The Milwaukee Admirals won 6-2 on the road against the Rockford IceHogs Monday night at the BMO Harris Bank Center.

This was about as wild of a way to head into the Christmas break as I could have imagined for the Admirals. After leading 4-0 through two periods of play the IceHogs mounted a strong comeback push in the third period and fired nineteen shots on goal in the frame. The closing heroics to seal the game off came from Max Reinhart who scored twice from the same penalty kill to earn a hat trick performance tonight on the road.

This game got off to a particularly nasty start as Ryan Hartman clocked Trevor Murphy from behind with an illegal check to the head four-minutes into the contest. Murphy was stationed in what would be the IceHogs right wing pocket along the end-boards when Hartman zeroed in with a follow-through check to the back of Murphy’s head. The play was whistled down. Jimmy Oligny went after Hartman, but no fight actually would manifest itself, and Murphy stayed down for a while before being helped to the Admirals locker room. Hartman was tasked with making his trip to the IceHogs locker room before Murphy got up and was given a match penalty (AHL Rule 48.5).

The Admirals cashed in only once from the five-minute power-play and did so forty-five seconds into the major power-play chance. Frédérick Gaudreau was able to free himself up and find a pocket of space directly in the slot and Max Görtz delivered a perfect feed from the left wing for the quick redirect. The goal for Gaudreau was his eighth of the season. It was also his fifth goal scored on the power-play which is one-better than all goals scored by him as an Admiral in the 2014-15 season.

Midway through the second period the game, and good fortune, all appeared to open up for the Admirals. Just as a high sticking penalty against Ryan Haggerty expired the Admirals scored six-seconds after their power-play chance expired. Matt White delivered a hard shot pass to the front of the net where Max Reinhart put a stick blade to it for the redirect past Mark Visentin to follow in Gaudreau’s footsteps with his eighth goal of the season.

A little over three-minute later the IceHogs were caught in a bad change, with the defense scrambling, when Zac Larraza tallied his second goal in as many games. Félix Girard, from the right wing, was able to pick out Larraza as he streaked in down the slot unmarked. It was a strong wrister labeled for the top shelf that Visentin didn’t have a chance to stop. Though you couldn’t pin much blame on any of the goals against on him it was this play that would end the night in net for Visentin as the IceHogs brought in Michael Leighton to replace him.

The second period for the IceHogs could probably be best summed up by one play. Daniel Paille was able to win a foot race down the right wing and fire a shot past Marek Mazanec and off the crossbar. The puck flew forward and the Admirals were set for a counter attack that ended with traffic clouding the sight of Leighton and a Taylor Aronson bomb from the right point that whistled through everyone to hit twine for his third goal of the season.

It was 4-0 Admirals when a former face decided enough was enough. Mike Liambas found himself a dance partner in the form of Jamie Devane and the two traded heavy uppercut after heavy uppercut on one another. Many missed. Many landed to the body. Some caught the head. I call this bout a majority draw.

The IceHogs came out of the second intermission with a good amount of purpose and the heat they were delivering paid off. Garret Ross was able to cradle a puck from behind the net out in front of Mazanec and Jeremy Morin pushed the loose puck past for his ninth goal of the season. He has now scored a goal in four straight games.

Pressure from the IceHogs would keep getting poured on as the third period stormed ahead. Even on an Admirals power-play they were pressing forward. Driving down the right wing on a shorthanded rush, Vince Hinostroza was able to battle through a check and pop a shot up and over the glove of Mazanec to score his second goal of the season and the IceHogs’ seventh shorthanded goal of the season.

The shorthanded goals wouldn’t stop there, either. Reinhart would record two shorthanded goals from the same penalty kill to notch his first career hat trick as a professional hockey player.

With 4:15 remaining in regulation, trailing the Admirals 4-2, the IceHogs pulled Leighton to bring on an extra attacker and have a six against four advantage when Victor Bartley in the box for a delay of game penalty when he pushed the Admirals net loose during an extended Rockford attack. Girard would hit post from a long range empty net bid. Then, a touch later, Reinhart would scoot in all alone along the left wing to glide the puck into the empty net. The IceHogs firmly believed that the puck cleared into the Admirals bench area before re-entering the playing surface. After a long delay the officials allowed the goal to stand.

Leighton was put back in the net but, before you knew it, he and Reinhart were squared up on a shorthanded breakaway. Reinhart swooped from the left wing into the slot before cutting back to his left for a forehand shot. Leighton got his right toe to make an initial stop by Reinhart batted it free and picked up two shorthanded goals from the same penalty kill, his third goal of the same to complete the hat trick, and now has a team leading ten goals on the season. To boot, the Admirals now have an AHL best eight shorthanded goals scored this season. They recorded five shorthanded goals all of last season.

Ramblings: No moves happened within the Nashville Predators system before the NHL Roster Freeze took place. Tonight’s Line Combinations: Fiala-Gaudreau-Görtz, Åberg-Reinhart-Payerl, Larraza-Girard-White, Devane-Pendenza-Saponari, Näkyvä-Aronson, Bartley-Granberg, Murphy-Oligny. Tonight’s Scratches: Cody Bass (upper-body), Conor Allen (upper-body), and Johan Alm (healthy). Former Admiral Mike Liambas made his return to game-action tonight for the Rockford IceHogs after a long layoff due to a lower-body injury. It was his first ever time playing against the Admirals. The hat trick by Max Reinhart is the first by an Admiral this season and first since Viktor Stålberg (3/6/15 vs. Grand Rapids). The last time an Admiral scored two shorthanded goals in one-game was Cal O’Reilly (10/24/07 vs. Quad City) and the last time the Admirals scored two shorthanded goals in a road game was way back on 11/24/01 @ Chicago (Marian Cisar and Bill Bowler).

