The Admirals won 3-1 against the Lake Erie Monsters Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The great form that the Admirals displayed yesterday in Iowa spilled into tonight’s contest. Juuse Saros was terrific in net as he narrowly missed out on completing two shutouts in two days. It is the first time this season the Admirals have picked up consecutive wins.

“We talked this morning about building on yesterday,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “We haven’t built on a good win, and we had a real good win in Iowa, and we wanted to build on it. We built tonight and we just want to keep going forward.”

In the first period the Admirals were able to get out in front with a power-play goal. Josh Anderson was called for a trip as the Admirals won a defensive zone faceoff and were looking to breakout. This set the stage for Vladislav Kamenev to pass out from behind the net and into Viktor Arvidsson’s sweet spot on the left wing circle. A powerful slap shot later and the Admirals were up 1-0 through Arvidsson’s second AHL goal of the season.

Directly following the power-play goal there was a scrap. Cody Bass partnered up with Brett Gallant and the two proceeded to clobber one-another with overhand shots. The officials stepped in when Bass’ head remains tucked down for a moment but he responded by telling the crowd to get louder. I score that tilt even. The two were throwing and landing hard shots.

The second period saw yet another nasty incident with the Admirals on the delivering side of it. Conor Allen turned around and slashed Alex Broardhurst heavily and left the former member of the Rockford IceHogs crumpled up on the ice. Allen was handed a five minute major for slashing and a game misconduct. The Admirals would carry on to successfully kill off the five-minute major penalty.

“Our penalty kill took a lot of heat early in the year,” said Evason. “Rightfully so. We weren’t getting the job done. But the guys have really bought in. [Stan Drulia] and [Scott Ford] do a great job teaching and they’re buying in to what they want us to do. And we’re getting the job done.”

What’s a hockey game without a little controversy? Max Reinhart looked to have scored his second goal of the season but the officials said otherwise. Battling in front of netminder Anton Forsberg was Jamie Sifers and Bass. The two spilled into the goaltender and, as the call would state, incidental contact would cause the no goal decision. Was Bass bumping into Forsberg or was Sifers bumping Bass into his own goalie? That’s the question left from that play.

The officials wouldn’t be done getting into the thick of things just there. It looked like Jamie Devane and Oleg Yevenko were about to duke it out behind the Lake Erie net. Rather than allow them to throw down the referees pounced on the two. Yevenko would keep forcing the issue on Devane and it led to all parties crashing into the back of the net. They opted to not call for fighting majors but assessed matching roughing minors with Yevenko earning himself a misconduct for continuing the altercation.

With four-on-four hockey in play Anthony Bitetto raced up from the blue line and down the left wing to score his first goal of the season. Bitetto’s shot from close range received a helpful redirect off of a stick by a diving T.J. Tynan which sent the puck straight through Forsberg’s five hole. Colton Sissons picked up the secondary assist on the goal which meant him setting a new career high with a six game point streak.

“I think the initial play was to make the pass to [Arvidsson] and I think he probably would have scored,” said Anthony Bitetto after the game. “It kind of worked out either way. The guy made a good play trying to get his stick there but unfortunately for them it went in. Always good to get a goal like that.”

The fight that was too hot for television, and the second period, was allowed to run its course in the third period with 3:37 left in the game. Devane and Yevenko got into a jab fest and were allowed to keep on throwing until the two had no more gas in the tank to throw.

A late penalty against Kristian Näkyvä put the Monsters on the power-play with 2:36 left in regulation. Unfortunately for Juuse Saros his bid for consecutive shutouts would end there. A point shot by Daniel Zaar hit net front traffic and allowed Broadhurst to score from the rebound to make it a 2-1 game off his first goal of the season. Saros shutout streak ended at a final line of 125:55 of ice time over the course of three games.

The Monsters were in empty net and extra attacker mode in the final minute of play. He had a goal waved off earlier but he made it count as the dagger in this contest. Reinhart would be the man to bury the empty netter and pick up goal number two on the season. The Admirals would win 3-1 and record their first consecutive wins this season.

Ramblings: Vladislav Kamanev returned to the lineup after completing his two-game suspension for a boarding incident against Matt Fraser of the Manitoba Moose on 10/29/15. Stevie Moses also returned from his team suspension for a violation of team rules that kept him from traveling with the team to Iowa yesterday. Tonight’s line combinations were: Arvidsson-Sissons-Moses, Görtz-Reinhart-Bass, Åberg-Kamenev-Payerl, Devane-Girard-Gaudreau, Alm-Bitetto, Allen-Oligny, Näkyvä-Aronson. Scratches tonight for the Admirals were all healthy: Kevin Fiala, Eric Robinson, and Trevor Murphy. After the game Anthony Bitetto was informed that he will be leaving to rejoin the Nashville Predators one-day and one-game early in his two week (fourteen consecutive days) conditioning assignment.

