The Admirals lost 8-4 against the Chicago Wolves Friday night. The rough keeps getting rough for the Admirals who have now lost four straight and have only one win from their last ten games.

“We scored four goals in this hockey game,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “That’s enough to win. We shoot ourselves in the foot to not allow ourselves to be in that hockey game.”

This game started with the dreaded Admirals power-play allowing its tenth shorthanded goal of the season. Nathan Longpre’s shorthanded rush and pull back to the right wing wall sucked in three Admirals while no one picked up the on-rushing Jeremy Welsh. Longpre passed across and it was a breakaway that ended forehand to backhand for Welsh’s fifteenth goal of the season and sixth scored against the Admirals.

The Admirals were able to level things up after some solid net front work out of the Pontus Aberg, Joe Pendenza, and Austin Watson line. Watson swatted a puck off the stick of Joel Edmundson and it fell to Pendenza who quickly backhanded a shot towards goal. His shot ended up deflecting off the leg of Brett Regner who was camped out in front of goaltender Jordan Binnington and the puck fell to Aberg for a quick wrister and his sixteenth goal of the season.

After Mike Liambas was given an elbowing minor for a check in neutral ice on Colton Parayko – the Wolves special teams was able to retake a first period lead. Pat Cannone passed from the left wing wall into the front of the net where Shane Harper whirled off a backhander to the opposite wing. The pass from Harper was immediately stabbed past Marek Mazanec by Magnus Paajarvi for his sixth goal of the season.

It took the Wolves only twenty-seven seconds into the second period to make it a 3-1 game. Parayko’s shot from the right point was spilled into the path of Adam Cracknell who continued to whack away at the puck until it was forced across for his fifth goal of the season.

Eric Robinson scored his first career goal as a professional hockey player to pull the game back to a one-goal deficit. Robinson skated into a soft spot in the zone as his linemates worked away on the forecheck. Mark Van Guilder passed from behind the net and Robinson took it first-time and wired his shot over the blocker of Binnington for his first pro goal.

“It was a good feeling,” said Eric Robinson. “It’d be nicer if we won. Hopefully I can take that confidence into the next couple games.”

The Admirals enigma wrapped inside of a mystery and packaged into a riddle, aka their power-play, finally made good to end a previous drought of 0/39 that ran for eleven games. On chance number forty, Colton Sissons threw a shot pass looking for a stick-blade en route to the net. Gary Steffes was able to get the deflection and received an even bigger redirect courtesy of Wolves defenseman Regner. The puck deflected off Regner’s leg and past Binnington for the ever elusive Admirals power-play goal. It was Steffes’ second career AHL goal and first scored since 2/9/13 as a member of the Lake Erie Monsters.

Less than three minutes later it was a Wolves lead. Jacob Doty scored his first career AHL goal after a hard shot from the left point deflected off a stick and proceeded to flutter on past the glove of Mazanec and in.

Mazanec’s night would come to an end moments later as he conceded his fifth goal of the night. Cracknell scored from the bottom of the left wing circle after taking a swipe on a puck that skipped over to him. His shot beat Mazanec near post for his second of the night and sixth of the season. Mazanec stopped 17/22 shots on goal before getting replaced in net by Magnus Hellberg with 9:32 remaining in the second period.

“I have no idea,” answered Evason when asked about what’s happening to Mazanec in net. “We’re still trying to figure it out. He’s trying to figure it out.”

The Admirals did what they had to in the third period which was to score first in the hopes of chipping away on the Wolves two-goal lead. Zach Budish whipped a wrister from the right wing boards the kicked off the pads of Binnington. Mike Liambas was able to swat the rebound with a backhander that flipped past the blocker side of the Wolves netminder for his fifth goal of the season.

The inability of the Admirals to gather or maintain momentum within games has been an issue of late. With the game at a 5-4 deficit the Admirals seemed primed to get on a third period run like that of the San Antonio Rampage on Wednesday night. Then a puck went airborne in the Admirals defensive zone with Paajarvi camped under it and waiting to fire. He managed to slam a slap shot off the puck’s initial bounce and beat Hellberg high to the blocker for his second goal of the night and seventh of the season to immediately restore the Wolves two-goal lead.

With a late power-play the Admirals went for the extra attacker with 2:35 remaining. That was instantly punished after Welsh forced a turnover and spun a backhander from his own zone into the empty net for a shorthanded goal. It was his second shorthanded goal of the night, sixteenth goal of the season, and sixth goal scored against the Admirals.

For a laugh, the Admirals pulled Hellberg for the extra attacker once more only to allow the hat trick tally for Paajarvi that finished this game off at 8-4 Wolves. The goal for Paajarvi was his eighth of the season. And the loss for the Admirals was their worst of the 2014-15 campaign.