So, this game happened! Thoughts? Despite a fairly well played second period why did the Admirals fail to get back into the game in the third period? Do the mistakes of the last two games despite the wins worry you at all?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 7-5 against the Manitoba Moose Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

This game had just about everything but a fight and proper defense. It was incredible to watch unfold as a spectator but intense as it gets to be calling the shots as a coach behind the bench. For all the incredible momentum shifts that happened the Admirals scored the game-winner with 32.8 seconds remaining in regulation. It might not have been the best bounce back game from last night but the Admirals will take the win.

“Crazy game,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “Frustrating at some points that we weren’t doing the right things but it’s just one of those games.”

The Admirals were able to score the opener tonight and it only took them 1:01 of ice time to do it. After collecting a loose puck in his defensive zone, Kevin Fiala lead a three-on-two rush into the attacking zone down the left wing and tagged Max Görtz on the opposite wing for a quick-strike goal. The tally for Görtz was his fourth of the season.

An unfortunate moment that occurred last night was replicated again tonight. The Rockford IceHogs scored twice in nine-seconds to go from trailing 1-0 to leading 2-1 last night. While not as fast, the Moose scored twice in the span of 1:20 to accomplish the same feat.

The first Moose goal seemed harmless enough when the shot was winding up. Chase De Leo was loading up on a wrister from the right wing faceoff dot and his shot surprised Juuse Saros near-post and high glove side for De Leo’s fifth goal of the season.

A mere 1:20 of ice time later, a defensive breakdown lead to a tap-in goal to give the Moose a 2-1 first period lead. Taylor Aronson was matched up one-on-one with Scott Kosmachuk and the Manitoba forward was carving around the right wing pocket and pulling Aronson further away from the slot. No forwards from the Admirals filled the negative space that was forming but Ryan Olsen scooted in and presented himself as a prime target for Kosmachuk to tee up. He did, and it was an easy finish for Olsen’s fourth goal of the season.

It wasn’t until three-minutes into the second period when the game saw a penalty called. After Andrew MacWilliam played Zac Larraza instead of the puck on zone entry he was sat down for two-minutes on an interference minor. This set the stage for your prototypical Swedish one-timed bomb from the left wing circle. Aronson at the point. Görtz on the left wing circle. Ker-blammo. And Görtz scored his second of the night and fifth of the season.

The rapid fire goals were given a new twist in the second period. The Admirals were able to score shorthanded through Félix Girard’s third goal of the season. He led a two-on-one rush down the left wing and snapped a shot against the grain before Eric Comrie’s glove hand knew whether to go up or down.

What is the downside of scoring a shorthanded goal? You’re still shorthanded when the puck gets dropped after scoring. Just twenty-three seconds after Girard’s shorthander and the Moose had themselves a power-play goal. It was an unconventional tic-tac-toe goal. Nic Petan’s wing-to-wing feed hit Olsen flush for a low shot that Saros fended off but allowed for an easy rebounder to be scored by Austen Brassard for his

The second period scoring frenzy would keep motoring along and pick up someone not generally known for goal scoring. Matt White beat Peter Stoykewych at the blue line, gained the attacking zone, and was squaring up Comrie down the right wing for a low shot. The puck kicked off Comrie’s pads, past Zac Larraza,and into the oncoming path of Jimmy Oligny who outwaited the Moose goaltender before depositing a backhander into the net for his second goal of the season.

Nearing the midway point in the third period the Moose found an equalizing goal to make it a 4-4 game. A puck skipped up on Saros who did well to battle it off as far as he could. That unfortunately wasn’t far at all. De Leo had the rebound, spin around on the forehand, and caught Saros as he was in recovery mode with a shot that went through the wickets for his second goal of the night and sixth of the season.

When Kristian Näkyvä signed on to join the organization in the off-season he did so with a reputation for delivering offense from the blueline. Thus far, that reputation hasn’t been showcased in Milwaukee and he’s often had ups and downs defensively. Tonight he can rest his head knowing he scored his first career North American goal. Fiala passed back up ice from the low right wing to Näkyvä at the point who hammered a slap shot. Stoykewych heavily screened his own netminder and Comrie never saw the shot taken.

“It was a long time to wait for that,” smiled Kristian Näkyvä. “It was nice to have that for Christmas.”

The scoring in this game seemingly wouldn’t stop and the momentum shifts kept bucking like bonkers. With under five-minutes to play De Leo grabbed his hat trick to equalize the game at 5-5. Petan was able to made a wide reaching backhanded pass from behind the Admirals net that went to De Leo in the high slot. He fired past the net-front screen of Joe Pendenza and beat Saros high blocker side for his third goal of the night and seventh of the season.

“Not the ideal game and obviously not the best of games for me,” said Juuse Saros post-game. “A lot of different situations. Of course I wanted to save a couple of those but that’s hockey. Got to learn from those and get better.”

Considering all the goal scoring that was taking place in this game it wasn’t even a sure bet that this game was heading to overtime as the call for one-minute remaining rang around the building. That would be the case. Adam Payerl whipped a beautiful pass from deep in the right wing while battling off MacWilliam and found a wide open Pontus Åberg on the backdoor of Comrie to score a goal with 32.8 seconds remaining in regulation. The goal for Åberg was his eighth of the season.

Directly following Åberg’s goal the Moose made up their mind to go empty net and extra attacker on the faceoff. Girard would get the tie-up and the newbie Larraza stepped in and threw the puck all the way down and into the empty net to record his first career AHL goal and polish the game off at a wild 7-5 scoreline.

“We did like the way that we stuck together,” commented Evason. “We talked about being a team after last night’s game. As you guys know, we talked about going on our own page a little bit last night. Tonight we didn’t. Tonight we stuck together. Although there were some breakdowns, clearly, to allow that many goals against – there was good stuff to get the opportunity to have success.”

