The Milwaukee Admirals recorded a 3-0 shutout against the Charlotte Checkers Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Juuse Saros picked up his second shutout of the season by stopping all twenty-six shots on goal. This comes on the heels of Marek Mazanec’s twenty-three save shutout of the Iowa Wild on Sunday to make it back-to-back shutouts. That’s the first back-to-back shutouts from the Admirals since January 9-10, 2015 when Mazanec and Magnus Hellberg did the job. Like last season, the second of those two shutouts came against the Checkers.

After what could be considered a dud of a first period for both sides the game opened up in the second period and saw the Admirals notch the opener.

Matt White caught the Checkers in a bad change which put Max Görtz behind their defense. White’s pass hit Görtz in stride and the Swede’s shot powered through Checkers goaltender Drew MacIntyre. The puck squeaked through his gear but didn’t stray too far. Fortunately Görtz followed in to push the puck behind to record his tenth goal of the season.

The Görtz-White combo linked up once again for the Admirals second goal of the second period. The Checkers goaltending has had a rough go of things coming into tonight and this goal was an example of that. White fired a wrister from behind the cage that ricocheted off of MacIntyre’s shoulder and up into the top of the net. The goal for White was his seventh of the season.

The third period saw Juuse Saros hold the fort just long enough for the Admirals to take the empty net goal and seal things off. Kevin Fiala made a crafty move to avoid a stick check before wiring a wrister into the empty cage for his tenth goal of the season.

Saros made it back-to-back shutouts for the Admirals. His game was calm and consistent throughout the night and appeared to get better later into the game. In total he stopped twenty-six shots on goal to record his second shutout of the season. The Admirals now have six shutouts between their two goaltenders on the season.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played on Sunday there were no roster moves made in the organization. Tonight’s line combinations were: White-Hodgson-Åberg, Reinhart-Sissons-Gaudreau, Fiala-Kamenev-Görtz, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Elliott, Näkyvä-Mullen, Alm-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were both healthy: Joe Pendenza and Trevor Murphy. Tonight’s attendance was 2,780. The Admirals bus for Grand Rapids officially left at 10:30 PM following the conclusion of the game.

What was your take from tonight’s game? While the Admirals offense hasn’t exactly been at its finest these last three games what can be said of their defense?

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The Milwaukee Admirals shutout the Iowa Wild 2-0 Sunday evening at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

This game was a sloppy one but the Admirals, to their credit, avoided making major mistakes. The result of that was a smooth night in net for Marek Mazanec as he stopped all twenty-three shots on goal to earn his earn his fourth shutout of the season.

“He’s sure been good,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of Marek Mazanec’s recent form. “We [the coaching staff] just talked about it upstairs. We all felt, and I’m sure his teammates felt the same way, he was just real calm.”

It feels like it has been ages since there has been a fight to report in Admirals-land. That changed tonight after a massive check by Jimmy Oligny pasted Marc Hagel into the glass. Oligny was called for boarding but was quickly called to answer the bell by Rob Bordson. The two dropped the mitts and Oligny polished off yet another member of the Wild with solid overhand shots that knocked Bordson down to the ice. For instigating the tilt Bordson’s actions, while no doubt respected by his teammates, nullified Oligny’s boarding minor.

The game’s first goal wouldn’t come until past the midway point and until video replay confirmation. Kevin Fiala blazed around the net, left wing to right wing, on a wrap-around that appeared to beat Leland Irving to the punch. Fiala celebrated like he scored it yet play kept on going. After review it was clear that Fiala knew something the powers that be didn’t. Irving was beaten on the post-to-post save attempt and it counted as a good goal – Fiala’s ninth of the season.

“I saw the puck behind the line,” laughed Kevin Fiala of his wrap-around goal that wasn’t initially ruled a goal. “That’s why I celebrated. I was sure it was in the net.”

With their backs against the wall the Wild went empty net and extra attacker on with 1:54 remaining in regulation. The Admirals would cap off things from there with an empty net tally for Max Reinhart. The goal goes down as his twelfth goal of the season.

It wasn’t his busiest game of the season but Marek Mazanec did what he needed to do to earn his fourth shutout of the season. Mazanec stopped all twenty-three shots he faced and is now on par with Juuse Saros with fifteen wins this season.

“He was really good,” said Fiala of Mazanec’s performance. “Not just tonight. He’s been very good the whole season I think. Everybody in here is happy to have both goalies. They’re really good. They’re competing against each other. We like that.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played on Friday night there were no roster moves made. Of note, Jonathan Diaby did make his return to game-action for the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) after having missed the last month’s worth of hockey due to an upper-body injury. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Sissons-Gaudreau, White-Hodgson-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Görtz, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Alm-Aronson, Oligny-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were both healthy: Joe Pendenza and Kristian Näkyvä. Tonight’s attendance was 14,075. It was the Milwaukee Admirals annual charity game and the team announced that they raised $28,108.00 tonight for the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What is it about the Wild that seems to give the Admirals so much trouble? Is this the best Marek Mazanec has played since he joined the Admirals?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won a 4-3 comeback thriller in overtime against the Rockford IceHogs Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

“We were lucky in this hockey game,” commented Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “[The Rockford IceHogs] deserved better. We talked after the first period how their second periods are good – they completely outplayed us.”