Ramblings: Kevin Fiala was assigned to the Admirals yesterday before getting recalled once again under emergency conditions earlier today. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Felix Girard (upper body) and Jimmy Oligny (healthy). After the game head coach Dean Evason said that Girard will not be back with the Admirals for the rest of this season due to injury.

When the Admirals claw back to tie the game at 3-3 what happened to the team? What will it ultimately take for the Admirals to jolt back to life? Are you concerned in the Admirals goaltending right now?

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The Admirals lost 4-3 in a shootout against the San Antonio Rampage Wednesday night. Despite a solid opening two periods of hockey for the Admirals the Rampage overcame a 3-0 deficit in the third period to force overtime before winning tonight via the shootout to extend their winning streak to six-games. The Admirals streak is now a losing variety of three.

“When things happen negatively like they do, and like it has, it’s hard to catch the momentum swing flying the other way,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “We did a lot of good things for two periods and once we get a little negative it just keeps snowballing.”

Austin Watson put the Admirals on the board in the first period and, by doing so, set a new career high for goals scored in a season with his twenty-third. Joe Pendenza attempted a wrap-around shot that pushed the puck out in front of Rampage netminder Michael Houser. Watson was able to find and pop in the loose puck to establish a new career high and make it a 1-0 game.

The Admirals power-play drought was nearly snapped within five seconds of their first chance of the night. It was the newest Admiral Gary Steffes who put a wrister into the net but the goal was disallowed because Triston Grant was in the crease. The veteran Admiral was tripped by Jonathan Racine en route to his net front drive. The play around him developed so fast that I doubt Grant new a thing about the Steffes shot and goal. The play was reviewed and waved off for Grant’s presence in the crease.

The first period would still see the Admirals claim a second goal. After absorbing some pressure defensively, the Admirals were able to break out of their zone and beat the Rampage on the rush with Pendenza’s ninth goal of the season. Watson started the play in his own defensive zone and teed up Pontus Åberg through neutral. The Swede delivered a no-look pass square to Pendenza in stride who swooped in down the left wing and beat Houser five hole from a quick wrister to make it a 2-0 Admirals lead. It was the first time the Admirals had scored twice in the first period since 2/15/15 against the Lake Erie Monsters.

“I actually wasn’t sure that [Åberg] saw me there as I was coming up the wing,” said Pendenza. “I was kind of anticipating him maybe dumping it or shooting it. He’s one hell of a passer so I’ll take it.”

In the second period the Admirals third goal of the night gave Houser the hook sign from the Rampage bench to end his night in net. Johan Alm from the left wing corner was able to pick out Colton Sissons who cranked a wicked wrister past Houser for his twenty-second goal of the season. Houser stopped 14/17 shots on goal before giving way to Sam Brittain in net. It was the first time all month that Houser wasn’t between the pipes for San Antonio.

Marek Mazanec’s shutout bid was denied early in the third period after a howitzer of a one-timed shot by Rocco Grimaldi beat him high blocker side. Former Admiral Greg Zanon migrated from the point down behind the net before delivering the primary assist for Grimaldi. It was his twelfth goal of the season.

Just before the halfway point of the third period the Rampage reduced the Admirals lead to one goal. Dany Heatley was camped in front of Mazanec and buried a puck that trickled out from behind the net. It was a quick and easy tap-in finish for Heatley’s seventh goal in the AHL this season.

It took less than three minutes before the Rampage would score yet again and tie the game up at 3-3. Quinton Howden delivered a drop pass for Blake Parlett as the two crossed paths with the defenseman stepping up from the blueline. Parlett beat Mazanec to the near post for his eighth goal of the season. It looked as if Mazanec never expected that shot to go blocker side. And the Admirals lost a 3-0 lead in 8:32 of ice time in the third period.

“We did a great job for like forty-three minutes and then we just fell asleep,” said Marek Mazanec. “Hockey game is sixty minutes and we need to play all sixty minutes.”

The best opportunity from overtime came with Eric Robinson nearly scoring his first career goal as a pro. He had blitzed down the slot looking for a backdoor feed. The pass hit him on the tape and the shot alluded Brittain but hit the right post and out.

The shootout would end after three rounds with the Rampage scoring twice on Mazanec. Grimaldi was the first shooter to take an attempt and he swooped left, came right, and hit crossbar and down for a goal. Next up was Åberg and Brittain stopped him with a glove save. Heatley and Sissons both attempted five hole shots and both were denied. Lastly, with a chance to win it, was Logan Shaw who buried a puck past the blocker of Mazanec to end the shootout and finish the Rampage comeback bid with a win.