Ramblings: There were no roster moves made between last night’s game and tonight’s contest. It is worth noting that the Holiday Break Roster Freeze comes into effect at midnight tonight. What does that mean? It means for all players on an active NHL roster, injured reserve, or with a non-roster status as of midnight tonight will be locked in place until midnight of December 27th with respect to waivers, trades and loans, subject to the exceptions provided for in CBA Article 16.5 (d). Tonight’s line combinations were exactly the same as last night: Fiala-Gaudreau-Görtz, Åberg-Reinhart-Payerl, Larraza-Girard-White, Devane-Pendenza-Saponari, Bartley-Granberg, Näkyvä-Aronson, Murphy-Oligny. Scratches tonight were: Cody Bass (upper-body), Conor Allen (upper-body), and Johan Alm (healthy). Bass has now missed the Admirals last eight games. Allen has missed the last six-games. Alm has been a healthy scratch the last four-games but did participate in pre-game skate ahead of tonight’s game.

What do you take away from a game like this? Did the Milwaukee Admirals regroup as a team in the space of twenty-four hours? Is the Admirals’ defense concerning? Are the Manitoba Moose playing up to the Admirals level or are the Admirals playing down to the Moose’s level?

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The Milwaukee Admirals lost 6-2 against the Rockford IceHogs Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

This game had a promising start but it all fell apart following a Kevin Fiala goal in the opening minute of the second period. The IceHogs scored four unanswered goals and never looked back.

“Our team game wasn’t good enough,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “It was one of the rare times that we weren’t a team. We were off on our own page. We tried to do some things individually that make no sense. Who has ever been here this year, in and out of the line up, from Nashville, from Cincinnati, from somewhere else – we’ve played as a team. Tonight we played as individuals.”

Despite a lack of goal scoring in the first period it was a highly entertaining frame to watch. The pace was quick and favored the Admirals through the first ten minutes. It wasn’t until a pair of successful penalty kills by the IceHogs that the Admirals started to slow down. The highlight of the first period would come in the closing minutes when IceHogs defenseman Erik Gustafsson was given a ten-minute misconduct for shooting a puck away from an official.

Within the opening minute of the second period the game finally received its first goal. Kevin Fiala was measuring up Ville Pokka as he glided down into the left wing circle. Fiala waited, waited, and waited some more to leave Pokka scrambling. Fiala snapped a wrister against the grain, high glove side of Michael Leighton, bar down, to score his fourth goal of the season.

Unfortunately, the rest of the second period went downhill from there. In the space of nine-seconds the pairing of Pierre-Cédric Labrie and Vinnie Hinostroza set each other up for goals to go one-up on the Admirals.

Hinostroza fired a shot from the right wing circle that Marek Mazanec fought off with his glove and chest. Labrie split through the Admirals defense, was fullbacking the Hinostroza shot, and was able to secure the rebound and score underneath Mazanec to score his sixth goal of the season.

Perhaps the Admirals were in a dazed state but, regardless, it only took the IceHogs nine-seconds to score once again. After a bad bounce off a linesman’s skate it triggered an oddman rush with no one in place to recover. This go-round it was Labrie being able to set up Hinostroza from a wing-to-wing feed with Admirals defenders in tow. Mazanec wasn’t able to make the post-to-post save. And Hinostroza picked up his first career goal as a professional hockey player.

Then came a very scary moment in the second period that left everyone on the ice in silence. Victor Bartley wound up to deliver a slap shot from the left point but the puck went flying up and off the head of Ryan Hartman. The sound the puck made as it hit was as loud as the sound of the slap shot. Hopefully the mask or visor took the full brunt of the blow but the damage was still felt. Hartman went down, attempted to get to the bench on his own, and then dropped. The IceHogs head athletic trainer came out on the ice and Hartman would eventually be helped off by Labrie and Viktor Svedberg.

A late second period scrum, that saw only Adam Payerl get called for roughing, would lead to an IceHogs power-play goal. Gustafsson’s shot from the center point took a deflection off the stick of Marko Dano to beat Mazanec and make it a 3-1 game. The goal was Dano’s second of the season and first point of offense sense being returned to the AHL from the Chicago Blackhawks.

The third period started with a thunderous sigh for the Admirals. Labrie scored his second goal of the game to make it a 4-1 IceHogs lead. His shot was from a long way out, atop the right wing faceoff circle, and managed to beat the glove hand of Mazanec.

Fortunately for the Admirals they would respond to Labrie’s seventh goal of the season with a tally of their own 1:04 later. As the IceHogs were trying to rim a puck around the boards and out of their defensive zone – Trevor Murphy unloaded on a slap shot and received a kind bounce off of Garret Ross’ left leg and threw off the timing of Leighton’s glove hand for Murphy’s fifth goal of the season.

For all the power-plays the Admirals were picking up in the third period they couldn’t get anything going from them. The best chance came from a Max Görtz slap shot off the left point, which broke his stick, that hit Frédérick Gaudreau low right wing to the side of the net. Gaudreau had all of the net to bank the shot into but the puck went clean across the goal mouth behind Leighton.

Directly off of the Gaudreau miss the IceHogs stormed down the ice and scored shorthanded. Tanner Kero slid down the right wing, picked out the trailer on the play Mark McNeill, and NcNeill smoked a wrister past Mazanec for his fourth goal of the season.

The damage wouldn’t end there. While still on the power-play, and 3:36 left in regulation, the Admirals brought Mazanec to the bench to get an extra attacker on the ice and go for broke. Jeremy Morin would tuck away an empty netter to pick up his seventh goal of the season and secure a rough defeat for the Admirals on home ice.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Tuesday they released Zach Budish from his PTO contract and signed Zac Larraza to a PTO contract from the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL). Larraza was teammates with Matt White in Manchester this season and the two played on a line together tonight as members of the Admirals. Budish returned to the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). Vladislav Kamenev left the Admirals to join Team Russia in Finland for the upcoming 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships. Tonight’s Line Combinations: Fiala-Gaudreau-Görtz, Åberg-Reinhart-Payerl, Larraza-Girard-White, Devane-Pendenza-Saponari, Bartley-Granberg, Näkyvä-Aronson, Murphy-Oligny. Tonight’s scratches: Cody Bass (upper-body), Conor Allen (upper-body), and Johan Alm (healthy). All three players scratched tonight aren’t expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow.