Reactions from this game? Is this the Milwaukee Admirals team that we’ve been waiting to come to the surface since the start of the season?

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The Milwaukee Admirals won a 3-0 shutout on the road against the Iowa Wild Thursday afternoon. For the first time all season the Admirals were able to earn a two-goal cushion. And, for the first time in his career, Juuse Saros picked up a shutout as a member of the Admirals.

Following a successful opening stint on the penalty kill the Admirals were able to flip the script and get on the power-play thanks to a good hustle play from Max Reinhart that put Maxime Fortunus in the box for interference. Pontus Åberg would take this chance to score on the power-play for his first goal of the season. Max Görtz was able to tee up his fellow Swede as he sat in the slot and Åberg beat Jeremy Smith high blocker side.

In the second period the Admirals were able to do something that they haven’t been able to do all season: get a two goal lead. A delay of game penalty against Wild defenseman Zach Palmquist put the Admirals on the man-advantage. Viktor Arvidsson hammered a shot pass to the backdoor where Frédérick Gaudreau was able to put in his second goal of the season. Both goals scored by Gaudreau on the season have come on the power-play.

The Wild would get their best scoring chance of the game in the third period off of a deer in headlights play by Kristian Näkyvä. The Finnish defenseman was passing a puck out from behind his net blindly and found a wide open Christoph Bertschy directly above the slot. The shot missed and, only a few moments later, the Admirals would score goal number three. Eric Robinson would tally his first AHL goal of the season after a backhanded swat it front of Smith. Robinson, Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) stats included, now has four goals from five games to start his 2015-16 season.

That would be all she wrote in the game. Tip your cap to Milwaukee Admirals netminder Juuse Saros who picked up his first career AHL shutout this afternoon. He wasn’t tasked with much but he came up big when the Wild brought some pressure to his goal crease. He stopped all twenty-three shots he faced. The Wild have been shutout in three of their last four games and four times this season.

Ramblings: Since the last time the Milwaukee Admirals played they recalled forward Eric Robinson from his loan assignment with the Admirals ECHL affiliate the Cincinnati Cyclones. The line combinations used today were: Arvidsson-Sissons-Fiala, Görtz-Reinhart-Bass, Åberg-Gaudreau-Payerl, Devane-Girard-Robinson, Alm-Bitetto, Näkyvä-Aronson, Allen-Oligny. Today’s scratches were all healthy: Stevie Moses, Trevor Murphy, and Vladislav Kamenev. Moses missed today’s game due to a violation of team rules and did not join the Admirals on their trip to Iowa. It was the the fourth consecutive game in which Murphy was listed as a scratch. Kamenev was completing the final game of his two game suspension for his boarding incident on 10/29/15. Following a turnover on the power-play that resulted in a shorthanded breakaway for Brett Sutter – Kevin Fiala was benched by the Admirals six minutes into the first period and never returned to the game. The attendance of today’s game was an Iowa Wild record of 11,503 fans – predominantly school kids attending.

Reactions to today’s game? Is this the Admirals finally coming together as a team or the Admirals getting the jump on a slumping team in the Iowa Wild? What are your feelings as it related to the Admirals coaching staff benching Fiala for a turnover in the first period and their recent actions that sees the likes of Åberg, Görtz, and Moses all scratched and left behind as the team travels to road games without them for violating team rules? Is the correct message being sent by the coaching staff to the players by doing that?

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The Admirals lost 3-2 in overtime on the road against the Iowa Wild Saturday night. The now typical late game theatrics required by the Admirals to get something out of a game actually paid off with Max Görtz scoring in the final minute to force overtime. Unfortunately, penalties in overtime would cost the Admirals the extra point tonight.

For the first time in seven periods of hockey the Admirals had themselves a lead in regulation. Viktor Arvidsson was skating back up along the right wing wall and towards the blue line when he delivered a perfect shot pass, between Brady Brassart and Tyson Strachan, that hit the breaking Colton Sissons on the tape for his second goal of the season.

The rare Admirals lead in regulation would only last 24:09 of ice time before the Wild tied the game up at 1-1. The Ads were trapped in their defensive zone and could not get a clearance. This eventually cost them as a Matt Carey shot led to a rebound goal scored by Brett Sutter that squeaked past Marek Mazanec for his first goal of the season.

Speaking of first goals, the second period also saw the first goal scored by defenseman Joe Finley since 10/23/12 when he was a member of the Rochester Americans. The 6’8” defenseman hammered a slap shot off the left point over the glove hand of Mazanec and underneath the crossbar to make it a 2-1 Wild lead with 8:26 remaining in the second period.

With the third period ticking past, and the Admirals not finding the back of the net despite outshooting the Wild 17-2 in the period, it looked to be time for the extra attacker and empty net drama to unfold once more. Mazanec was making his way to the bench for just that when Max Görtz blasted a one-timer for his first pro goal in North America.