Ramblings: Ahead of Wednesday night’s Admirals game the Nashville Predators had recalled Kevin Fiala on emergency basis Tuesday afternoon. He made his NHL debut last night in the Predators 3-2 (OT) win. Fiala logged 11:25 of ice time, had three shots on goal, and was a -1 player in his first career NHL game. In addition to the Fiala news yesterday the Admirals signed forward Gary Steffes to a PTO contract from the Allen Americans of the ECHL. He played tonight for his first AHL contest since 2/17/13 as a member of the Lake Erie Monsters. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Felix Girard (upper body) and Jonathan Diaby (healthy). The Admirals power-play drought has now reached 0/38 over its last ten games.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What happened in the third period? Where did the Admirals attention to details go? Can the Admirals rebound this weekend against the Chicago Wolves or could they find themselves out of the playoff picture by Sunday?

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The Admirals lost 4-3 against the Texas Stars Saturday night. This was another just another game in which the Admirals did all the right things that they needed to get the result but ultimately lost.

After Triston Grant and Austin Watson were both sent to the box, the Texas Stars were able to score from a five-on-three power-play via Greg Rallo’s twenty-first goal of the season. The Stars were cycling the puck heavily along the right wing before Travis Morin passed to his opposite wing for Rallo who buried his one-timed shot past Magnus Hellberg.

Kevin Fiala threw his name in the hat for the Admirals Goal of the Season in the first period. Fiala was matched up one-on-one with Jamie Oleksiak and burned him with a crafty move that turned the defenseman inside out and put Fiala in all alone on Jack Campbell. The finish was just as good as the deke before it. Fiala calmly out-waited Campbell off the left wing before pulling in a shot on the forehand for his ninth goal of the season.

Mentioned in the rant column of today’s “Scouting the Enemy” was a section on Admirals mistakes. Allowing teams to answer back so quickly after scoring was one of those mistakes and it struck again after the crowd was in a frenzy for Fiala’s highlight reel goal. Only forty-three seconds after the Admirals scored a defensive breakdown had Devin Shore alone in the slot for a one-timer that knuckled through Hellberg to put the Stars right back into the lead. It was Shore’s first career goal as a pro.

In the second period Stars captain Maxime Fortunus scored his eighth goal of the season to make it a two-goal game. A puck kicked out from the left wing faceoff circle right back for Fortunus who hammered a shot immediately. The puck fluttered clean past Hellberg on the glove side.

The Admirals third period push would come in the closing minutes with an extra attacker on the ice. With 3:03 remaining they emptied their net. With 2:07 remaining they used their timeout. And then, with 1:52 remaining, Austin Watson scored his team leading twenty-second goal of the season as the Admirals crashed numbers on Campbell in net.

It felt like when Scott Glennie put away the empty net goal with a minute remaining in the game that the drama was all over. That just wouldn’t be the case. Mark Van Guilder batted a puck out of the air in front of Campbell to score his ten goal of the season with 0:44 seconds remaining in regulation to make it a one-goal gap yet again.

For all the pressure that the Admirals put on the Stars in the closing seconds they had one last chance to send this game into overtime. Watson very nearly sent this game past regulation with a wrist shot that buzzed through traffic and narrowly missed hitting its intended target. It didn’t. And the Admirals, who once again performed quite well, fell short.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Felix Girard (upper body) and Jimmy Oligny (healthy). Jonathan Diaby made his return to the ice after being a healthy scratch for the Admirals last three games. Tonight marked the return to Milwaukee ice for Scott Ford for the first time since game two of the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs when the Admirals lost to the Toronto Marlies 5-2 on 4/26/14. After the game Kevin Fiala received five stitches after a skate hit him high on the neck. The Admirals power-play went 0/6 tonight and are currently on a run of 0/35 over their last nine games. The Grand Rapids Griffins point streak of nineteen games finally came to an end with a 4-3 loss on the road to the Lake Erie Monsters.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What is wrong with this Admirals power-play? Is it safe to tip your cap to Jack Campbell in net and move on to the next game?

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The Admirals lost 3-1 on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday night. Despite a solid effort for the Admirals it is yet another game on this road trip where a mistake came back to haunt them. The Griffins had a late power-play and scored with under two minutes remaining to see the Admirals off on their season long six game road trip with a record of 1-4-1-0. I imagine that bus can’t get from Grand Rapids to Milwaukee fast enough.

Joe Pendenza scored his eighth goal of the season to kick off the scoring in the first period. Austin Watson’s work on the forecheck was key as he freed up a puck, passed to the low right wing faceoff circle, and allowed Pendenza to get a quick shot off in a prime scoring position. Tom McCollum made the initial save on Pendenza’s shot but the puck flipped up and off of his back and in for the goal.

With 1:38 remaining in the first period the Griffins were able to level the game at 1-1. Andreas Athanasiou broke down the right wing, cut across Jimmy Oligny, and then passed off to Martin Frk on the opposite wing for the one-timed finish. It was an impressive shot for Frk. The Athanasiou pass was skipping the entire way and alluded the intercept of Taylor Aronson before getting to the tape of Frk who scored his fourth goal of the season.