With 1:03 remaining in regulation the Admirals trailed 3-2 but were able to force overtime when Frédérick Gaudreau buried his third goal of the game to complete his hat trick. The Admirals completed the comeback with a defensive play by Cody Hodgson that sent Kevin Fiala in for a breakaway. The nineteen year old Swiss native coolly finished off the chance to give the Ads an overtime win over the division leading IceHogs.

“We were fortunate we only gave up three,” said Evason. “And we were lucky again to get the goal to tie it. Three on three – you never know what happens. We didn’t like our game past the first period at all. We have to correct it for sure.”

The Admirals were able to get on the board first thanks to a poor turnover from the IceHogs in their own zone. Nolan Velleau was trying to hit a breakout pass from behind the net and Frédérick Gaudreau picked it off and set his sights on Michael Leighton. The Admirals All-Star snapped a wrister high glove side to record his tenth goal of the season and deny Leighton his chance to set the all-time AHL record for shutouts tonight.

In the second period the IceHogs scored twice in a span of 1:55 of ice time to take a 2-1 lead. After a wrap-around chance by Pontus Åberg went for naught the IceHogs counter rush came up trumps with a shot that rang bardown by captain Jake Dowell for his eighth goal of the season. This was followed by a puck scramble in front of Marek Mazanec that ended with Mark McNeill stepping in and smacking a shot off the right wing post and in for his eleventh goal of the season.

Following Jimmy Oligny’s third minor penalty of the game the IceHogs scored on the power-play to make it three-unanswered goals in the second period. Cameron Schilling was stationed on the left point when he unloaded on a slapshot that zipped through traffic and past Mazanec for his third goal of the season.

The Admirals were able to finally ring the bell by the end of the second period and did so with another great defensive play that ended with a goal for Gaudreau. This time it was a back-checking Colton Sissons that jarred a puck loose off of Schilling who then re-entered the zone, fluttered a backhanded pass to Gaudreau, and the All-Star did the rest. It was Gaudreau’s second goal of the game and eleventh of the season.

“It’s awesome,” said Colton Sissons of Gaudreau’s level of play tonight. “We had a little chat this morning that we haven’t really had much success playing together, unfortunately, when we should be pretty dominant. And we sure turned that around tonight. It’s fun to see him score goals and do well. I’m so happy for him.”

With time running down in regulation Mazanec hit the bench with 1:03 remaining in regulation. Just twenty seconds later and the Admirals equalized with, who else, Gaudreau to notch his first career professional hat trick. Gaudreau’s twelfth goal of the season forced overtime as the final forty-seven seconds of regulation rolled off.

“You can say that he worked his butt off,” smiled Evason when asked of his thoughts on Gaudreau’s hat trick. “Freddy Gaudreau, it don’t matter where you play him. You play him left wing, you play him on the power-play, penalty kill, maybe, if not, no big deal. He’ll just go out and play. He has such a great attitude and he just keeps plugging along.”

In overtime the Admirals made yet another bit of puck luck thanks to active stick work on defense. Cody Hodgson blocked off a point shot in three-on-three overtime that sparked a two-on-one with Kevin Fiala. Hodgson lofted a pass ahead for Fiala to race in on Leighton all alone and the teenager patiently and calmly waited out the veteran goaltender to beat him as he was down and out. The goal was Fiala’s eighth scored this season.

“Everybody loves those games,” said Frédérick Gaudreau of the playoff-like atmosphere against the IceHogs. “Especially Friday night, perfect scenario, against those guys. Good rivalry. I mean, the crowd was really good.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played the only significant roster move came earlier today when defenseman Jonathan Diaby was reassigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). During the week all inactives from last weekend participated in practice including Max Reinhart who had been missing in action for two weeks due to personal reasons. Tonight’s line combinations were: Fiala-Hodgson-Åberg, Reinhart-Sissons-Gaudreau, White-Kamenev-Görtz, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Alm-Aronson, Oligny-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were both healthy: Joe Pendenza and Kristian Näkyvä. By being healthy scratched tonight Näkyvä missed his first game for the Admirals this season. Tonight’s attendance was 6,793.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Did this feel like a teaser for playoff hockey? Was this a statement game? The Admirals have been burned in consecutive games allowing rapid fire goals – what’s the problem?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, see our photos on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-1 on the road against the San Diego Gulls Saturday night at the Valley View Casino Center.

This was a far cry from the Admirals previous performance last night. It was once again played under difficult circumstances for the forward group playing a man down with defenseman Trevor Murphy acting as a left winger. He did tack on a primary assist to go with his six-point performance last night but that was it tonight. The speed of the Admirals offense was neutralized by the strength of the Gulls who took and held a lead after a stretch of three-minutes that saw them score three goals.