The game went to overtime and that’s when discipline went out the window. A puck hopped up on Conor Allen’s stick while he was on the attacking blue line. This sent Brady Brassart off to the races on a breakaway but Allen caught him with a slash on the backcheck. Shortly into the Admirals penalty kill Anthony Bitetto took a crosschecking major and a game misconduct that assured the rest of overtime would be played on a Wild power-play. With the five-on-three power-play ending the Wild got their game winner in overtime through Mike Reilly’s second goal of the season.

This was another game in which the Admirals seemed to fall flat and get overwhelmed by their own mistakes. It shouldn’t be special seeing the Admirals leading in regulation but it is becoming a rare feat. It’s actually more common to see the Admirals score an equalizing goal around two minutes or later in regulation than it is for them to be ahead in a game. The chances were there for them. They had six power-plays and didn’t get anything from them.

Tip of the cap to former Admirals netminder, Smith. His season low for shots faced in a game this season is thirty-nine. Every single game this season, past that, has been in the forty-plus shots range including tonight. He made a phenomenal save that denied Kevin Fiala his long awaited first goal of the season. And, at that point in the game, could have really lifted the spirits for the Admirals. It would have been a 2-0 Admirals lead at the end of the first period. They’ve barely led at all this season. To think of what a two-goal cushion might have done to their confidence out on the ice could have been a big boost for more than just tonight’s game. Instead, Smith made the ridiculous desperation save and the Admirals come away with a single point. That being said, they did come away with a single point on the night as opposed to nothing.

Ramblings: Prior to tonight’s game, Milwaukee Admirals center Vladislav Kamenev was suspended by the AHL for two games due to his boarding incident Thursday night against Manitoba Moose winger Matt Fraser. Tonight’s lines for the Admirals were: Arvidsson-Sissons-Fiala, Åberg-Gaudreau-Payerl, Moses-Reinhart-Bass, Devane-Girard-Görtz, Näkyvä-Aronson, Allen-Oligny, Alm-Bitetto. Marek Mazanec started in net for the third straight game. With Kamenev serving the first of his two game suspension the lone scratch for the Admirals was defenseman Trevor Murphy.

What is your reaction to this latest of a long line of games played by the Admirals where they are trailing late in a game? What happened in overtime? Will Bitetto be the next man suspended by the AHL? What must change from tonight’s game to the next game against these exact same Iowa Wild next Thursday?

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The Admirals were unable to repeat their late heroics Thursday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The Manitoba Moose were able to hold off forty-one shots on goal attempted by the Admirals and held to their 3-2 third period lead until the final horn sounded. It was Manitoba’s first win of the season and first since returning to the AHL.

“Frustrating game tonight,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “Frustrating starts. And it’s on us. Coaches we got to get them ready to play and start better. It’s disappointing, frustrating because all three of the goals against are structural stuff. The two even strength goals are read the rush. Everyone is marked. We just stopped skating and don’t do what we’re supposed to do.”

It wouldn’t take long for the lowest scoring team in the AHL to take a 1-0 lead. Only twenty-three seconds into the game and a passing play off the right wing through the neutral zone teed up former Milwaukee Admirals forward Matt Hallischuk for his first goal of the season and first as a member of the Moose.

Admirable Mention. Adam Payerl tried to drop the gloves with Julian Melchiori shortly after the opening goal by the Moose. At the very least I think everyone appreciated the effort.

Not long after the scrap there was an injury timeout. Matt Fraser was down in a heap in the Admirals right wing attacking corner. In truth, I did not see the incident and how Fraser was injured on the play but it was clear that Vladislav Kamenev commanded the attention of one or more Moose players after the whistle came to get the trainer out on the ice. Both Scott Kosmachuk and John Albert helped Fraser off the ice.

Following an interference call against Anthony Bitetto the Moose were able to score seven-seconds into their power-play to make it a 2-0 lead six-minutes into the first period. The play looked oh-so simple as Chase De Leo’s quick feed to Joel Armia dinked off his stick and into an empty net. The screen on Marek Mazanec had him looking the completely wrong direction. The goal scored by Armia was his second of the season.

The Admirals would respond with a power-play goal of their own a little over two-minutes later. Kevin Fiala dangled on the puck for a little bit before zipping over to the left wing faceoff dot where Viktor Arvidsson hammered a one-timer in and out of Connor Hellebuyck’s net faster than you can type Hellebuyck. The goal for Arvidsson was his first of the season in an Admirals sweater. He scored his first career NHL goal on opening night for the Nashville Predators.

With 3:09 remaining in the first period the Admirals were able to comeback from an early 2-0 hole to tie things up. Bitetto was able to throw a puck to team captain Colton Sissons who delivered a beautiful backhand pass in front of a sliding Andrew MacWilliam and Hellebuyck in net – and right to the tape of Stevie Moses for a tap in. Fantastic passing play that all ended with Moses second goal of the season.