The game wouldn’t get another goal until late in the third period and it would turn out to be the game-winner. With 3:12 remaining, Johan Alm flipped a puck up into the stands and was called for a delay of game. Then, with 1:57 remaining in regulation, Athanasiou hammered a slap shot low along the ice that had enough force on it to keep on motoring through the wickets of Hellberg and slide in. It was Athanasiou’s fourteenth goal of the season.

The Admirals emptied their net and brought on the extra attacker at the 1:30 mark. Yet, Kevin Porter was able to jar loose a puck off of Kevin Fiala on the high right point off of a faceoff win for the Admirals. Porter proceeded to race down and throw in the empty net tally from the Admirals blueline to close this game at 3-1 on Porter’s twelfth goal of the season.

There can certainly be finger wagging after a game like this. Truth be told, the Admirals played an outstanding game. As has been the story of this road trip though it was a mistake that overshadowed the great effort produced by the Admirals. The Griffins went 0/2 on the power-play in the first period. They were then given a chance late in the game and capitalized off of it. The Admirals on the other hand went 0/5 on the power-play tonight and have a current run of 0/29 over its last eight games. Mistakes get punished. The Admirals missed their chance to do so tonight. And the Griffins late power-play gave them all they needed to steal a game from the Admirals tonight.

Ramblings: Prior to tonight’s game the Nashville Predators recalled Viktor Arvidsson under emergency conditions. In addition, the Milwaukee Admirals signed Dartmouth right winger Eric Robinson to an ATO contract. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Felix Girard (upper body) and Jonathan Diaby (healthy). The win tonight for the Griffins extended their current point streak to nineteen games, 15-0-3-1. The Admirals, with results from yesterday and today, are now seated seventh in the Western Conference behind the Texas Stars.

Despite the result, are you pleased by the performance that the Admirals put in tonight against the Griffins? What is the problem with the power-play? Are you getting worried about the Admirals playoff chances at the moment?

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The Admirals won 4-2 on the road against the Oklahoma City Barons Tuesday night. A three goal third period was the catalyst to the Admirals snapping out of their five game losing streak. In the space of five minutes Kevin Fiala, Mark Van Guilder, and Triston Grant scored to give the Admirals space to survive a late flurry for the Barons.

Kevin Fiala opened the scoring in the second period with his eighth goal of the season. The goal came after Anthony Bitetto and Andrew Miller were sent to the box to make it four-on-four. Johan Alm slid over to Fiala who was all alone on the inner half of the right wing faceoff circle. Fiala hammered a one-timer through Laurent Brossoit to make it 1-0.

Triston Grant went to the box after some extra shoving in front of the Admirals bench. During his roughing minor, Jason Williams had a stick failure on his slap shot attempt and sent Mark Van Guilder off to the races shorthanded. The Admiral veteran went forehand to backhand and beat Brossoit for his ninth goal of the season.

The moment Grant exited the box from his roughing minor he skated into the Admirals attacking zone and was given a gift courtesy of Dillon Simpson. The Barons defenseman was being heavily pressured and turned the puck over right in front of the net to Grant. Brossoit went into full-on panic and desperation mode and sprawled for a diving poke check but came up empty. Grant threw a shot up and over the downed netminder and scored his eleventh goal of the season to make it a 3-0 Admirals lead through two periods of play.

It wouldn’t be the Admirals if not for a bit of anxiety, right? That anxiety came in the third period in the form of Bogdan Yakimov. With 8:01 remaining, after an in-zone faceoff, Joshua Winquist teed up Yakimov in the high left wing faceoff circle for a one-timer that he blast past Magnus Hellberg high glove side to make it 3-1.

Before the Barons even had to pull Brossoit for an extra attacker Yakimov did it again. Williams was able to win a race to negate icing against the Barons as he beat Johan Alm to the puck and, after some pinballing behind the net, it fell kindly in the slot for Yakomov to score his second goal of the third period and twelfth of the season.

With Brossoit on the bench, and the Barons bringing the extra attacker on, the Admirals scored an empty netter to finally allow themselves to exhale. Fiala competed along the left wing and Rich Clune had the initial chance for the empty cage but missed off a post. The follow up would be cleaned up by Austin Watson to record his twenty-first goal of the season to finish the game up 4-2.

Hellberg was great in net tonight for the Admirals. He made thirty-one saves and was up to the task with Oklahoma City throwing as much as they could at him in the third period when they fired sixteen shots. It’s Hellberg’s first win in over a month’s time.

Ramblings: Prior to the game the Milwaukee Admirals signed Scott Ford to a PTO contract and released Ian White from his PTO contract. It is Ford’s first game in the AHL since being part of the Admirals team that were swept from the playoffs last season by the Toronto Marlies. He had been a member of the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL up until this PTO contract. Per Aaron Sims, Ford is the fifth Admiral all-time to play parts of seven seasons with the franchise. Tonight’s scratches included Felix Girard (upper-body) and Jonathan Diaby (healthy).