Scoring wouldn’t factor into this game until the second period but, when it did, it came in frantic fashion for the home-side. Kyle Bonis, Chris Mueller, and Kyle MacKinnon all scored within a span of 2:35 for the Gulls to give them a 3-0 lead. In the second period they only had five shots on goal – three of them beat Juuse Saros.

The Admirals finally gave Anton Khudobin something to think about following a slashing call against Stu Bickel. Trevor Murphy patiently waited for an opening as he passed across the mouth of goal to the left wing backdoor where Stefan Elliott was able to bury his fourth goal and fourth scored on the power-play this season.

With 2:56 remaining in regulation Antoine Laganière slashed the stick of Frédérick Gaudreau to give the Admirals a last dash chance to draw back into this contest. Saros made his way to the bench at 2:29 remaining and, not long after that, Bonis pushed the puck away into the empty net for his second goal of the game to make it a 4-1 Gulls lead.

Khudobin stopped 30/31 shots on goal tonight. There were many quality scoring chances that he needed to deny so credit the Gulls defense, especially their physicality through the neutral zone, in slowing down the Admirals tonight. Saros takes the loss in net for the Admirals. It’s his sixth loss from twenty-one starts. He stopped 20/23 shots on goal tonight as the Admirals six-game point streak came to an end.

Ramblings: For the second consecutive night the Milwaukee Admirals played without two forwards, dressed Trevor Murphy as a left winger, and started the contest down a skater. Tonight’s line combinations were: White-Sissons-Görtz, Murphy-Gaudreau-Payerl, Devane-Girard-Pendenza, Fiala-(No Forward)-Åberg, Oligny-Elliott, Näkyvä-Mullen, Alm-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Hodgson (illness), Max Reinhart (Personal Reasons), Vladislav Kamenev (lower-body), and Jonathan Diaby (upper-body). Tonight’s game saw the return of Juuse Saros in net for the Admirals after Marek Mazanec started the last four-consecutive games. The last time Saros started in net was 1/16/16 in San Antonio where he made twenty-two saves and allowed three goals en route to his fifteenth win of the season.

What’s your reaction to this game? Can you give credit the the Gulls defense tonight or were the Admirals forwards gassed after playing effectively two-men down in two-days?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 7-3 on the road against the Bakersfield Condors Friday night at the Rabobank Arena.

Make it back-to-back games for the Admirals in which they have won by a 7-3 final. Tonight’s story came from defenseman turned winger by necessity Trevor Murphy. The Admirals were without Vladislav Kamenev due to a lower-body injury and had a late-scratch tonight for Cody Hodgson due to illness. Murphy was pushed on to the left wing tonight and all he did was notch a six point game and a hat trick. Perhaps this might be the first of a few games Murphy sees action as a forward? Why not?

“It’s just all coaching,” joked Milwaukee Admirals assistant coach Stan Drulia of Trevor Murphy’s switch to forward in his post-game interview with Aaron Sims after the game on 105.7 FM The Fan. “He’s been out of the lineup. Our six [defensemen] have done a real good job. We thought that the way [Murphy] skates – the way he handles the puck that he’d be able to deliver a little bit offensively. I don’t think anybody counted he’d go three-and-three and really lead us offensively today but he played real well.”

The Admirals had some early adversity to get through with thirty-eight seconds of five-on-three penalty kill to battle through. Through the penalty kill the Admirals actually managed to create two odd-man rushes included a great near chance with Félix Girard on the five-on-three.

On the flip side of the penalty killing it would be the Conors scoring shorthanded to notch the game’s opening goal in the first period. Jujhar Khaira beat Matt White down the left wing with speed to win a footrace to the puck, held backhand on his approach to Marek Mazanec, put the Czech down and out, and lifted a backhander up and over him to record his fifth goal of the season.

As always, there is a downside to scoring a shorthanded goal which is that you’re still shorthanded on the opposite end of the goal. The Admirals scored just as Philip McRae’s hooking minor had expired when Trevor Murphy laid off a pass to the front of the net for Colton Sissons to snap a quick shot from point blank range to score his sixth goal of the season and tie the game forty-seconds after Khaira’s shorthanded goal was scored.

With 2:10 remaining in the first period Murphy continued showing well in his debut night on the wing by adding a goal to his earlier assist. Joe Pendenza battled behind the net but lost the puck as he attempted to swing in front of the net. Murphy followed in and was able to cradle the puck and rip a shot off of Laurent Brossoit on the near post that banked off of the Condors netminder and go in for Murphy’s sixth goal of the season.

It didn’t take long for the Admirals to score once the second period started up. Murphy raced down the right wing an spanked a shot far post 1:18 into the frame for his second goal of the night and seventh goal of the season. That was the end of the night in net for Condors All-Star goaltender Brossoit as he was replaced by Eetu Laurikainen after stopping 5/8 shots on goal from 21:18 of work.

