time in the 2015-16 season that the Admirals pulled a starting goaltender. Marek Mazanec officially entered the game with 6:51 remaining in the first period.

“It had nothing to do with Juuse,” said Evason of his decision to pull his starting goaltender tonight. “And we told him that after the first period that Juuse Saros did not get pulled because of anything that he did – it was because of what we did in front of him as a group.”

In the second period, former-Admiral Mike Liambas was called for goaltender interference and put the Admirals on the power-play. The Admirals had gone six consecutive games without scoring a power-play goal and were naught for their previous nineteen chances on the power-play. That finally ended as a Taylor Aronson and Vladislav Kamenev hooked up during a lapse of concentration for Cameron Schilling and Kirill Gotovets. Aronson’s long home run pass caught Kamenev all alone down the center of the neutral zone and the Russian was free for a snapshot delivery high glove on Michael Leighton to score his ninth goal of the season. Once again, Leighton’s bid at setting the career AHL shutouts record will have to wait another day.

That small glimmer of a comeback was smacked down to reality with two goals for Vinny Hinostroza in the span of twenty-three seconds. His first goal came after receiving a backhanded feed from Kero on the left wing that had him all alone in the slot for a first-time shot. That was instantly followed up by a home run pass from NAME in the IceHogs defensive end of the ice that caught Hinostroza in stride for a breakaway where he’d finish clean.

It was only going to be a matter of time before some sort of a scrap started and it did so with the two players who flipped sides from last season to this season. Liambas went toe-to-toe with the returning Cody Bass and the two exchanged plenty of jabs before Liambas got the takedown. If I had to score it in my fight card that would be a 10-9 round for Liambas.

After a long stretch of misery on the power-play it might be just a tad ironic for it to suddenly come to life in a game when the team is being beaten up at even strength. Following a stick to the face of Trevor Murphy the Admirals again scored a power-play goal to make it two-for-two on the night thanks to a rocket of a slap shot by Cody Hodgson that beat Leighton high-glove.

In the third period the Admirals power-play unit did it once again to make it three-for-three on the night. A great bit of tic-tac-toe passing from Stefan Elliott to Kevin Fiala ended with a wing-to-wing pass across the mouth of goal for Hodgson to blast in his second power-play goal of the night. The tally was his fourth of the season as a member of the Admirals.

The two-goal rally for the Admirals would get buzz-sawed when two Admirals ended up in the box to give the IceHogs a minute and a half long five-on-three power-play. That wouldn’t take long as a Bryan Bickell one-timed cannon blazed past Marek Mazanec to the blocker side for his eleventh goal of the season.

In the closing minutes the Admirals were finally able to find some goal scoring at even strength. A hard play to the front of the net by Max Görtz left a puck out in front of Leighton where captain Colton Sissons smacked in a rebound for his seventh goal of the season to make it a 6-4 game – which is precisely where it would end.

“We’ve been up and down,” said Evason. “We certainly haven’t had our best stuff for a bit now. We’ve given ourselves opportunities to be in hockey games. Tonight we took ourselves out of the hockey game so early that it was difficult. Although we like our effort in the second and in the third – it’s just not enough. It’s tough to rebound when you’re down three-goals right away.”

Ramblings: Prior to today’s game, Cody Bass officially cleared waivers and was assigned by the Nashville Predators to the Milwaukee Admirals. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Sissons-Görtz, White-Kamenev-Gaudreau, Fiala-Hodgson-Åberg, Payerl-Girard-Bass, Alm-Aronson, Oligny-Elliott, Näkyvä-Murphy. Tonight’s scratches were: Patrick Mullen (right hand laceration) and Jamie Devane (healthy). Tonight marked the return of Bass to the Admirals lineup. The Admirals alternate captain last played with the Admirals on 1/9/16 vs. Iowa.

What is your take after tonight’s game? Is this current run for the Milwaukee Admirals more than just a lull? Was Juuse Saros to blame for getting pulled from the gameor would you say it was more on the play taking place in front of him?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-1 in a shootout against the Iowa Wild Sunday afternoon at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Once again, the Admirals offense wasn’t finding much quality in their finishing touch. They delivered thirty-three shots on goal but had many moments that alluded them. They carried a second period lead into the third frame but were dragged into and through overtime and all the way into a shootout. Thankfully for the Admirals the shootout has been a lock for them this season. They’ve won all six shootouts they’ve competed in with Juuse Saros not allowing a single shootout goal against.