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Compared to the previous two outings against the Barons what changed for the Admirals tonight to see the result change? How did Scott Ford look in his return to not just the Admirals but the AHL?

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The Admirals lost 6-2 on the road against the Texas Stars Sunday evening. As far as results go this is one of the worst games of the Admirals’ 2014-15 season. The Stars upped their performance from the night prior to chase Marek Mazanec and push the Admirals winless skid to five games.

In the first period there was a spell of 1:47 where both the Admirals and Stars traded scoring blows back-to-back-to-back. The Stars opened the scoring through Brendan Ranford’s fourteenth goal of the season. He was able to dodge a stick check of Taylor Aronson before sending a backhander past the glove of Marek Mazanec.

The Admirals responded fifty-eight seconds later when Viktor Arvidsson scored his nineteenth goal of the season. Pontus Åberg hit Arvidsson on a stretch pass through neutral ice and sent him off to the races. Arvidsson wired a wrist shot far glove-side of Jack Campbell and off the post and in to level things up in less than a minute.

It took the Stars fifty-nine seconds to nullify the Arvidsson goal. A rebound off of Mazanec fell to none other than former-Admiral Kevin Henderson who swatted in the loose puck for his fourth goal of the season and first goal against the Admirals since leaving the team last season.

Similar to the opening frame, it was a matter of moments before the Stars scored a pair of goals in the second period to separate themselves clear of the Admirals. Joining in on the festivities set down by Henderson it was Scott Valentine’s chance to score on his former team. It was a dandy of a goal as well. He raced up to join Branden Troock on the rush and scored a wrister while falling down onto the ice through Mazanec’s blocker-side to record his second goal of the season.

It was forty-nine seconds after that when Scott Glennie was in the right place at the right time to push home a rebound off of the end boards that trickled in on goal. Justin Dowling had the initial shot that banked off the boards and in on goal. Glennie had a simple enough finish for his eleventh goal of the season.

With only six seconds remaining in the second period the Stars tagged Mazanec yet again off of a rebound. Matt Mangene’s shot ended up bouncing off Mazanec and square for Ranford to score his second goal of the game and fifteenth of the season to make it 5-1 Stars through two period of play.

Before the second period closed out there was a bout between Mike Liambas and Stars goal scorer Glennie. It was a spirited bout from Liambas who got a few good ones in before Glennie earned the takedown.

Magnus Hellberg replaced Mazanec for the start of the third period. Mazanec stopped 11/16 shots before getting yanked. Since earning his fourth shutout of the season on 3/4/15 on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Mazanec has allowed nineteen goals in his last five games.

Hellberg’s entry to the game wasn’t met with much better. The very first shot he faced in the third period beat him high blocker side from a Derek Hulak shot to make it a 6-1 game. The goal for Hulak was his sixteenth of the season.

Over halfway through the third period and the Admirals picked up their second goal of the night from Arvidsson. It was a heavy slap shot from the left point from the Swede which took redirect out in front of Campbell in net. Colton Sissons was trying his best to screen out in front and the traffic he drew may have helped Arvidsson pick up his twentieth goal of the season.

The game would end there and this latest rough patch for the Admirals has hit five straight defeats. During this stretch the Admirals have been outscored 23-9. The divisional and conference standings are seeing the Admirals at a standstill while the rest of the league slowly close the gap or, more importantly, leave the Admirals behind.

The next stop on the road trip is Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Barons. They defeated the Admirals on back-to-back occasions by the score of 5-1 to start this current losing streak. A measure of revenge could be on the mind. Personally, I would just prefer to see a measure of composure.

Ramblings: Today’s scratches for the Admirals included Félix Girard (upper-body) and Jonathan Diaby (healthy). Girard was injured during his fight with Scott Valentine yesterday. It is the first game that Girard has missed all season.

What is your reaction to today’s result? What’s wrong with this Admirals team currently? Was it wrong of Dean Evason to leave Mazanec in net for as long as he did today?

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The Admirals lost 4-3 on the road against the Texas Stars Saturday night. A rough first period for the Admirals put them on the back-foot early. The costly amount of early mistakes put the Admirals winless streak up to four games.

Despite a strong opening minute of play for the Admirals they were immediately turned inside out by their own mistakes. After Kevin Henderson drew a holding penalty on Anthony Bitetto the Stars were able to score off their first power-play chance. Joe Piskula was unable to get a backhanded clearance out of the zone and it put the Admirals penalty kill into a scramble mode which allowed Scott Glennie to score as he sat in front of Marek Mazanec all alone. The puck snuck through Mazanec for Glennie’s tenth goal of the season.