Laurikainen was given a heck of a welcoming to the game from Matt White who scored what might go down as the best goal of this Admirals season. White blazed past a stationary Khaira with speed and skill before whipping a forehand shot against the grain to beat Laurikainen high blocker side. The goal for White was his sixth of the season.

Following a holding minor against Kyle Platzer the Admirals scored on the power-play for their third goal scored in the second period. Some point to point work between Taylor Aronson and Stefan Elliott ended with a one-timed howitzer for Elliott who scored his third goal of the season. Picking up a secondary assist on the play was Murphy to become the first Admiral this season to notch a four-point game.

Bakersfield finally ended the Admirals run of five-unanswered goals after a loose puck scramble in the third period. A point shot hit net-front traffic and was gathered up by Josh Currie on the backhand who deposited behind Mazanec for his fourth goal of the season to make it a 5-2 game.

Murphy’s amazing night would keep rolling forward at the forward spot as he completed his hat trick with a low wrister that blazed past Laurikainen. That made it three goals on the night and eight goals on the season for Murphy.

This was followed by a tap-in goal for Adam Payerl on a rebound to make it back-to-back games for the Admirals to score seven goals in a game. Payerl’s tally was his eighth of the season but it was that kid named Murphy getting in on the damage once again. Murphy had six points tonight – three goals and three assists. His six-point game tonight was the first by a member of the Milwaukee Admirals since Alexander Radulov scored a goal and five assists on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins back on 11/14/06.

Call it a late consolation goal or a sympathy tally but Matthew Ford managed to score from a near impossible angle to make this a 7-3 game. The Condors forward was far away from the net along the right wing wall and nearing the end of the faceoff circle when he opted to throw a puck high to the net. Mazanec ducked and the shot managed to squeak in for Ford’s eighteenth goal of the season.

The Admirals have gone 5-0-1-0 in their last six-games. With the results around the AHL tonight the team has put a small cushion between themselves and third place in the Central Division all while reeling in the division leading Rockford IceHogs – who were walloped 9-1 on home ice tonight by the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Admirals finish off their lone California road trip of the season tomorrow night against the San Diego Gulls.

“These teams out here are big strong teams,” commented Drulia of the Californian clubs the Admirals have faced this season. “They play a real heavy game. We found that out with San Diego when they were in our building. They have a real good power-play. They really rely on their special teams. So, we’re going to have to be detailed in all areas of the game, get on the bus here, and enjoy this four-hour ride we have through California and get ready to play again tomorrow.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played the Nashville Predators opted to recall forward Viktor Arvidsson from the Milwaukee Admirals and keep Kevin Fiala at the AHL level. Tonight’s line combinations included Trevor Murphy, a defenseman, playing on the wing: Fiala-Sissons-Åberg, White-Gaudreau-Görtz, Murphy-Girard-Payerl, Devane-(Rotating)-Pendenza, Oligny-Elliott, Näkyvä-Mullen, Alm-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Hodgson (illness), Vladislav Kamenev (lower-body), Jonathan Diaby (upper-body), Max Reinhart (personal). Aaron Sims made the great observation that tonight’s game in California for the Admirals was the organization’s first since 4/1/00 when they played against the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the IHL. Tonight’s Admirals win in California was their first since 12/9/95 against the San Francisco Spiders – that game ended as a 3-1 final.

Thoughts on tonight’s game for the Milwaukee Admirals? What have you thought about the offense these last two games? Will Trevor Murphy be starting to transition from defense to wing after a night like this?

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Milwaukee Admirals’ All-Stars Frédérick Gaudreau and head coach Dean Evason both came away Champions of the inaugural AHL All-Star Challenge. The Central Division All-Stars nearly swept the tournament ending the night winning three of four games. They matched-up against the Atlantic Division in the final and shut them out 4-0 to become the first ever AHL All-Star Challenge Champions.

[Editor’s Note: You can watch the full video highlights of the 2016 AHL All-Star Challenge on AHL Live right here]

In the opening contest the Pacific Division played against the North Division and immediately the new format had a heavy sigh moment. As the 4:30 time stamp was about to hit, signalling the end of four-on-four hockey to three-on-three, Mikko Rantanen sprung Brandon Montour off on a breakaway and the horn sounded before the shot was unleashed. The game stayed scoreless until 26.7 seconds remaining when Josh Leivo beat Peter Budaj for a 1-0 win.

The Admirals and friends were up next with the Central Division matching up against the Atlantic Division. Once again, the four-on-four format resulted in no goals for either team and it was left up to the the three-on-three portion to decide it. Pat Cannone scored five-hole on a breakaway to give the Central Division a lead but, after a failed empty net bid for Derek Ryan, Chris Bourque beat Michael Leighton with a bomb from the right wing with less than a second remaining. What happens when games in this format end tied such as this? They are decided in a three-round shootout. Gaudreau was the first man up for the Central Division but his shake and bake deke and turn to the backhander was stopped by Mike McKenna. The lone shootout goal scored came from the man who put the Central Division out in regulation, Cannone, who buried a snapshot off the post and in for a 2-1 shootout win.