After several “almost, nearly” moments the Admirals finally found a breakthrough in the second period. Max Reinhart flipped a backhanded pass from the right wing that looped over the stick of Maxime Fortunus and tagged Pontus Åberg in stride down the slot. The Swede threw a backhanded shot top shelf that gave Leland Irving no chance to make a stop on for Åberg’s fourteenth goal of the season.

Shortly after Kevin Fiala took a solid check in front of the Wild bench a fight broke out between Félix Girard and Brett Sutter in the third period. Both were throwing wildly, pun not intended, and it was hard to tell how many of their punches actually landed flush. It was a spirited tilt though so I’d mark that even on my fight card.

The Wild got off the mark just before the midway point of the third period. A low hard shot by Tyson Strachan went off the right pad of Juuse Saros and spilled into the left wing. Marc Hagel was in the right place at the right time to score an easy rebounder for his third goal of the season.

With 2:57 left in regulation the Wild found themselves on a five-on-three power-play lasting 1:30 following a hooking minor against Åberg and a double-minor for high sticking against Taylor Aronson. The Admirals survived the five-on-three while the second minor on Aronson spilled into overtime. On the four-on-three penalty kill the Admirals finished off Aronson’s penalty and earned a power-play of their own, to boot.

The Admirals wouldn’t come away with anything from that power-play chance. Instead this game went to a shootout. For the sixth time in six attempts the Admirals won the shootout and did it with Saros denying all three attempts from the Wild. Matt White scored in the top frame of the last round of the shootout by sliding a puck underneath Leland Irving. That was followed by a shootout attempt by Zac Dalpe that went wide of the net entirely to give the Admirals the 2-1 shootout win.

Fun Fact. This season Saros has been in the shootout three times, faced eleven shooters, and stopped them all.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played last night there was one roster move made. The Nashville Predators recalled forward Gabriel Bourque from his long-term injury loan assignment with the Milwaukee Admirals after having played two out of a maximum three games on his loan assignment. Today’s line combinations were: Fiala-Kamenev-Gaudreau, Reinhart-Sissons-Görtz, White-Hodgson-Åberg, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Elliott, Alm-Aronson, Murphy-Mullen. Today’s loan scratch was a healthy one in defenseman Kristian Näkyvä. Patrick Mullen left the ice at the start of the third period due to injury. He went to the hospital for stitches to his hand after being reportedly stepped on by a skate. Attendance today was 8,973.

Thoughts on today’s game? Although the finishing wasn’t there it did look like the offense was generating chances. What’s lacking in the Admirals being able to bury goals lately?

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The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-1 against the Manitoba Moose Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

There is no other way to possibly say it. This game was ugly. It was very ugly. The Admirals scored the opening goal of the night but, perhaps setting the tone, were leveled up by the Moose nineteen seconds later. The Moose would take control of a sloppy game in the third period to win their fourth straight game and extend their points streak to six games.

Vladislav Kamenev marked his return to the lineup by helping the Admirals setup a first period goal. Moose goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was forced to play a puck that was heading for an icing until he spotted the Russian would negate the call. Following some passes around the boards in their own zone Max Görtz picked up a clearance attempt to allow the Admirals to engage on offense. The play would end with Kevin Fiala picking out Görtz in front of the net where he would dodge Hellebuyck’s paddle, and finish in style for his eleventh goal of the season.

It only took the Moose nineteen seconds to answer back. A quick rush off the face-off saw Brenden Kichton step up from the right point and fire a wrister that appeared to fool Marek Mazanec to the glove-side. The goal was Kichton’s sixth of the season.

The game’s next goal wouldn’t come until thirty-two seconds into the third period when a shot from Julian Melchiori was smacked out of the air by Matt Halischuk. Mazanec’s response was immediate. He believed that the goal shouldn’t have counted citing a high stick from Halischuk to reach Melchiori’s shot from the point. In the end there wasn’t even a review. That goal counted and it was Halischuk’s sixth of the season.

Then the ugly of this game took an extra black eye for the Admirals. Patrick Mullen was last man back working the point in attack for the Admirals when he lost the puck and his footing to send Halischuk off to the races on a breakaway. The former Admirals forward waited for Stefan Elliott and John Albert to get into the rush. The two Moose forwards then proceeded to pass back and forth before Albert shot into an empty net for his tenth goal of the season.