Another failed clearance led directly to the Stars second goal. The puck was rimmed around but kept in at the left point by Scott Valentine and he passed off to Greg Rallo as he broke in towards the faceoff circles. As Rallo rolled in on goal no one, other than Rallo himself, picked up the deadly Travis Morin as he skated in from the left wing. Rallo passed off and it was a tap in job for Morin’s eighteenth goal of the season.

When Austin Watson was called for boarding it took the Stars only eleven seconds on the power-play. Rallo passed off to the left wing for Derek Meech whose quick wrist shot was stopped by Mazanec but fell back in-line with Rallo as he followed through on goal to pick up his twentieth goal of the season.

Immediately after the Admirals went down 3-0 in the first period Dean Evason called for a timeout. The coaches didn’t say much, if anything, and left it up to the players to figure the poor start out.

Not too far after that was a dust up between the former-Admiral Valentine and Felix Girard. This bout started in the Admirals attacking end along the left wing end boards. Not many blows were landed cleanly, though a few wild punches were thrown, and it ended with both tumbling to the ice with Valentine coming up on top of Girard.

Before the end of the first period Kevin Fiala’s seventh goal of the season gave the Admirals some relief to their opening frame frustrations. Triston Grant hit Colton Sissons on an outlet pass through neutral zone and he worked through two defenseman after dropped back for Fiala. Sissons helped clear some space out in front of the net and Fiala beat Jussi Rynnas to the blocker side on a wrist shot to make it a 3-1 game.

In the second period the Stars made it 3/3 on the power-play with Derek Hulak scoring his fifteenth goal of the season. Bitetto was called for a crosscheck and, for the second time on the night, was in the box as the Stars cashed in off a power-play. A point shot by Maxime Fortunus buzzed through traffic and right in front of goal for Hulak to secure the rebound off Mazanec and make it a three-goal lead.

With eleven seconds remaining in the second period Bitetto was able to get one back for the Admirals by scoring his third goal of the season and first since January 10th. Joe Pendenza carried the puck, and Matej Stransky, into the left wing boards and Bitetto stepped up from the blueline and raced in, secured the puck, and floated in a backhander past Ryannas. Small credit must be given to Grant who cleaned out two Stars defenders on the play as Bitetto skated in-behind him to deliver the backhanded shot.

With 3:01 remaining in regulation, the Admirals not only had a power-play but Mazanec pulled in the hopes of a miracle comeback down two goals. The power-play came to an end but it didn’t stop the onslaught of attack which ended with Sissons powering in his team leading twenty-first goal of the season.

Unfortunately, the last gasp of attack with the extra attacker was too little and too late. The Stars won this game 4-3 and really achieved much of that scoreline through a first period where mistakes were early and often. That first period the Stars only had five shots of which three were put past Mazanec. The Admirals offense ended the night outshooting the Stars 32-21. They’re just not getting the finishing touch for all their work putting pucks to the net.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included Frederick Gaudreau (healthy) and Ian White (late scratch, replaced by Jonathan Diaby). Miikka Salomaki will miss the rest of the season due to shoulder surgery. Mike Liambas made his return to game action after missing four games due to a laceration he suffered to his lower-right leg on 3/1/15 playing against the Chicago Wolves.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What is the possible explanation for the Admirals awful first period? What were the positives you would be able to take out of this game into tomorrow night’s game against these same Stars? What must be done differently?

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The Admirals lost 3-2 in overtime on the road against the San Antonio Rampage Wednesday night. Despite generating plenty of offensive chances the Admirals were forced to comeback twice in this game before losing in overtime. It is the Admirals first point gained after losing 5-1 to the Oklahoma City Barons the previous two outings yet there is a feeling that the Ads could just have easily taken the full haul tonight in San Antonio.

After a very tightly defended game the scoring broke open 14:58 into the second period from yet another shorthanded goal allowed by the Admirals. Brett Olson somehow wired a long range wrist shot from the far right wing wall against the grain of Marek Mazanec and up and over his glove side to tally his eleventh goal of the season. It’s the ninth shorthanded goal allowed by the Admirals this season.

The Admirals power-play pressure picked up following the shorthanded goal and, with Jonathan Racine fresh out of the box, the Ads answered right back. Johan Alm was able to secure a keep in on the left point and threw a low shot in on Michael Houser. The puck kicked out right to Mark Van Guilder who scored his eighth goal of the season on his milestone night as he became the Milwaukee Admirals most tenured player in the AHL era of the franchise in tonight’s game.

San Antonio went back out in front with a goal from Dany Heatley in the third period. A great rush through the neutral zone by Jesse Blacker led to a drop off for Heatley who dropped off for the trailing Corban Knight who went forehand to backhand as he passed right back to the net front drive of Heatley. The shot attempt from the veteran sniper was fanned on but the puck went in off of his skate for his first goal since joining the Rampage.