After a small break the two winning teams of the opening games squared off. The Central Division popped in two goals from four-on-four play. Cannone scored a beauty of a backhander on a breakaway that slid through the five hole of Yann Danis. The bad times kept going for Danis, as well.. After a big save by Eric Comrie down at the other end of the rink Danis let in what appeared to be a misplayed pass by Jake Dowell and it rolled in through his legs to make it 2-0 through the first half. Dowell would open up three-on-three play with a two-on-naught breakaway and scored a hard wrister through the wickets of Kristers Gudlevskis to make it a 3-0 Central Division lead. This would be followed by two rapid fire goals for the North Division. Leivo whipped a wrister off the near post and in. Then Matt Taormina passed off to Mike McCarron and he scored to make it 3-2. The game would be polished off by a brilliant empty netter by Ryan Hartman. He banked a shot off the boards in neutral ice that perfectly angled in to the empty net to give the Central Division a 4-2 win.

The following game between the Atlantic Division and Pacific Division started quickly with a wing-to-wing goal finished off by Alan Quine. Then Seth Griffith was racing in on an odd man rush, skated right wing while looking left wing the whole way in on goal, and snapped a shot top shelf to give the Atlantic a 2-0 lead through the four-on-four segment. Anthony Stolarz put on a show in net during the three-on-three but would eventually get beaten on a slap shot by Sean Backman to set up an empty net frenzy that would go begging for the Pacific Division. The Atlantic Division would survive with a 2-1 win.

The loss for the Pacific Division meant the follow-up game wouldn’t do much for them. They were eliminated from the Final. That didn’t stop them from pounding the unbeaten and Final bound Central Division 3-1 in the four-on-four portion of their game. Derek Grant scored twelve-seconds into the game. Xavier Ouellet was able to level things at 1-1 with a nasty backhand-forehand breakaway finish. Nick Ritchie slid a puck undearneath Comrie to give the Pacific Division their lead back and, after Dowell rang iron on a breakaway, Rantenen scored a sick backhander to make it 3-1. With three-on-three play opening up ice T.J. Tynan tagged the left wing rush of Jeff Hoggan to make it 3-2 nine-seconds into the pond hockey frame. Ritchie would respond to that by adding his second of the game from a left wing breakaway finishing with a backhander that went five hole on Comrie. The punches kept coming as André Benoît scored a hard wrister through the legs of Budaj. And, with 27.1 seconds remaining, Dowell scored to level the game at 4-4 just as Comrie made it to the bench for the extra attacker. Sadly, the Central Division would be handed its only loss of the round-robin tournament as Grant scored Pavel Datsyuk-style with 3.7 seconds to go to end the game at a 5-4 Pacific Division final.

The game to decide who would play the Central Division in the Final was next, the North Divison against the Atlantic Division. This contest was pretty much all Atlantic Division as Rob Schremp and Bourque scored quickly to make it a 2-0 lead. A brilliant play by Mike Angelidis allowed for a feed to be delivered to the tape of Mike Sislo to get the North on the board. That would be it though. Quine added another and Schremp would score an empty netter to put the Atlantic Division into the Final after a 4-1 win.

The Final of the 2016 AHL All-Star Challenge was all Central Division all day and all night. Leighton, who had just tied the AHL’s all-time record for career shutouts, pitched a shutout in the Final as the team in front of him scored four goals to crown the Central Division as the first ever AHL All-Star Challenge Champions.

Gaudreau was a trigger man on three of the four goals in the Final. He was the tic of a tic-tac-toe goal between himself, Benoît, and Hoggan. Gaudreau then had a primary assist on a crafty goal for the man that would be named the AHL All-Star MVP, Cannone. Ryan of the Charlotte Checkers scored a phenomenal pull back wrister near post and under the crossbar. And the Gaudreau was able to assist on the empty netter by Ouellet that finished the AHL All-Star Challenge at a 4-0 final.

What did you think of the brand new AHL All-Star Challenge format? Do you think it would be easier if the AHL just adapted what the NHL showcased yesterday or is it fun to have two different All-Star formats such as this?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 7-3 against the Grand Rapids Griffins Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

This game was highlighted by a massive second period that saw an offensive explosion by the Admirals end the night in net for Griffins goaltender Jared Coreau early and the two sides combining for eight goals. The loss for the Griffins was their fifth straight defeat and all of them have come in regulation.

“It was obviously a good game for us,” commented Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “We weren’t real happy with the three-goals that we gave. We talked to the group about our skill level allowed us to score as many goals as we scored but our structure wasn’t good. We literally gave them three-goals. That was disappointing but we thought the third period was real good. They did a good job in all areas in order to have success there in the end.”

Perhaps the schedule breakdown for these two teams contributed to the way the first period played out. The Admirals haven’t played in over a week’s time. The Griffins were fresh off of a 4-2 loss last night in Grand Rapids against the AHL’s best team the Toronto Marlies. The Admirals came out of the gate with incredible speed and immediately yielded results.