Reaction on this game? For how solid the Milwaukee Admirals started this game where did it all slip away from them? Can all be forgotten overnight with a quick turnaround game against the Manitoba Moose?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 2-1 against the Chicago Wolves Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

It’s now three wins from the last three games for the Admirals in the Amtrak Rivalry with the Wolves. This contest was a scrappy and defensive affair with limited opportunities and solid goaltending from both Juuse Saros and Pheonix Copley. In the end, a third period marker for Pontus Åberg would be enough for the Admirals to hold on for victory.

“We liked our start,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of the team’s performance tonight. “And then about the ten-minute mark it looked like we got real complacent. It looked like we had a ton of skill, a ton of legs, and then we tried to do too much. It just started to get too cute. We challenged the group after the second period to simplify and then use that skill to score once we get through the neutral zone and out of our zone. We were trying to do too much. Credit to the group. They really did a good job in the third period.”

Kevin Fiala started tonight’s scoring with a power-play goal in the first period. Spencer Asuchak was given the stink eye after some rough stuff sent him to the box and the penalty was nearing an end. Trevor Murphy entered the attacking zone down the right wing wall and hit Fiala in stride as he broke in with plenty of space skating down the left wing. Fiala stickhandled as Yannick Veilleux and Jordan Schmaltz were closing in but rifled a shot bar down over the blocker side of Pheonix Copley to score his third goal of the season.

In the second period the Wolves would answer back with a power-play goal of their own. Fiala was called for a light slash behind the play as a puck cleared from an Admirals attack. On the ensuing power-play, a left point shot by André Benoît spanked wide off the end-boards but bounced out on the opposite wing to Jordan Caron. The following was simply awful luck. Caron was attempting to pass from his near post position to the slot for Pat Cannone but the puck ricocheted off of Petter Granberg’s stick blade and then skate before alluding Juuse Saros.

It only took one minute of the third period for the Admirals to break the 1-1 deadlock. After a puck jarred loose behind the Wolves net, Vladislav Kamenev hit Pontus Åberg with a picture perfect feed that resulted in a shot taken so quickly Copley never even knew the puck was freed loose behind his cage. The goal for Åberg tied him with Viktor Arvidsson, Frédérick Gaudreau, and Max Reinhart for the team lead in goal scoring with seven this season

“It’s a perfect goal to reinforce for the group,” explained Evason. “We get up the ice properly, we win the battle down there, and then [Pontus Åberg, Vladislav Kamenev, and Adam Payerl] used their skill underneath the tops of the circles to score a goal. They didn’t try to use their skill to go through people in our zone or through the neutral zone.”

The bout between Jamie Devane and Jacob Doty looked to be a sure bet from some of their early shifts within the first period. In the third period they finally dropped the mitts and threw down. Both landed heavy right-handed shots. Devane with his better work on body shots and Doty landing more of the clean overhand rights to the face. My fight card gives the slight edge to Doty, 10-9 round.

With 1:25 remaining, Copley made his way to the Wolves bench to bring on the extra attacker as the offensive cycle was rolling for them. They would never end up finding a breakthrough throughout the time spent a man-up and the Admirals would claim their third-straight win over the Amtrak Rivals from four games this season.

“We like that we seem to be able to play a few different ways,” said Evason. “Which is exciting to us as a staff. We don’t want to continually try to push buttons to get us to play the right way on that given night we’d like our group to play consistently. But sometimes games dictate how you play. Tonight had a bit of both, skill and grinding, and we were able to get the job done.”

Ramblings: Ahead of this game the Chicago Wolves brought in Zach Pochiro from the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL. Tonight’s Line Combinations: Fiala-Gaudreau-Görtz, Åberg-Kamenev-Payerl, White-Reinhart-Saponari, Devane-Girard-Pendenza, Murphy-Oligny, Näkyvä-Aronson, Bartley-Granberg. Tonight’s Scratches: Zach Budish (healthy), Cody Bass (upper-body), Johan Alm (healthy), and Conor Allen (upper-body). After the game, it was announced that Vladislav Kamenev will be joining Team Russia in the IIHF World Juniors. It was also announced that Kevin Fiala would not be representing Team Switzerland. Zach Budish was released from his PTO contract and is heading back to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? In the last three-games what have you made of this current Milwaukee Admirals team playing tight and defensively approached hockey? Is Kevin Fiala starting to turn a corner for the better?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 4-3 (Video Highlights) in a shootout on the road against the Manitoba Moose Sunday afternoon at the MTS Centre.

It’s the Admirals first win from four attempts against the scrappy Moose who once again pushed back hard while scoring three-goals with their lowest scoring offense in the league. This thrill ride finally ended in sudden death shootout fashion with Vinny Saponari getting the game-winning shootout goal and Juuse Saros denying all five attempts he faced to earn his tenth win in net for the Admirals this season.

It wouldn’t be too long into this game before a scrap broke out. Adam Payerl buddied up with Patrice Cormier and the two grappled for a brief time before the Moose’s alternate captain lost his balance and was tackled down to the ice. If you feel the need to score this one in your fight cards you can give Payerl the takedown win. I’d be willing to simply call it a no contest.

After a pair of successful penalty kills for the Admirals their special teams brought home the opening goal from a five-on-three power-play opportunity. Jay Harrison was off for crosschecking. Moments later, during the initial penalty kill, Julian Melchiori tripped up Vladislav Kamenev in neutral ice. The Admirals had 1:17 of two-man advantage and would cap it off with a one-time bomb from Pontus Åberg on the left wing circle to pick up his team-leading eighth goal of the season.

