The Admirals won in dramatic fashion by the final score of 3-2 in overtime against the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday night. History was flipped as this time it was the Admirals on their home ice scoring with 0.4 seconds remaining and scoring the game-winner in overtime all off the tape of the same man. The man tonight was Viktor Stålberg who scored his second hat trick of the season with the Admirals.

“It’s such irony,” smiled Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “We lost to them 0.4 seconds in their building. Almost the exact same scenario. What goes around comes around, I guess.”

Viktor Stålberg’s ninth goal of the season opened tonight’s scoring off in the first period. Xavier Ouellet lost the handle of a puck flying back along the boards up to the blue line as the Griffins were in attack. Viktor Arvidsson instantly pounced on it. And Viktor and Viktor were off to the races with Nathan Paetsch between them. As Arvidsson was on the puck Stålberg managed to outskate Paetsch to make it a two-on-ziltch break. Arvidsson passed over from the right wing to his fellow Swede breaking down the slot for a tap-in past Petr Mrázek to make it 1-0.

With 1:20 remaining in the second period the Griffins were able to level the game at 1-1 on Kevin Porter’s tenth goal of the season. A long range clearance from the Griffins zone resulted in a skipping puck that alluded Johan Alm and led to a turnover out in front of Marek Mazanec. Tomas Nosek was able to tee up Porter as he broke from the left of Mazanec and across for a goal that snuck under the left pad.

The Griffins took their first lead of the game in the third period and did it with the AHL’s leading scorer Teemu Pulkkinen. Ouellet’s long range shot from the right blue line was snapped out of the air by Pulkkinen with a quick stick. The redirect was able to fool Mazanec in net and it went past him for Pulkkinen’s league leading thirty-fourth goal of the season.

There was 1:34 remaining when the Admirals pulled Mazanec in favor of the extra attacker. The last second push was just that. A last second push. On 18 February, it was the Griffins delivering an equalizing goal with 0.4 seconds remaining. Tonight it was the Admirals turn to equalize with the exact same time remaining.

“I thought we had some good chances,” said Viktor Stålberg. “Eventually we’d get a bounce. We haven’t had much of those bounces in the last couple of weeks. It was nice to get one.”

Kevin Fiala was firing a few pucks on net with the final flurry but, in a last ditch attempt to generate something before time ran out, he threw a puck from the right wing wall and it perfectly hit the blade of Stålberg in front of Mrázek for the simple redirect goal. The goal light and final horn hit at the exact same moment and the play needed a review to determine what time was left on the clock as that goal crossed. It was exactly 0.4 seconds just as the Griffins were able to do a few weeks prior. The goal was Stålberg’s second of the game and tenth of the season.

“Honestly, I was walking,” said Evason. “I looked at Stan [Drulia] a little bit. Triston Grant was in front of us and he said he was leaving too. I just turned and then [Clune] was going crazy so I figured we’d stick around.”

Not to be outdone by flipping the script of that game in Grand Rapids one week ago, Stalberg scored the game-winner in overtime to score his eleventh goal of the season, complete his hat trick, and give the Admirals the win. Joe Piskula’s bank pass off the boards through the neutral zone sent Stålberg loose on the left wing with Nick Jensen pressuring him on his drive to the net. Stålberg didn’t even get a shot off on Mrázek but, on his race to the net, the puck flipped up and past the current CCM/AHL Player of the Week and in to close out the game.

Andy Miele scored with 0.4 seconds to tie and then won the game in overtime only two weeks ago. Stålberg repeated that exact same feat to the letter tonight. Save for one item. Miele’s overtime winner that day took 2:09 of the period. Stålberg’s game-winner in overtime tonight was scored in fifteen seconds. From regulation defeat to overtime winner in just 0:15.4 seconds of ice time. The Griffins may still have their point streak of fourteen games going but their attempt to set a franchise record with an eighth straight win on the road stopped in Milwaukee tonight.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included Jonathan Diaby (undisclosed), Mike Liambas (right leg laceration), Miikka Salomäki (upper body), Garrett Noonan (healthy), and Frédérick Gaudreau (healthy). Joe Piskula made his return to game action after missing the previous nine contests due to a lower-body injury. Tonight’s hat trick was the third time this season that an Admirals hat trick was scored by a Swede named Viktor.