The second period saw a much better hockey fight. This time the duo dropping the gloves were Cody Bass and Darren Kramer. There were some really big shots thrown, some landed, and it finished with Bass on top of Kramer for the win in the fight department.

Prior to the halfway point in this game the Moose regained the lead. Armia used Johan Alm as a screen as he threw a puck from the right wing on net. Mazanec attempted to push the rebound off to the left wing wall but ended up finding Brenden Kichton instead. After a quick shot it was 3-2 Moose from Kichton’s second goal of the season.

With 1:21 remaining in the game the Admirals burned their timeout and went empty net and extra attacker on with an in-zone faceoff coming. Sadly, this familiar song was given a remix with the Ads unable to pull off the late theatrics on the night. For all their work they posted forty-one shots on goal but were unable to get the third tally that would have earned them at least a point and a chance at more.

“Our desperation can’t be the last five minutes of the game and it can’t be the last minute when we pull the goaltender,” said Evason. “Our desperation has to be the first minute of the hockey game.”

Ramblings: This was the first meeting between the Milwaukee Admirals and Manitoba Moose since 3/5/11 when the Admirals lost 4-2 at home. There have been no roster moves made by the Admirals since they last played on Tuesday night. There were also no roster moves made by the Moose prior to this game since they last played on Saturday. Tonight’s Admirals lineup was identical to the one that played on Tuesday night. That meant both Trevor Murphy and Jamie Devane were healthy scratches. Noteworthy news mention for former-Admirals forward Rich Clune who today signed an official NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs (1 year deal worth $575,000 NHL // $350,000 AHL). Clune had previously been signed to an AHL deal with the Toronto Marlies where he had scored 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) with 18 penalty minutes in 8 games.

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The cardiac kids were at it again on Tuesday night. The Milwaukee Admirals rallied in the third period from a 3-1 deficit to force overtime in the final seconds and go on to defeat the Texas Stars 4-3 in a shootout.

“We deserved to win that hockey game,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “Clearly we would like to win in a different fashion as opposed to both our victories coming off of pulled goalie and scoring a goal. We’d like to find different ways to win those two hockey games. But our guys played so hard. To not get rewarded tonight would have been really hard to swallow.”

The high powered Stars offense got the scoring started in the first period after a neutral zone turnover by the Admirals teed up a counter attack. A pass to Pontus Åberg ended up getting caught in his skates and wrangled up by the Stars. With the rush breaking towards net both Conor Allen and Jimmy Oligny were closing in on the puck carrier Matej Stransky who would drop off a pass back to Jason Dickinson. The slot was wide open as he ripped a wrister past the blocker side of Marek Mazanec to score his first career pro goal.

In the second period the Admirals got their breakthrough from the power-play. Greg Rallo lofted up a backhander into the seats and allowed the Ads to get their fourth crack on the power-play. Kevin Fiala’s wristed effort from the right wing faceoff circle hit traffic in front of John Muse in net. Luckily for the Admirals Vladislav Kamenev was the first man to react to the loose puck and he smacked home his third goal of the season.

“Hockey IQ is a universal language,” said Colton Sissons of teammate Vladislav Kamenev. “You don’t need to speak the same language on the ice. He just sees the game so well. He’s a nice player to watch. He’s going to be a good player for many years.”

The Admirals attack really intensified following the power-play goal but was short lived when Conor Allen was called for a slash in the Admirals attacking zone. This allowed for the Stars to answer right back with a power-play goal of their own. Brendan Ranford passed left wing to right wing where Stars captain Travis Morin waited on his forehand shot and beat Mazanec high blocker side to record his second goal of the season.

Early into the third period the Stars were able to get a two goal cushion off of a long range shot by Julius Honka. The point shot was taken from the blue line all the way back by the Admirals bench. Honka’s shot appeared to get past Mazanec with an assist to the big screen on front of him set by Morin rushing across from the right wing and Taylor Aronson guarding the crease. The goal for Honka is his first of the season.

After successive power-play chances the Admirals cashed in from a tripping call against Ranford with a second power-play goal of the night for Kamenev. The Russian setup shop in front of the goal crease and threw a five hole shot on Muse. If it didn’t go in direct from the shot he made sure to stuff it across the line for his fourth goal of the season.

With the Admirals in desperation mode in the final minute of the game, the Stars had a chance to deliver on an empty net bid the neutral zone but missed wide of the cage. Fiala was first man to the puck and darted behind the net to start a rush back up ice but was hauled down by Remi Elie. The tripping call allowed for an Admirals power-play with the extra attacker with 22.9 seconds remaining in the contest. With Fiala on the trigger and bodies lined up in front of the net it was captain Colton Sissons scoring with five-seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 3-3 on his first goal of the season.