A slick piece of puck control by John Albert along the right wing wall on zone entry set up an Admirals’ defensive breakdown. Albert had Taylor Aronson between himself and defenseman Josh Morrissey who jumped up on the play past Kristian Näkyvä to allow for the two-on-one chance. Albert’s pass across to Morrissey was perfect and he would beat Juuse Saros to score his first career AHL goal.

In the second period the Moose took their first lead of the game courtesy of an outstanding piece of vision and passing by Austen Brassard. The puck battle down in the right wing pocket eventually fell to the stick blade of Brassard who was able to hit Ryan Olsen between the Admirals net-front traffic of Félix Girard and Petter Granberg in the slot for a quick shot that beat Saros. The goal for Olsen was his second of the season.

Brassard would go from brilliant to bitter within the second period. His slashing call with just over two-minutes remaining in the second period gave the Admirals momentum to score a goal with 10.5 seconds remaining in the frame to knot things up at 2-2. A firm wrist shot by Vinny Saponari knuckled off of Jay Harrison’s stick as he was defending the shot. The puck kicked up off of Eric Comrie’s pads and right in-line with Frédérick Gaudreau who put away the rebound for his seventh goal of the season.

During the Admirals sixth penalty kill of the game they managed to score a shorthanded goal to take a 3-2 third period lead. Victor Bartley made a great read and skated up ice on an odd-man rush down the left wing. He measured his pass the entire way into the attacking zone, sauced over to Payerl, and the Admirals took the lead on Payerl’s fifth goal of the season.

If the third goal scored by the Moose in last night’s game was wacky then today’s was downright ludicrous. Harrison was making a desperate attempt to keep a puck in the Manitoba attacking zone as a puck was trickling away from the left point blueline. He viciously threw a puck without much aim, skated away as if he was going to make a line change, and was dumbstruck to find he actually scored over the shoulder of Saros to tie the game with 2:26 left in regulation. The goal for Harrison was his third scored of the season and I doubt he gets a more flukey one than that.

The game would dive through three-on-three overtime and even past the standard shootout. It was sudden death shootout hockey that finally decided the game with no shooters scoring until the fifth round when the legend of Toe Drag City Vinny Saponari pulled back from the forehand and calmly deposited a backhander along the ice to give the Admirals their first win over the Moose this season.

Both goaltenders today were terrific to watch and deserve a mention. Comrie for the Moose made thirty-four saves and was the tough luck loser in the game. Saros made twenty-five saves for the Admirals, and all five shootout attempts, to earn his tenth win in the AHL this season.

Ramblings: Today’s line combinations for the Admirals were: Fiala-Gaudreau-Görtz, Åberg-Kamenev-Payerl, Pendenza-Reinhart-Saponari, Devane-Girard-Budish, Näkyvä-Granberg, Bartley-Aronson, Murphy-Oligny. Today’s scratches were: Matt White (healthy), Cody Bass (upper-body), Johan Alm (healthy) and Conor Allen (undisclosed injury). The Admirals penalty kill went a solid six-for-six this afternoon while scoring a shorthanded goal.

Reaction to today’s game? Who is impressing you the most on the Milwaukee Admirals during this spell where players are having to step up due to a stretched out roster?

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The Milwaukee Admirals lost 3-2 (Video Highlights) on the road against the Manitoba Moose Saturday night at the MTS Centre.

It is the same old story so far this season as it’s the third successive defeat for the Admirals against the Moose ending in a 3-2 scoreline. The Admirals picked up the opening goal but the Moose scored three unanswered and left Milwaukee clawing for a dramatic last second miracle that wouldn’t come off.

After missing out from the game’s opening power-play the Admirals would take a first period lead off of Joe Pendenza’s second goal of the season. Pendenza was flying in off the left wing, rotated ever so slightly to get a shooting angle on Eric Comrie in net, and sniped his forehand shot into the top shelf.

With time expiring in the first period the Moose leveled things up at 1-1. In the middle of a defensive line change, a puck fell back towards the blueline where Julian Melchiori was fresh off the bench and hammered a slap shot towards the net. The puck would deflect off the net front traffic where Joel Armia and Petter Granberg were jockeying for position. Melchiori would be credited for getting the puck past Marek Mazanec to earn his first goal of the season. It was a teddy bear toss goal as well and the Moose set a franchise record with 2,330 plush toys being thrown over the glass.

Despite a strong opening ten minutes in the second period for the Admirals it would be the Moose coming away celebrating a goal midway through the contest. After an attacking zone faceoff win Peter Stoykewych quickly threw a puck low to the pads of Mazanec. Matt Fraser was first man on the spot to jar the puck free and put it away into a gaping net to collect his first goal of the season.

Mazanec’s hard times in the second period wouldn’t stop there, either. When Chase De Leo was skating away from goal, with Taylor Aronson in tow, he pulled a turnaround forehand shot aimed low towards Mazanec in net. It looked harmless enough yet the puck flicked up off Mazanec’s right pad, up into the air, and had Mazanec swatted his blocker in desperation to make a save. The puck would fall flat into the back of the net for De Leo’s fourth goal of the season. For the Moose, and their league worst offense, it was a third three-goal game against the Admirals in three meetings.

The Admirals would pull Mazanec with 2:23 remaining in regulation to bring on an extra attacker. With 11.9 seconds remaining the Admirals would get one-goal back. A heavy shot by Aronson from the left point missed the net wide left but ricocheted out in the low right wing where Max Reinhart put away an easy tap in to record his seventh goal of the season.

The game would effectively end there and, once again, the Moose claim a 3-2 victory over the Admirals. Three games and three 3-2 defeats for the Admirals against the second worst team based on points percentage in the AHL. Credit where credit is due, Comrie was great in net for the Moose late and he gets credit for stopping 30/32 on the night to take home first star honors.