Less than three minutes later the Admirals were able to equalize through Austin Watson’s twentieth goal of the season. Viktor Arvidsson had a slap shot attempt from the left wing faceoff dot but his stick exploded. As the puck rolled down behind the net Watson took a quick swipe on net and managed to bank a shot off of Houser and in. It is Watson’s third consecutive season of scoring twenty or more goals with the Admirals.

It took overtime to decide this game and, sadly, the lone point was all that the Admirals managed to earn tonight. Just eighteen seconds into the overtime period and a great series in attack for the Rampage teed up Blacker for a rifled shot in tight to Mazanec from the left wing and he buried his sixth goal of the season to end this game at 3-2.

There were certainly far more positives than negatives on this night for the Admirals. They mustered up thirty-five shots on Houser and held the Rampage to only twenty four shots on goal. Defensively things were far better than they were as early as last night’s game and it gives them something to build on for this weekend’s games against the Texas Stars.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included Mike Liambas (right-leg laceration), Miikka Salomaki (upper-body), and Jonathan Diaby (healthy).

Thoughts on tonight’s performance? Loss aside, was this a much improved effort by the Admirals than last night? Can you credit this as a solid game by Michael Houser that stifled the Admirals shooters?  Why are the Admirals allowing so many shorthanded goals?

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The Admirals lost 5-1 on the road against the Oklahoma City Barons Tuesday night. Despite things being level after two period of play everything fell apart for the Admirals in the third period. There was a fluke bounce, a goal scored fifty-three seconds after that, miscommunication, and -lastly- a empty netter of the shorthanded variety to finish off a repeat scoreline from Sunday night.

With the first power-play chance of the night, the Barons allowed two odd-man breaks to the Admirals with the final of those chances getting converted by Austin Watson. Both Watson and Joe Pendenza were darting up ice. Watson had the puck from neutral ice all the way in on goal, didn’t pass over to Pendenza, but ripped a shot by Laurent Brossoit to score his nineteenth goal of the season. It’s the Admirals third shorthander of the season and the third allowed by the Barons on their campaign.

In the second period the Barons leveled things up at 1-1. There was a delayed penalty against Pontus Aberg coming but the Barons brought on the extra attacker and continued their attack. Jason Williams hard shot hit off of Magnus Hellberg and over to his left where Matthew Ford was waiting for the rebound tally for his fifteenth goal of the season. It was the first time that Hellberg had ever allowed a goal to the Barons in his career which snapped a personal shutout streak of 101:45 of ice time against Oklahoma City.

It was the third period where this game was blown to smithereens for the Admirals. The Barons had twenty-eight shots on goal through two period of play but the scoreline was even with the Admirals playing tight and composed defense. That all went out the window the moment the Barons took their first lead of the game.

When C.J. Ludwig unloaded a shot from the far left point the puck whistled clean over Hellberg and the net itself. However, the puck took a very awful bounce off the end boards and glass while managing to bank up and over the net and trickle down the back of Hellberg. Andrew Miller was on hand to get the final glancing touch to it to claim his twenty-second goal of the season.

It only took the Barons fifty-three seconds before scoring yet again. Chase Schaber managed to spin off a wrister off the top of the right wing faceoff circle and beat Hellberg to his glove side to make it a quick two-goal lead for the Barons on Schaber’s first goal in the AHL this season.

Things continued to go from bad to worse when the Barons netted their fourth goal of the night after a misplayed puck between Joe Piskula and Kevin Fiala. It appeared as though Piskula was just trying to clear pressure in the defensive zone of the Admirals by putting a pass off to neutral ice where Fiala was gliding from center to the right wing. As the pass came to him the puck kicked right off Fiala’s skate on the blueline and over to Travis Ewanyk who remained onsides. He powered a slap shot by Hellberg for his third goal of the season.

In desperation mode, the Admirals emptied their net with 2:21 remaining in regulation to bring on an extra attacker with an abbreviated power-play falling shortly to them afterwards. The final nail in the coffin was a long range empty net shorthanded goal scored by Ford for his second of the night and sixteenth goal of the season.

The best news that I can think up for the Admirals after tonight’s game is that they play tomorrow night. That third period display was about as shattered and flustered as the Admirals looked all season and I’d go as far as to say they shutdown after allowing those two goals in the space of fifty-three seconds. The Barons have put up five goals in all three of their games against the Ads this season. Tonight they also pounded the Ads in shots 41-24. This was a painful one. There’s only tomorrow’s road game against the San Antonio Rampage that can be thought of at the moment.

Ramblings: Prior to tonight’s game the AHL suspended Triston Grant for one-game as consequence for his actions the last time these two teams met on Sunday. Grant picked up an instigator in the final five minutes of the third period which resulted in an automatic one-game suspension under the provisions of AHL Rule 46.22. Rather than call up Josh Shalla from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL it was Ian White filling in at right wing for the Admirals as Grant served his suspension tonight with a thinly stretched forward group. Tonight’s scratches included Mike Liambas (right-leg laceration), Miikka Salomaki (upper-body), and Triston Grant (serving one-game suspension). Jonathan Diaby returned after missing the previous two games after being injured in a fight with Daniel Maggio in Lake Erie. Mark Van Guilder played in his 366th game as an Admiral tonight which tied him with Scott Ford for the most games played by an Admiral in the AHL history of the team.