“I saw [Fiala] shoot it and I was just kind of waving my stick like a wand at it just to try to get a piece,” said Sissons. “Fortunately I tipped it up into the upper half of the net and, sometimes, you get bounces that you deserve.”

The Admirals were pushing the pace in overtime with a near hat trick chance for Kamenev and a power-play that lasted to the end of the extra frame. Nothing would come from five-minutes of three-on-three hockey and this game went to a shootout. Round 1: Moses stopped by a glove save, Ranford stopped on a backhand attempt. Round 2: Fiala scores after snapping a nasty wrister off the far post and in, Devin Shore scored after skating wide right and scoring forehand glove-side on Mazanec. Round 3: Kamenev stopped on a backhanded attempt, Jesse Blacker denied on a five-hole shot. Round 4: Frédérick Gaudreau zips a puck past Muse stick side, Justin Dowling stopped from a flashy glove stop from Mazanec for the win.

The Admirals only had two comeback victories when trailing in the third period all last season. They’ve claimed two comeback wins in the third period twice from five games this season. The Texas Stars are an offensive machine and the Admirals were able to outshoot them 47-28 on the night. It was more than just a good win. It might have finally been the awakening of the 2015-16 Admirals.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played: Viktor Arvidsson was reassigned to the Admirals (AHL) from the Nashville Predators (NHL), Miikka Salomäki was recalled from the Admirals to the Predators, and Max Görtz was recalled to the Admirals from the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). Entering tonight’s game the Admirals had lost the last six straight games against the Stars. Their last win against them was nearly two-years ago back on 10/30/13 when the Admirals won at home 3-2 in overtime. Tonight’s game will henceforth be known as “The Amy Schumer Game” as her show is what caused the rescheduling of this game from 12/4/15. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Trevor Murphy (healthy) and Jamie Devane (healthy).

Reaction to tonight’s game? What are your early impressions of Vladislav Kamenev? How did you feel Marek Mazanec performed in net tonight? And can the Admirals carry this sort of a performance directly into Thursday night’s game against the Manitoba Moose?

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The Admirals lost 4-2 at home to the Rockford IceHogs Saturday night. Despite putting in a much better effort than the previous outing at the BMO Harris Bradley Center the Admirals just weren’t enough to get the better of the rival IceHogs.

“We’re not happy with the end result,” said Milwaukee Admirals forward Cody Bass. “I thought we played well enough to win but attention to details I think, a couple of turnovers, cost us.”

For the first time this season the Admirals were able to get a regulation lead. A crafty piece of stickhandling by Pontus Åberg to avoid the sprawling Kirill Gotovets led to a pass back to the right wing rushing Stevie Moses. The finish by Moses was taken on the backhand with a swat that hopped up and over the right pad of Michael Leighton and in. The goal is Moses first of the season and first in North America since 4/13/12 when he was a member of the Connecticut Whale in the AHL.

Just before the midway point in the game Brandon Mashinter leveled the score at 1-1. Kirill Gotovets threw a shot towards the net and the IceHogs captain managed to flail a stick on the puck in front of Juuse Saros to score his second goal of the season courtesy of the deflection.

Three minutes later the IceHogs were able to take a 2-1 lead after a crazy skipping puck alluded everyone but Tanner Kero. Jake Dowell’s initial shot was blocked by Kristian Näkyvä and the puck carried on bouncing towards the goal crease where Kero was able to pop home his team-best sixth goal of the season.

It was forty-seconds after the IceHogs took the lead that the game hit a flashpoint. Kevin Fiala was taking a shot from the left wing blue line as he entered the zone and was hammered violently off his feet and into the boards by AHL debutant Chris DeSousa. The IceHogs forward was handed a five-minute major for boarding. Fortunately for Fiala he would return a mere two minutes into the five-minute major power-play opportunity for the Admirals and looked very lively following the heavy collision.

In the third period the Admirals were the recipient of a tic-tac call that put them on the power-play for a fourth time. Ryan Hartman was caught offside and just as the whistle was blowing against him for that he clipped Conor Allen head high with a hit and was called for roughing. This set the stage for Max Reinhart’s first goal as a member of the Admirals as his one-timed slap shot on the right wing faceoff circle blazed past Leighton and in for a power-play goal to make it 2-2.

Moments later the IceHogs were on the receiving end of some luck of their own. Vladislav Kamenev was carrying the puck with pace through the attacking zone when the puck hit off Hartman’s knee hard and flew out into the neutral zone. Marko Dano was the first man to react to the play and beat Anthony Bitetto to the punch to head off on a breakaway. Saros stopped the initial chance but Dano swept in the follow up to score his first goal of the season at make it a 3-2 IceHogs lead.

The game was put away in the final minute with Saros on the bench and the extra attacker on. Despite some decent enough setups on shots to the net the IceHogs blocked most of them and wound up with the long range empty netter by Hartman that closed the game out at the 4-2 final on his second goal of the season.