Ramblings: In a lovely occurrence, there were no official roster moves made since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Wednesday night in Grand Rapids. This game did mark the first appearance of Petter Granberg in an Admirals sweater. The Swedish defenseman was assigned to the Admirals on a two-week (fourteen consecutive days) conditioning assignment by the Nashville Predators on 12/9/15 and didn’t join the AHL affiliate until the road trip in Manitoba. Granberg has missed the start of the 2015-16 season due to injury up to this point. Tonight’s line combinations saw the first time this season in which the Admirals dropped a forward and added an extra defenseman: Fiala-Gaudreau-Payerl, Åberg-Kamenev-Görtz, Devane-Reinhart-White, Pendenza-Girard, Näkyvä-Aronson, Bartley-Oligny, Alm-Granberg, Murphy. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Bass (upper-body), Vinny Saponari (healthy), Zach Budish (healthy), and Conor Allen (undisclosed injury).

Thoughts on this game? What is it about the Milwaukee Admirals being unable to close out lower tier opposition these last few seasons? How important is it for the Admirals to win tomorrow afternoon’s game just to put a stamp down on the head-to-head with the Moose?

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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. It was an all-around sloppy game for both teams but the Griffins defensive game left the Admirals with little to no quality scoring chances on the night. The Griffins are now on a nine-game winning streak.

Andy Miele has been a thorn in the Admirals side since becoming a member of the Griffins. While he didn’t score the opening goal in the first period he did contribute heavily to the Griffins claiming an early 1-0 lead. Miele was able to slip past Kristian Näkyvä and square up on Taylor Aronson. The puck trickled off his stick, skipped back, and Miele continued driving through to the net against Aronson. Mitch Callahan followed through, beat Vladislav Kamenev to the loose puck, and snapped a shot blocker side of Juuse Saros to score his seventh goal of the season.

The Admirals will be hard pressed to score a more bizarre goal this season than the one Félix Girard picked up to equalize the game in the first period while shorthanded. Frédérick Gaudreau pushed a puck up ice and Girard was in a footrace with two separate Griffins players at the Grand Rapids defensive blueline. It was at this point when goaltender Jared Coreau took matters into his own hands, left his goal crease, attempted to bat the puck away from the oncoming Girard, fail miserably at doing such, and left a wide open net for Girard to score into. The goal goes down as Girard’s second of the season. For the Admirals, it was the fourth shorthanded goal of the season and they are one shy of tying last season’s total.

It wouldn’t be until the third period before another goal was scored. In similar fashion to their first tally the Griffins would score after a loose puck fell perfectly in place for a quick shot. Similar to Miele’s initial effort, Andreas Athanasiou flew in on goal but lost the puck off his stick blade as he moved in on Saros from the right wing. Victor Bartley, looking North, and Kamenev, heading South, both tried to clear the puck but canceled eachother out. The puck sat in the right wing circle for Martin Frk who fired a wrister through traffic to score over Saros’ shoulder for his fourth goal of the season.

Athansiou would keep his jets going after that play, as well. The speedy forward drew Aronson with him towards the left wing on a rush to the net and whirled a spinning backhanded pass for the trailing Eric Tangradi who would deposit a shot underneath Saros for his eleventh goal of the season.

The game would be polished off by a Louis-Marc Aubry empty net tally with thirty-four seconds remaining in regulation. The win for the Griffins extends their winning streak to nine-games. The loss for Saros in net snaps his personal winning-streak with the Admirals at eight-games.

Ramblings: Prior to tonight’s game the Nashville Predators activated defenseman Petter Granberg from injured reserve and sent him to the Milwaukee Admirals on conditioning assignment. Tonight’s line combinations were: Fiala-Gaudreau-Payerl, Åberg-Kamenev-Saponari, White-Reinhard-Pendenza, Devane-Girard-Budish, Näkyvä-Aronson, Bartley-Murphy, Alm-Oligny. Tonight’s scratches were: Cody Bass, Max Görtz, Conor Allen, and Petter Granberg. Admirals broadcaster Aaron Sims said during his pre-game show that Allen is not with the Admirals on this road trip. Granberg has yet to join the Admirals but is expected to meet up with the team in Manitoba for this weekend’s games. Alm made his return to the lineup for the first time since 11/18/15. He had missed the previous eight-games due to a lower-body injury. Jamie Devane made his return to the lineup after missing the previous two-games due to an upper-body injury. Devane was an alternate captain for the Admirals tonight with the other captains (Sissons, Bass, Allen) all out of the lineup.

What were the Admirals unable to do tonight that they accomplished this past weekend? Can the Admirals offense get back and going this weekend in Manitoba?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-2 against the Texas Stars Sunday evening at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The extra bodies in camp right now did the Admirals proud. Matt White scored his first career goals as an AHL hockey player in his second career game and Joe Pendenza added a shorthandeder that went down as the game-winning goal.

“I think it says a lot about our depth,” commented Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “[Matt White, Zach Budish, and Vinny Saponari] are good players but, as important, they’re good people. They buy into the team game.”

In his second career game of AHL hockey Matt White scored a goal for the Milwaukee Admirals that sent 1,588 teddy bears flying over the glass. That set a new record for an Admirals teddy bear toss. Zach Budish sent White loose off a set up pass on the right wing blue line. White maintained a shooting posture the entire way in on goal before snapping a wrister high over the blocker of Jack Campbell to record his first career AHL goal after having scored sixty career goals at the ECHL level.

“It was an adjustment for me,” said Matt White of joining the Milwaukee Admirals from the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL. “I didn’t want to mess anything up because the team been having a lot of success. I just tried to fit in where I can and, luckily, the first shot went in.”

Perhaps the Admirals were still lagging mentally after helping clean up all those teddy bears when the Stars raced down and scored 1:40 of ice time after the teddy bear toss goal. Stephen Johns fought off a check along the right wing boards from Kevin Fiala to throw a puck towards Marek Mazanec that saw a redirect by Curtis McKenzie sneak past the near post glove side for his third goal of the season.

In the second period it looked as if Pontus Åberg had the Admirals back out in front. A puck went in and out of the goal, the players celebrated, but the goal light remained off. After a quick review it was determined the puck hit off the far-side right wing post and clattered out of the net.