What happened to the Admirals tonight? What went so wrong in the third period? Could this be a bad sign that this road trip could be a continued rough patch for the team?

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The Admirals lost 5-1 against the Oklahoma City Barons Sunday evening. This was about as rough of a game as the Admirals have had all season as the Barons bounced back in a big way tonight at the Admirals expense. The two will meet up again Tuesday when the Ads season long six game road trip starts up.

“That was a funny game,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “Clearly we made some mistakes to allow them the two goal lead and certainly the third goal. We thought for a lot of the game we had some territorial advantages. We make a mistake and we kick it in the net, then the power-play goal, we get back in it 3-1, and then we lost our composure a little bit in the hockey game. That wasn’t good on our part for sure.”

It was a sluggish start for both teams in the opening few minutes. The Barons were jamming up the neutral zone right out the gate and pinned the Admirals deep in their own half. This helped on the opening goal as a long range shot by Dillon Simpson was deflected past Marek Mazanec by Jason Williams to score his nineteenth goal of the season.

Figuring it’s high time for a spark, Rich Clune delivered a hard check to Brad Hunt that resulted in both a boarding minor and a subsequent fight with Mitch Moroz. The two had a heated tilt that escalated with Moroz continuing to gun for Clune after the officials had broken things up.

While Moroz was handed a misconduct for his troubles the Barons still had a power-play off of the initial Clune boarding minor. It would come back to bite the Admirals. The puck ricocheted over to Andrew Miller who patiently glided down the left wing before passing between the circles for Bogdan Yakimov. The defense wasn’t able to close him down in time and Yakimov responded with a quick swat for his tenth goal of the season.

In the second period the Barons extended their lead to 3-0. C.J. Ludwig’s shot from the right wing wall trickled through the pads of Mazanec and rolled behind him in the crease. C.J. Stretch was the first man to react to the loose puck and fended off Johan Alm as he whipped a shot back to the goal. As it happened, Stretch’s shot banked off of Alm’s skate and in for Stretch’s eighth goal of the season. Hard to imagine he’ll score an uglier one than that in his career.

Viktor Arvidsson finally put the Admirals on the board with his eighteenth goal of the season in the third period. The Swede rushed off the right wing, toe dragged, and fired a quick wrist shot past the blocker side of Laurent Brossoit.

Sadly, the Barons answered right back only forty-five seconds later. A puck jarred free off the left wing wall and straight to Joshua Winquist. He was all alone in front of Mazanec as he swooped across from left to right before finishing off on the backhand for his fifth goal of the season.

“That’s something that just can’t happen,” explained Triston Grant after the game. “You get some momentum, some life, and we’ve got to keep building and make sure we come back with an even bigger shift than we had when we scored. So, that’s obviously something that is part of our learning process, being a pro, and being good teams. That’s one of those things we’ve got to continue to work on.”

The damage would continue following an unsportsmanlike conduct on Jimmy Oligny. With his penalty expiring the Barons teed up a great passing play that ended with Stretch feeding across, low left wing to the top of the right faceoff circle, for Kellen Jones. His one-timed bomb ripped past Mazanec high blocker side for his fifth goal of the season to make it a 5-1 game.

As always, there is the potential for message sending at the end of lopsided games – especially with an overlap such as this Sunday-Tuesday tilt between the Admirals and Barons. With 1:45 remaining Triston Grant unloaded on Moroz in the right wing corner and laid him out. As officials separated them, and things cooled down, Moroz reached out and threw another punch at Grant’s face. Be curious to see how explosive things are going to get come Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.

“We knew when we saw the schedule at the start of the year that March was going to be a grind for us,” said Evason. “It’s in front of us. We’re looking forward to next game. We get [Oklahoma City] right away so it will be a good challenge for the group.”

Ramblings: Prior to puck drop tonight, Viktor Stålberg was recalled to the Nashville Predators. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included Mike Liambas (right-leg laceration), Miikka Salomäki (upper-body), and Jonathan Diaby (undisclosed, did participate in pre-game skate). Per Aaron Sims, today was Mark Van Guilder’s 365th game as an Admiral. He is now one game behind Scott Ford for the most games played by an Admiral in the AHL history of the team. Tonight’s game was the final time we will see the Oklahoma City Barons who are ceasing operations after this season. The Edmonton Oilers AHL affiliate will be the Bakersfield Condors in next season’s new Pacific Division.

What is your reaction to this result from the Admirals? Is this a wake-up call sort of game? What all went wrong today and how can it get corrected when these two meet up again in OKC?

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