“We definitely haven’t yet put it all together,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “We’re still waiting for that.”

The Admirals, who have played half the amount of games as the IceHogs have, will look to start hitting better stride with a good chunk of games now on the calendar. Including tonight’s game, the next two weeks the Admirals will have played a total of seven games after a cold opening of only three games prior. Practice, while good for rebounding from games such as this, only allow for so much to be done. The real work needs to happen in-game. With a rapid succession of games the hope is for the Admirals to get on a run.

“Playing hockey games is good,” smiled Evason. “You can practice your systems, you can practice everything, your pace, all that kind of stuff – but you’re not doing it for real. It looks great in practice because we’re really pushing the pace, or we’re tight with our system, but we’re not playing anybody. So there is no question you can play hockey games, you get into a groove, you get your lines going, you can roll everything, and your systems you can teach with film. We’re looking forward to playing more games for sure.”

Ramblings: Since the Admirals last played there were a number of roster moves made. Viktor Arvidsson was assigned to the Admirals from the Nashville Predators but did not factor in tonight’s game because he was recalled due to Calle Jarnkrok getting ill. Anthony Bitetto joined the Admirals from the Predators via a conditioning assignment that will see him back with the team for the next two weeks (injuries pending). Subsequently the Admirals sent Max Görtz, Joe Pendenza, and Jonathan Diaby to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL to take on the added load from Nashville.

What is your reaction to tonight’s game: positive minus the result or is it all a negative? What was your reaction to the hit Kevin Fiala received from Chris DeSousa? How well do you think Juuse Saros has performed for the Admirals so far?

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The Admirals won 3-2 in overtime on the road against the Iowa Wild Tuesday night. The Admirals trailed 2-0 all the way until the third period and scored with the extra attacker to force overtime. Adam Payerl had the puck on his stick on an odd-man rush in three-on-three overtime and buried his own rebound to provide the Admirals their first win of the 2015-16 season.

“We thought we deserved to win,” said assistant coach Stan Drulia after the game on 105.7 FM The Fan. “I thought the way we came out today was what we expected out of our group. We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone. Juuse [Saros] was really good in net. Excited for him we were able to battle back. He made a big save close to the buzzer to keep it 2-2 to allow us to go into overtime. But, we had a lot of contributions from the entire group today.”

The scoring in this game didn’t take place until the midway point in the second period. After a puck eluded Stevie Moses on the blueline during an Admirals power-play – Zack Mitchell was able to skate up ice past him for a shorthanded breakaway. Moses tried his best to defend on the backcheck but was called for a penalty when his stick got into the ribs of Mitchell. The shorthanded penalty shot was a clean shot that beat Juuse Saros straight through the five hole for Mitchell’s first goal of the season.

Then there was a disastrous moment in net for Admirals rookie goaltender Saros which made it a 2-0 Wild lead less than five-minutes after the game’s opening goal. A shot by Brett Bulmer banked violently off the end-boards and right back into the goal mouth area. Saros appeared to be avoiding the puck clipping off his left skate as he held the post but was out of position when the puck continued to roll and fall in-line with Matt Carey for an easy goal and his first as a member of the Wild.

In the opening minutes of the third period the Admirals finally had their breakthrough on offense. After Brett Bulmer roughed up Joe Pendenza along the benches the Admirals were given their fifth power-play opportunity of the game. Directly off of a faceoff win Frédérick Gaudreau hammered a slap shot above the right wing faceoff circle for his first goal of the season and the Admirals first power-play goal from twelve chances.

The pressure was getting poured on at both ends of the rink in the closing stages of the third period. Saros was coming up very big in net while the Admirals continued to create chances and earn faceoffs in the attacking zone. With 1:53 remaining in regulation, and an in-zone faceoff, Admirals head coach Dean Evason used the team’s timeout and opted to pull Saros in favor of bringing the extra attacker on. The Wild had never defeated the Admirals in Iowa in regulation in the team’s three-year history. That’s going to prove to up hold up for at least one more game. The Ads won the initial faceoff draw, held the zone, and when Trevor Murphy’s shot from the point stopped in front of the net it allowed for Vladislav Kamenev to score his second goal of the season and force overtime.

In the Admirals first taste of the new AHL overtime format for this season, full five-minute three-on-three hockey, they were able to complete their comeback. Adam Payerl controlled the puck on a two-on-one rush breaking into the offensive zone. Payerl glided in from the left wing, pump faked a shot, whipped a shot on Leland Irving who made the initial save, but Payerl snapped up the rebound and forced it across for the overtime-winner. The Admirals came from 2-0 down in the third period to win their first game of the season. How about that?

“He loved [Adam Payerl] in the exhibition season,” said Drulia. “He practiced like that and he played like that.”