It had to have been less than a minute before the Admirals scored a goal that needed to review process. The Admirals triangulated bodies around two Stars backcheckers and the play finished with a lovely one-two between White and Félix Girard. White was in the right wing, Conor Allen joined the rush on the left wing, and Girard as trailing ever so slightly behind the puck carrier White. After getting the pass back, Girard waited, saw the one-timer for White getting geared up, and gave him the dish to allow for White’s second goal of the game to be scored.

“[Matt White] played real well,” said Evason. “The goals are obvious and evident but he did so many little things right. Getting pucks out, no turnovers, just competing.”

Then penalty trouble caught up with the Admirals. Max Reinhart was called for a hooking minor and, on the penalty kill, Girard was called for a holding penalty whilst aggressively fighting for a puck in neutral ice. Vladislav Kamenev won the five-on-three faceoff but Victor Bartley’s clearing attempt hit off of Jason Dickinson and sent a skipping puck towards Mazanec’s goal mouth. Call it plain bad luck but that puck skipped cleanly back to Matej Stransky on the glove side of Mazanec for a tap in and his sixth goal of the season.

The Stransky goal came instantly off the faceoff of the five-on-three Stars power-play which left plenty of time for more damage to be done. As the Admirals would see things they would be the aggressors. Reinhart entered the attacking zone down the left wing waiting for a trailing player he could drop off to. Joe Pendenza worked his way into position, received the drop pass, waited on his shot, and burned Campbell for a shorthanded goal and his first goal scored in the AHL this season.

The Admirals extended their lead in the third period off a power-play goal from Frédérick Gaudreau. The slap shot by Gaudreau taken in the high slot was so high powered not many people on the ice knew if the shot went in or not. The puck flew in and out of the net like a lightning strike. It took video review to determine the shot did indeed beat Campbell for Gaudreau’s sixth goal of the season and fourth coming on the power-play.

Jimmy Oligny is generally known for his gritty defensive work. I’ll assume the planets aligned much like the traffic out in front of Campbell’s sight line in net because, when Oligny threw a wrister on net, the Stars netminder never saw it. It’s the first goal of the season for Oligny and only his second scored in seventy-four professional games played.

“It doesn’t happen often so I don’t know,” smiled Jimmy Oligny. “It’s almost weird for me to score a goal. It’s nice. It feels good but, at the same time, it’s not my job. It feels good to score a goal every once and a while.”

With more than five minutes left in regulation the Stars went empty net and brought the extra attacker on while trailing by three-goals. With 1:14 remaining in regulation Kristian Näkyvä was called for slashing but the Stars, for all that extra attacker time, got nothing from it. The Admirals finished it off with a 5-2 final score.

Ramblings: This morning Stevie Moses was unveiled by SKA St. Petersburg of Russia’s KHL after having penned a one-year contract. Moses was placed on unconditional waivers Thursday by the Nashville Predators. Today’s line combinations were: Fiala-Gaudreau-Payerl, Åberg-Kamenev-Saponari, Pendenza-Reinhart-Görtz, White-Girard-Budish, Näkyvä-Aronson, Allen-Oligny, Bartley-Murphy. Early in the third period, Vladislav Kamenev made a sliding defensive play to break up a scoring chance for Justin Dowling. As Dowling tripped up on Kamenev his knee spiked down on the back of Kamenev’s head. Kamenev was down for a bit, skated off the ice under his own power with Admirals head trainer Doug Agnew with him, and both headed back to the locker room. Kamenev did return to the game.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Were you impressed by the Admirals PTO signed players or do are you beginning to appreciate just how much quality Girard can possess at center?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won 3-2 in a shootout on the road against the Chicago Wolves Saturday night at the Allstate Arena.

The Wolves rallied back from a 2-0 Admirals lead in the third period that forced overtime and then a shootout. Kevin Fiala scored the lone shotout attempt and Juuse Saros capped off his brilliant night in net by denying all shootout chances from the Wolves. Saros has now won his last eight starts in net for the Admirals.

This game had a very slow, patient, start with both teams treating the game like a chess match. As the tempo ramped up the penalties started accumulating and it set up the Admirals for a power-play goal in the first period. Frédérick Gaudreau made a fantastic individual play to split the Wolves defense and head off on a breakaway from the blue line. His attempt to go forehand to backhand wasn’t successful but the puck fell loose to Vladislav Kamenev on the right wing post for a tap in and his sixth goal of the season.

In the second period, following a tripping minor by Max Görtz, a clock malfunction went unnoticed by the on-ice officials. Play was stopped when Görtz was released early from the penalty box and then a lengthy delay came and went with no changes to the official clock despite twelve seconds of game-time being played until the whistle sounded. Additionally, Görtz was handed a penalty that clocked it for 2:08 extra to his tripping minor that he was already serving. It was cringe-worthy to watch unfold and thankfully the Admirals penalty kill made it through the unnecessarily extended time they had to work.

Then a thing called karma appeared midway through the sandwich stanza. The Admirals extended their lead through an outstanding passing play that saw Kevin Fiala flick a pass over to the left wing as he was racing up towards the blue line on a keep in. Conor Allen secured Fiala’s pass and then it was tic-tac-toe between Allen, Gaudreau, and the eventual goal scorer all alone at the left wing side of the net Adam Payerl for his fourth goal of the season.

The third period became a scrap fest that saw its share of penalties but mostly an onslaught of Wolves offense. With four-on-four action the Wolves ended Juuse Saros’ shutout bid with a Ty Rattie feed from behind the net getting smacked home by Jeremy Welsh in the low right wing circle for his sixth of the season.

Kristian Näkyvä was called for a tripping minor with 4:43 remaining in regulation. On the ensuing power-play the Wolves were able to equalize the game at 2-2. André Benoît’s point shot got past the net front defenseman Jimmy Oligny but took a redirect by Jordan Caron right behind him to beat Saros for his fifth goal of the season. The Wolves outshot the Admirals 17-4 in the third period.