After a Stefan Elliot shot was blockered aside by Jared Coreau the puck fell off to the left wing wall where Jimmy Oligny cradled a long range wrister that zipped through traffic and in. Coreau’s view of the show was masked the net front presence of Colton Sissons and Jakub Kindl. The goal was Oligny’s third of the season.

The second period will probably go down as the night all the luck Coreau had going for him in net against the Admirals finally went away. The Admirals buried three goals against the Griffins netminder in the span of 3:17 of the sandwich stanza to put a close to his outing in net.

Kristian Näkyvä labeled a wrister from the left point to the net that Pontus Åberg was able to get a stick to en route to scoring his thirteenth goal of the season. Viktor Arvidsson followed that up forty-two seconds later with a wrister that snuck through Coreau for his eighth goal of the season. 2:35 after the second Swede of the second period scored Cody Hodgson was on the end of two great outlet passes that sent him in on a two-on-one breakaway. Taylor Aronson passed off to Kevin Fiala who hit Hodgson up ice. Hodgson unloaded a howitzer of a slap shot over the glove and bardown to record his second goal with the Admirals this season.

“[Cody Hodgson] has been unbelievable,” praised Evason. “I don’t know what’s said of him what’s talked about him as a player in Nashville or the NHL. He has been a leader. He has been great offensively. He has done all the right things defensively. He has done everything off the ice correctly. We love him here. I don’t think he’s going to be here long. People are going to see what he’s doing here. He’s just been a pleasure.”

Coreau’s night ended after that frantic opening to the second period and last night’s starter for the Griffins, Tom McCollum, entered the fray. After the Griffins got off the mark with a slap shot tally for Louis-Marc Aubry – the new goaltender was given a rude welcoming to the contest by Mr. Fiala. The Swiss teenager was able to beat the very cold McCollum with speed on a wrap-around effort and the Griffins post-to-post save attempt was far too late. The goal for Fiala was his seventh goal of the season.

The wackiness of the second period would not be left alone there. The Griffins would respond through a defensive zone turnover to creep back into the Admirals lead. Aronson threw a puck blindly out of the right-wing pocket in the Admirals defensive zone and Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan took the feed first time to score his fifth goal of the season and make it a 5-2 Admirals lead.

Then came a huge opportunity for the Griffins to claw back even further. Stefan Elliott and Félix Girard were both in the box and the Griffins had 1:54 of five-on-three power-play time to work with. The Admirals penalty kill survived and, as Girard exited the box, caught an outlet pass and managed to dish off to the front of the net where Joe Pendenza crashed through to earn his third goal of the season.

“Our penalty kill has been real good,” said Evason. “It starts with your goaltender. [Marek Mazanec] was real sharp, again. We were blocking shots. Our sticks were in good lanes. We were committed.”

The last goal scored of the second period would come once more on the tape of Griffins center Aubry’s stick. A crafty piece of puck control had Aubry dodging a sprawling poke check by Johan Alm and lifting up a wrister into the top shelf on the near-side post to Mazanec’s glove side. It was Aubry’s second goal of the second period and eighth scored on the season. In total, the Admirals and Griffins combined for eight goals in the sandwich stanza.

In the third period the pace and scoring rate was far more relaxed. It wasn’t until the closing minutes of the game when Jamie Devane took a great pass from Pendenza to polish off his fourth goal of the season popping a puck through McCollum from the slot to make it a 7-3 Admirals lead.

“[The Grand Rapids Griffins] are a good team,” said Evason. “They’re a real good team that play fast, play hard, put a lot of pressure on you. We liked our energy tonight and clearly we caught a team that played last night. We had the week off. So our start was real good. I don’t think that was their best game but we certainly respect and have a lot of difficult time with their group -but- if we play like the way we played, for the most part here tonight, we’ll have a shot at success in any game.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played one week ago there were two roster moves made. Matt Leinter was released from his PTO contract and returned to the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL). Kevin Fiala was reassigned to the Admirals from the Nashville Predators and is expected to be recalled Tuesday once the NHL All-Star break comes to an end. Tonight’s line combinations were: Arvidsson-Sissons-Görtz, Fiala-Hodgson-Åberg, White-Gaudreau-Payerl, Devane-Girard-Pendenza, Oligny-Eilliott, Näkyvä-Mullen, Alm-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were: Max Reinhart (personal reasons), Vladislav Kamenev (lower-body), Jonathan Diaby (upper-body), and Trevor Murphy (upper-body). Jamie Devane wore the extra “A” patch as Max Reinhart wasn’t on-hand tonight for the Admirals. Tonight’s attendance was 11,096.

Was this the best performance by the Milwaukee Admirals this season? How badly did the Admirals need a win like this to shove back against the Griffins this season?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won a 1-0 shutout on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Saturday afternoon at the Quicken Loans Arena.