Ramblings: Since last game, the Milwaukee Admirals recalled defenseman Jimmy Oligny from his loan assignment with the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). Tonight’s line combinations were: Pendenza-Sissons-Moses, Salomäki-Reinhart-Bass, Fiala-Kamenev-Payerl, Devane-Girard-Gaudreau, Oligny-Allen, Murphy-Aronson, Alm-Näkyvä. That meant tonight’s scratches were: Max Görtz (team violation), Pontus Åberg (team violation), Jonathan Diaby (healthy). Per Aaron Sims, both Görtz and Åberg were out of tonight’s game due to a team violation and didn’t even travel with the team to Iowa. The win for Juuse Saros was his first career pro win in North America and he took home first star honors tonight by stopping 23/25 shots on goal.

How do we all feel after this game? What is more important: the result itself or the way the Admirals achieved the result?

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The Admirals lost by a profound 7-2 against the Charlotte Checkers Friday night. The home opener for the Ads never really manifested itself to be anything other than a Checkers victory. Even the goals scored tonight by the Admirals were last put in by Checkers players. The rough keeps getting rough and the Checkers remain unbeaten from their first three games.

“It’s probably top on the disappointment list,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason in regards to the result of the home opener. “It’s a big list but for sure it is the top of it.”

The opening goal came just past the midway point in the first period. After Conor Allen joined the attacking rush for the Admirals and rang iron from a close range shot – the Checkers were off on a counter attack. Phil Di Giuseppe carried the puck down from the left wing and fed the center lane drive of Derek Ryan who beat Marek Mazanec blocker side to make it a 1-0 Checkers lead. The goal for Ryan was his second of the season.

In the final minute of the first period there was a frenzy around the Checkers net that led to video review. A puck managed to skip in behind Drew MacIntyre and get cleared before any Admirals skater could finish the job. The officials waved it off on the ice, the goal light came on, and people were generally confused. The official call was that MacIntyre was interfered with and for good measure, after a look at the overhead replay, the puck didn’t cross anyway.

After a Miikka Salomäki interference call prematurely ended an Admirals power-play the Checkers were able to tally again. Jake Chelios’ shot from the blueline took a harsh deflection en route to goal thanks to the net front presence of Di Giuseppe. The power-play goal made it a 2-0 Checkers lead on Di Giuseppe’s first goal of the season.

Following Rasmus Rissanen’s second minor penalty of the second period the Admirals hoped to get some momentum brewed up from their fourth power-play opportunity of the night. Patrick Brown was able to win a race down the right wing and wire in a shot off the back post of the net. Play continued on and it wasn’t until an official review that it was determined to be a shorthanded goal from Brown’s first of the season to make it 3-0 Checkers.

Brown would add a second goal for himself in the third period. Chelios did his best T.J. Brennan imitation by flying from defense all the way down the left wing wall before whipping a puck towards the goal mouth. Johnny on the spot was Mr. Brown who tapped home from close range to make it a 4-0 Checkers lead.

The Admirals would score thirty-eight seconds later to finally give the opening night fans something to cheer about. Salomäki skated behind a pack of four bodies before releasing a wrister from the left wing faceoff dot. MacIntyre made the initial save with the glove but the puck flew out to the net defending Chelios who botched his clearance attempt by scoring on his own goaltender. Salomäki, having last played the puck, was credited with the goal and ended a goal scoring drought of 55:14 dating back to Vladislav Kamenev’s shorthanded goal scored on the opener of the regular season in Chicago.

Past the midway point of the third period Cody Bass had a goal disallowed after a quick whistle bailed out MacIntyre in net. Bass scored five hole with ease but the whistle was ruled to have been blown prior to the goal. In the aftermath and confusion Kyle Hagel and Jonathan Diaby locked horns in a fight for the Admirals that might have come two periods too late. Decent enough noogie tilt but nothing more.

Following some jaw jacking, Bass and David Wohlberg were both sent to the box for two-minutes to open up the ice for four-on-four hockey. Similar to their first goal of the evening the Admirals had a Checkers defenseman to thank. Taylor Aronson’s shot from the right point was saved by MacIntyre but pushed aside into the path of Trevor Carrick and into his own net. Aronson’s first goal of the season cut the lead to 4-2.

The Admirals then decided to immediately go for the empty net and extra attacker. Danny Biega’s response to the move was a long range shot for the empty net goal. Going for absolute broke the Admirals emptied the net again – and Brendan Woods scored into the empty net. Captain Colton Sissons got into some rough stuff with seconds left in the game and worked himself up for a two-minute penalty for roughing and a misconduct. The Checkers decided to tag Mazanec for a last power-play goal with 1.5 seconds remaining after Erik Karlsson’s first goal of the season.

“I can’t say much more than it’s been very frustrating so far,” said Colton Sissons. “We’re not folding our cards yet. We’ve got a lot of time, we’re going to stay positive, stick together, get through this, and get better every day.”