The game would go to all the way to a shootout. The first shooter up would be the lone man to score. Kevin Fiala did a hard shoulder fake and sniped a forehander past Jordan Binnington on the blocker side. Saros would stop all three shootout attempts to cap off his brilliant night that saw him make thirty-seven saves and pick up his eighth consecutive win for the Admirals.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played more and more roster moves have taken place. Stevie Moses was placed on unconditional waivers by the Nashville Predators and it is presumed that he will be heading back to Russia’s KHL. The Predators assigned Cody Bass back to the Admirals. And the Admirals signed both Matt White and Zach Budish to PTO contracts. Tonight’s line combinations were: Fiala-Gaudreau-Payerl, Åberg-Kamenev-Saponari, Pendenza-Reinhart-Görtz, White-Girard-Budish, Allen-Oligny, Bartley-Murphy, Näkyvä-Aronson. Juuse Saros started in net for his first taste of game-action in a week and first AHL start since 11/24/15. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were: Cody Bass (upper-body), Jamie Devane (upper-body), and Johan Alm (lower-body).

Reactions to this game? Were you impressed by the Admirals performance with a stretched roster? What happened in the third period that allowed this game to go into overtime in the first place?

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The Milwaukee Admirals lost 3-2 against the Manitoba Moose Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. It is the second successive defeat to the Moose in Milwaukee this season by a 3-2 scoreline. A depleted Admirals roster did what they could but were unable to capitalize on several power-play opportunities presented to them. They went 1/8 on the power-play tonight in the loss.

“We absolutely gave them all three-goals,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “It’s such a frustrating game. They’re a good team. They’ve got good players. And they’re going to earn their chances to score goals. If you give them more chances than they earn then you’re likely not going to have success on that night.”

For the second time this season the lowest scoring offense in the AHL took a 2-0 first period lead in Milwaukee.

The game’s opening goal came off of a neutral zone turnover when a Trevor Murphy outlet pass hit traffic, got in behind him, and sent former-Admiral Matt Halischuk off on a breakaway where he’d score five hole for his second goal of the season. Both times that he has scored have come against the Admirals.

The second tally for the Moose came from a netfront redirect by Thomas Raffl for his first career goal at the AHL level. A hard point shot by Brenden Kichton rifled down through the slot low before getting a piece of Raffl to fool Marek Mazanec in net for a 2-0 first period Moose lead.

The Admirals were handed four power-play chances to work with in the first period. It felt as if the Moose didn’t want the lead with so many penalties taken one after the other. On the third power-play chance a craft piece of passing teed up Max Görtz to score his third goal of the season. Vladislav Kamenev initiated the scoring chance when he sent a quick pass down low in the left wing to Frédérick Gaudreau. From where Gaudreau was stationed he somehow managed to get a pass through traffic to hit Görtz on the opposite wing for a one-timer that Eric Comrie could reach on the post-to-post save attempt.

It didn’t go down as a power-play goal but the Admirals equalized right after another Moose penalty in the second period. Trevor Murphy unloaded a slap shot from the center point and it hit off the leg of Kichton. Comrie sold hard on the Murphy shot and was out of position for the puck rebounding off his own defenseman when Kevin Fiala unleashed a hammer of a shot into the open net to record his second goal of the season.

For the second time in the game a neutral zone puck hop lead to a goal for the Moose. Gaudreau was caught fighting for position in neutral put was pickpocketed by the on-sweeping John Albert who only had Victor Bartley and Marek Mazanec in front of him. Bartley was protecting the pass across for a two-on-one with Matt Fraser on the left wing but Albert held on, shot, and collected his own rebound off Mazanec to score his first goal of the season.

It was already worth noting in the second period with a 3-2 Manitoba Moose lead that they’re best offensive performance in a game was to score three-goals in a game. They had done it six times from seventeen games on the season entering tonight. One of those games includes the previous meeting against the Admirals in Milwaukee.

There was then a gasp of a quick answer goal for the Admirals from Max Reinhart moments after the Moose took the lead. It was instantly waved off. The puck appeared to float up in the air and get deflected by one of a few sticks swinging to knock the puck down. As the replay would show, the officials got the play spot-on as the puck did deflect off of Reinhart’s stick before fluttering into the goal. His stick was well high of the crossbar for a clean cut no goal decision.

With 1:27 left in regulation Mazanec hit the bench to bring the extra attacker on and, following an icing call on the Moose, the Admirals burned their timeout with 1:17. Time would sadly run out in regulation before anything could get done and for the second time this season the Admirals fall to the woeful Moose 3-2 on home ice.

“I thought for zone time we probably had 80-20 to them,” said Victor Bartley. “We did a good job keeping of keeping pucks going low to high and getting them through. Forwards did a good job of sticking behind their defensemen through the neutral zone. And, you know what, we had four or five breakaways which could have changed the game so credit to their goalie for playing as well as he did. We just have to tighten things up and capitalize on our chances.”

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played it felt like all the roster moves in the history of ever took place starting on Monday: The Nashville Predators reassigned Juuse Saros to the Admirals, Predators defenseman Victor Bartley cleared waivers and was assigned to the Admirals, the Admirals then reassigned Brandon Whitney and Garrett Noonan to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL, the Predators recalled Cody Bass Tuesday morning from the Admirals, and that forced the Admirals into signing a former-Admiral in Vinny Saponari to a PTO contract on loan from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL. Tonight’s line combinations were: Fiala-Gaudreau-Görtz, Åberg-Kamenev-Moses, Payerl-Reinhart-Saponari, Devane-Girard-Pendenza, Allen-Oligny
Näkyvä-Aronson, Bartley-Murphy.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Does this result have more to do with the Admirals losing bodies left and right or can you tip your cap to the Manitoba Moose? With the Admirals having so many power-play chances and coming up with little results from them – was that the real story of this game?

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