With 1:03 remaining in regulation the Admirals burned their timeout hoping to rally with the extra attacker on and the net emptied. This all ended in tears when Scott Kosmachuk buried his twelfth goal of the season into that empty net to give the Admirals their second consecutive regulation loss.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played they reassigned forward Joe Pendenza to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Tonight’s Line Combinations: Bourque-Hodgson-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Görtz, Reinhart-Sissons-Gaudreau, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Elliott, Alm-Aronson, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were both healthy: Kristian Näkyvä and Matt White. The Admirals power-play has failed from sixteen consecutive chances.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What is happening to the offense? What is wrong with the Admirals power-play?

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The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-1 on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night at the Van Andel Arena.

In the final game of the season at Grand Rapids the Griffins did what they’ve done all season in this match-up: win in regulation. The Admirals looked slow throughout this contest and a pair of early goals for the Griffins didn’t do them any favors. In the end, Anthony Mantha fired three rockets to earn his first professional hat trick. He also had an assist to make it a four-point night for himself as the Admirals three-game winning streak comes to a halt.

This game started off poor for the Admirals quickly when a good read by Anthony Mantha in the neutral zone sent him off behind the Admirals defense on a breakaway where he would be hooked up by Trevor Murphy to earn a penalty shot. Mantha stepped up, dangled forehand to backhand, and beat Marek Mazanec to the blocker side to score with ease and snap the Admirals combined shutout streak at 149:23 of ice time.

It took the Griffins only three-minutes to score yet again and make it a 2-0 first period lead inside of six-minutes of play. Nathan Paetsch hit a shot from the middle of the blueline that knuckleballed its way past Mazanec from distance with a big assist to the net-front screen set by Louis-Marc Aubry. Mazanec was moving the wrong way attempting to see around Aubry as the puck arrived and the result was Paetsch’s fourth scored this season.

In the second period Mantha added his second goal of the night to make it 3-0. Mark Zengerle passed across from the left wing to Mantha camped out above the right wing face-off circle. Mantha absolutely hammered the puck with a slap shot that went just beneath the crossbar and in to further the Griffins lead.

Only moments later it appeared that the Griffins beat Mazanec once again but the officials quickly waved off the play. Zengerle was attempting to play a loose and hopping puck with his stick but it was his leg that got all of the blunt force to knock the puck in from the right wing near post. After a quick review the official announcement was made that it was indeed a no goal. The presumed reasoning, of course, being that it was due to a distinct kicking motion on the part of Zengerle.

The third period provided a brief lapse of hope for the Admirals. As a delayed penalty was in the works a Cody Hodgson shot ripped wide of the net but fell in-line with the run of Taylor Aronson. The Ads defenseman had jumped up from the blueline, carried on to corral the puck, and deliver a wrap-around off on the left wing side of the net that beat Jared Coreau to the punch. The goal was Aronson’s fourth of the season.

The hats would rain down for Mantha after a power-play goal capped off a huge night for the Griffins winger. On a clearing attempt Mantha was able to glove a puck down, drop, step into the slot, and fire a shot past Mazanec to complete his hat trick. Mantha’s third goal of the night went down as his fifteenth of the season.

Mazanec might not have had the greatest help on the evening but, regardless, he takes the loss. He stopped 25/29 shots on goal to take his first regulation loss in net since 1/8/16 which also came, where else, in Grand Rapids.

Ramblings: Prior to tonight’s game the Nashville Predators announced that Gabriel Bourque would be assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals on a Long-Term Injury Loan. The terms of Bourque’s loan state that he cannot exceed up to either six-days time or three-games. This should mean Bourque will be with the Admirals through this weekend’s games with his inclusion in tonight’s contest. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Sissons-Åberg, White-Hodgson-Görtz, Fiala-Gaudreau-Bourque, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen, Alm-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were all considered healthy scratches: Joe Pendenza, Vladislav Kamenev, and Kristian Näkyvä.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What is it about the Grand Rapids Griffins that they do so well against the Milwaukee Admirals? Is it just a match-up issue or are the Admirals exploiting some sort of weakness against the Griffins that others can take stock of?

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