Ramblings: Yesterday, defensemen Garrett Noonan and Jimmy Oligny were assigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). In news that will help Elite Prospects out – Dov Grumet-Morris was released from his PTO contract with the Admirals quite some time ago. Tonight’s lines were: Salomäki-Sissons-Fiala, Moses-Reinhart-Görtz, Åberg-Kamenev-Bass, Devane-Girard-Gaudreau, Allen-Näkyvä, Diaby-Aronson, and
Alm-Murphy.

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The Admirals lost 5-1 on the road against the Chicago Wolves Saturday night. The Amtrak Rivals buried four power-play goals tonight including three in the first period alone.

“Obviously it’s an area we have to clean up for sure,” said Milwaukee Admirals assistant coach Stan Drulia after the game on 105.7 The Fan. “Penalty kill is the one thing that’s hard to work on at training camp but we have a lot of video right now. We have a lot of things that we can look at and discuss. Discipline was our number one key today. We didn’t have that anywhere on the ice.”

The Wolves power-play got off and running in the first period after Kristian Näkyvä was called for a trip. Magnus Pääjärvi scored the power-play goal off of a redirect after a shot fake and pass by André Benoît.

The next Wolves power-play featured a goal but one scored at the other end of the ice. Vladislav Kamenev spearheaded a shorthanded rush down the ice, glided out ever so slightly to the right wing to open up a forehanded shot, and he somehow found daylight in Jordan Binnington to record his first pro goal in North America.

Struggles of composure continued for the Admirals as a Pontus Åberg slash was followed by a delay of game by Félix Girard in a matter of fifteen seconds. The five-on-three power-play was a bang bang wing-to-wing tally for Pat Cannone. Pääjärvi was able to zip a puck across the goal mouth to set up the Wolves captain on the left wing side of Juuse Saros for a tap in.

After Trevor Murphy was called for hooking, a poor clearance by Taylor Aronson on the penalty kill was blown right back in his face by the Wolves for their third power-play goal of the first period. The clearance by Aronson went straight to the Wolves who finished the second chance opportunity with Ty Rattie firing in a quick shot blocker side of Saros.

It was only a matter of time before frustrations and post whistle scrums developed into something a bit more legitimate. Cody Bass partnered up with Jacob Doty and the two threw some bombs at one another at the start of the tilt. Bass certainly walked away the winner of the fight but also appeared to injure his right hand in the process. He did return to the game later on.

In the second period, a little Russian on Russian crime led to a fourth power-play goal scored by the Wolves. Kamenev collided with fellow Russian forward Ivan Barbashyov which resulted in a tripping penalty. Rattie would score his second power-play goal of the night after Jonthan Diaby and his defensive partner Murphy both fell asleep on the penalty kill and let the sniper drift behind them. It was a smooth finish by Rattie to best Saros to the glove side.

With only 0.5 seconds remaining in the second period the Wolves tallied their fifth goal of the game and the first goal scored at even-strength. Benoît’s shot from the left point took a net front redirect by Doty that snuck through Saros to make it a 5-1 game.

The third period would prove to cruise by. No more damage was created by the Wolves and no damage was really attempted to be created by the Admirals. In the end, it is the Wolves eighth consecutive win over the Admirals and wound up being the Amtrak Rivals’ largest home opener win, in terms of goals scored, since the 2002-03 season.

The Admirals composure and inability to stay out of the box early, and kill off those penalties, put them in a hole they could never get out of. With so many penalty kills early in a game it is hard for a team, especially offense, to settle and get into a groove. That never happened and the result pretty much speaks for itself. Saros ends up getting hard done in his North American debut allowing five goals – four of which were scored on the power-play – from thirty-seven shots.

“I thought Saros was good, real good,” said Drulia. “Kind of felt bad that we left him hanging out there to dry at times. He’s a real good goaltender and hopefully he can put this one behind him. He’s going to have a real good year for us.”

The team will look to rebound this coming Friday night on their home opener where the Admirals will face the Charlotte Checkers. Hopefully being able to recapture some of the magic of last season’s home opener where the Admirals beat the Checkers 6-3 could be in the cards with a solid week of practice. One game down. Seventy-five games left to play.

Ramblings: Tonight’s line combinations were: Salomäki-Sissons-Moses, Pendenza-Reinhart-Fiala, Åberg-Kamenev-Bass, Devane-Girard-Görtz // Allen-Näkyvä, Alm-Aronson, Diaby-Murphy. This meant the scratches were: Frédérick Gaudreau, Garrett Noonan, and Jimmy Oligny. Jordan Binnington is now a perfect eight for eight against the Admirals: 8 wins from 8 starts with a 0.936 save percentage. The Admirals were outshot by the Wolves tonight by a final of 37-17.

Obviously not the best way to open the season up. What is your reaction to tonight’s result? Did the Admirals simply shoot themselves in the first period with penalties and never recover? Do you look at Saros in net and have questions about his performance or more so the team in front of him?

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