This contest was by no means a thrill ride as both defenses really clogged scoring chances up today. The Admirals got all they needed thanks to some of that clogged up traffic being eased with a power-play and a goal from Stefan Elliott. The rest came down to defending properly and allowing Marek Mazanec to shine once again. The Czech stopped all nineteen shots he faced this afternoon to record his third shutout of the season. Those three shutouts have all come in his last seven starts.

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours defenseman Stefan Elliott had himself a power-play goal in the building he used to call home. The power-play chance came in the second period after the Monsters were finally whistled down for having too many men on the ice – something that was a serious point of contention with last night’s overtime game-winner on the Admirals side of things. With the power-play chance Taylor Aronson went point-to-point with Elliot before receiving a pass back and setting up his fellow defenseman with a feed into the wheelhouse for bomb of a one-timed slap shot. The puck ricocheted off almost every post and in to give Elliott his second goal of the season and fourth point in three-games since joining the Admirals roster.

In net, Mazanec wasn’t quite as tested as he was yesterday but a load of credit should be given to the defensive effort in front of him. The defensemen and forwards all did an outstanding job minimizing quality scoring chances for the Monsters and those that came through found an incredibly in-form Mazanec who denied every shot he faced today. He really was tremendous in net this weekend in Lake Erie.

The Admirals win pushes their record to 26-13-3-0 (55 points). There are still plenty of games to be played today but the Admirals should end the weekend in a comfortable spot as their 0.655 points percentage through forty-two games played really is solid. The team will continue to rest up, heal up, and return to game action back in Milwaukee this coming Saturday against the Grand Rapids Griffins before the AHL All-Star break begins.

Ramblings: Following last night’s game the Milwaukee Admirals signed forward Matt Leitner of the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) to a PTO contract. Today’s line combinations were: Hodgson-Sissons-Gaudreau, Åberg-Reinhart-Görtz, White-Leitner-Payerl, Devane-Girard-Pendenza, Oligny-Elliott, Näkyvä-Mullen, Alm-Aronson. Today’s scratches were: Viktor Arvidsson (undisclosed injury), Vladislav Kamenev (lower-body injury), Jonathan Diaby (undisclosed injury), and Trevor Murphy (undisclosed injury – but did participate in pre-game skate).

Thoughts on today’s game? I know it isn’t as flashy as last weekend but how great has this retooled Milwaukee Admirals defense looked since it has formed? Is this current run for Marek Mazanec the best he has ever played?

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The Milwaukee Admirals lost 2-1 in overtime on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Friday night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Despite a phenomenal effort in net by Marek Mazanec tonight it was the home team getting just enough of the offensive game rolling to snag an equalizer in the dying seconds of the second period and the winner in overtime. The Admirals will claim a point with the overtime loss but, if the offense was able to replicate more of what was on display last weekend, it should have been a much better result than that.

In the first period that high octane Admirals power-play kept delivering the goods and did so with a returning face. Vladislav Kamenev was swooping around the net on his backhand when he dished off a feed to the left wing faceoff circle where Stefan Elliott was on-hand to smack a puck over the left shoulder of Brad Thiessen for his first goal as a member of the Admirals. This was Elliott’s first game back at his old barn playing against the Monsters after having played 199 games under the Colorado Avalanche’s banner prior to this season.

The second period was pretty much all Lake Erie. This put a spotlight firmly on Marek Mazanec in net. As it proved, that was a pretty darn good thing because he made an astonishing save to rob Nick Moutrey from point blank range. Mazanec made the initial save off his wrist, the puck floated up and over his head, and he made a no-look backhanded save with the glove. What is it about highlight reel saves between these two teams in Cleveland? Last season Calvin Pickard made SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays robbing Kevin Fiala and now this effort by Mazanec against Moutrey.

Sadly, after several missed chances of their own doing, the Monsters did get a good bounce to go their way. A point shot off net front traffic spring-loaded into the left wing circle where defenseman Steve Eminger raced from the blueline and tagged the loose puck for his first goal in his first game played this the season.

This game would end up marching through the third period and into overtime. The very first shot on goal of the overtime period wouldn’t be registered until 3:54 of the frame. That shot would come off a two-on-one from close range with Markus Hännikäinen feeding over to Michael Chaput whose shot went crossbar and down. The puck appeared to cross the line on the initial effort but, just to make sure, Chaput did push it back across long before anyone made an attempt to clear the goal line. Whether it be the initial shot or the follow up that was the overtime game-winner and Chaput’s ninth goal of the season.

The tough luck loss goes to Mazanec who was certainly the best player on the ice in tonight’s game. He stopped 21/23 shots on goal and did his part to see the Admirals at the very least take a point from this contest. Without plenty of his efforts this game could have very easily ended as a regulation defeat. In this new points percentage era for the AHL every single point earned is huge. So, slight tip of the cap on the man between the pipes for getting that much done tonight.

Of note, Kamenev left the game during the second period with Admirals head athletic trainer Doug Agnew and never returned. It felt like the Admirals attacking game went a bit flat after Kamenev left the action. There weren’t many high quality scoring chances to speak of but the Admirals did have two more power-plays during his absence. His presence on the Admirals power-play was on display in the opening goal for Elliott. Losing him on the power-play and thinning out the forwards group appeared to be a real buzzkill.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played there were shockingly zero roster moves that took place in a week’s time. How lovely is that? Tonight’s line combinations were: Hodgson-Sissons- Görtz, Åberg-Kamenev-Gaudreau, White-Reinhart-Payerl, Devane-Girard-Pendenza, Oligny-Elliott, Näkyvä-Mullen, Alm-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals featured players all out with undisclosed injuries: Viktor Arvidsson, Jonathan Diaby, Trevor Murphy.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Where did all that high speed offense that was on display last weekend for the Milwaukee Admirals? Was the loss of Vladislav Kamenev in this game an immediate downfall for the Admirals?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 6-3 on the road against the San Antonio Rampage Saturday night at the AT&T Center.

A dominant opening period by the Admirals overwhelmed the Rampage and set the stage for a whooping. This weekend set in San Antonio was well needed for the Admirals and to cap it off Pontus Åberg recorded the second hat trick for the team this season.

It was very apparent last night that the Admirals speed advantage left the Rampage chasing for much of the contest. Tonight, the Admirals only really needed the first period to lay down their authority. Last night’s game ended 3-0. Tonight’s first period ended 4-0.

The Admirals opening goal came less than two-minutes into the game when Matt White smacked home his fifth goal of the season after a great fake slap shot turned pass by Max Görtz set him up. This was followed up with a howitzer of a one-timed shot by Pontus Åberg on the Admirals first power-play opportunity of the night to push their lead out to 2-0. The man to dish up the one-timer to Åberg was Stefan Elliott who made his Milwaukee Admirals debut tonight.

Vladislav Kamenev’s return to the North American ice has looked great and that carried into his second game since rejoining the Admirals lineup from the 2016 IIHF World Juniors. The Russian recorded his second goal in as many games to give the Admirals a 3-0 lead from his eight goal of the season. This goal ended the night in net for Rampage goaltender Spencer Martin who stopped 3/6 shots on goal from 12:41 of ice time.

With Martin out the Rampage looked to lean on last night’s starter Roman Will. Yet, another Admirals power-play meant Will’s introduction was a bit of a harsh one. Just as Sam Henley was exiting the box after having served his roughing minor the Admirals lit up Will to make it a 4-0 game at 17:24 of the first period. Max Reinhart made an incredible backhanded pass from his knees to pick out Åberg in the slot to score his second goal of the frame.

In the second period the Admirals made good on yet another power-play opportunity. Cody Hodgson delivered a hard shot to the net and received a deflection from the net-front presence of Colton Sissons. The goal for the Admirals captain was his sixth of the season.

Sadly, the weekend shutout bid for the Admirals came to an end after a successful power-play from the Rampage. Maxim Noreau was able to cheat up from the blueline and into the slot to get a puck past Juuse Saros and score his sixth goal of the season. It was the first goal allowed by the Admirals in 90:37 of ice time.

As the second period was ending Trevor Murphy and Colin Smith came together around the penalty box area and decided it would be a good time to start a fight. In a season series that has already seen Jamie Devane knock Daniel Maggio out cold this is yet another fight that saw an Admiral combatant win big. Both had lost their helmets in the initial exchanges but it was Murphy that uncorked two solid rights that cut open the left side of Smith’s face and ended the tilt clean. TKO win for Murphy. No need to go to the fight cards at all.

The third period saw Åberg complete his hat trick after a wicked wrister whistled over the shoulder of Will to push the Admirals lead back up to five-goals. The goal was Åberg’s now team leading twelfth of the season. He is the second member of the Admirals to notch a hat trick this season. Reinhart had the first back on 12/21/15 against the Rockford IceHogs. Both hat tricks were scored on the road.

The Rampage did make a push in the third period which resulted in a pair of goals. Michael Schumacher finished off a strong shift to score his sixth goal of the season. That was followed up seven minutes later by a redirected goal by the newly stitched up Smith for his twelfth goal of the season.

Despite that last goal by the Rampage making it a three-goal game with 3:22 remaining in regulation there was no empty net and extra attacker push made by the home team. The game would spiral down to the final horn and provide the Admirals with a solid and decisive weekend sweep in San Antonio.

Ramblings: Tonight’s line combinations for the Milwaukee Admirals were: Arvidsson-Sissons-Hodgson, Åberg-Kamenev-Gaudreau, White-Reinhard-Görtz, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Elliott, Näkyvä-Mullen, Murphy-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were: Joe Pendenza (healthy), Johan Alm (healthy), Jonathan Diaby (undisclosed injury). Tonight wasn’t just Stefan Elliott’s Admirals debut it was his 200th career AHL game.

Here is the most obvious question that I can come up from after these last two games in San Antonio. Were the Admirals that good or were the Rampage that bad? How do you like the new look Admirals defense with a clean split of three-pairings that have a left and a right shot?

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