Was this the game of the year? How would you rate the Admirals performance tonight? Why was the Admirals first period effort not carried over through the rest of the game? Can a result like this be the launch pad the Admirals need to get back up to the top of the Midwest Division?

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The Admirals earned a 3-0 shutout on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters Wednesday night. The Ads set a season low for shots allowed in a game with the Monsters only putting sixteen shots on net. One better, Marek Mazanec stopped each and every one of them to snap the Admirals five game losing skid.

After a slow start for the home side, birthday boy Daniel Maggio asked Jonathan Diaby if he wanted to drop the mitts in the first period. The two locked up and Maggio landed quite a few jabs out the gate. Diaby started to fair a bit better in the middle of the fight but Maggio started getting some solid overhand rights that took Diaby down. Give the birthday boy for Lake Erie the win, 29-28, in your three round fight cards.

It took the Admirals fifty-five seconds into the second period to get the game’s first goal. Johan Alm made a great swooping play down the left wing. After he dodged the check of Gabriel Beaupre he fired on net and Calvin Pickard kicked the puck out to the path of Colton Sissons. An Austin Watson net front drive helped clear out the front of the net and Sissons was able to pop home his twentieth goal of the season.

Not too long after the Admirals got another puck past Pickard. Beaupre was torched again in defense. This time his clearing breakout attempt down the right wing boards was picked off by Ian White who immediately tossed to the front of the net where Felix Girard was all alone. It was a flashy finish for Girard’s fourth goal of the season and first since back in the middle of December at Toronto.

This game was heavily in favor of the Admirals throughout until the third period where they appeared to take their foot off the gas a little bit. That may sound poor but, thankfully, their defensive effort backed that up. With under three minutes to go, the Monsters emptied their net despite being on the penalty kill at the time. Joe Pendenza buried his seventh goal of the season to close the game off with an empty net tally on the power-play.

Marek Mazanec didn’t have to stop much but, when he was called upon, he was extremely confident in net. He stopped all sixteen shots he faced to earn his fourth shutout for the Admirals this season. The shots allowed by the Admirals set a season low.

Credit must be given to Mazanec for staying sharp throughout plenty of dead spots in the game without action in his zone. His highlight of the night came when the Monsters had just emptied their net and stopped Andrew Agozzino in his tracks on a breakaway chance.

Ramblings: Prior to the game, Frédérick Gaudreau was recalled to the Milwaukee Admirals from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Rich Clune was suspended for tonight’s game by the AHL after accumulating his third fighting instigator misconduct of the season (AHL Rule 46.11). He will be available for Friday night’s game against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Tonight’s scratches included Mike Liambas (lower body), Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Rich Clune (suspended), Joe Piskula (lower body), and Garrett Noonan (healthy). The win tonight for the Admirals gives them 30 wins on the season.

Thoughts on the win tonight? What was done differently that earned the result? How is the defense, now healthy with the exception of Piskula, looking to you?

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The Admirals lost 4-1 on the road against the Chicago Wolves Sunday afternoon. Outside of a power-play goal from Viktor Stalberg in the second period this was nearly a carbon copy performance for the Ads from Friday night when they were outworked by the Grand Rapids Griffins. Shane Harper took over for the Wolves in the second period with two goals and the game just never came in gear for the Admirals – who are now on a five game winless stretch.

This game kicked off with a dust up. Cody Beach caught Taylor Aronson up high with a check and was called for a rough on the hit. Rich Clune wanted to send the early message back at the Wolves and went right after him for a fight. By doing so, it nullified the power-play because Clune was tabbed with an instigator and misconduct.

What resulted was a poorly executed breakout play that led to a Wolves goal moments later. Kevin Fiala was starting the breakout from behind the net and Adam Burish got a stick to the pass to keep the puck in zone. The bouncing puck kicked on up towards the net and Burish got his shot off in front of teammate Ty Rattie to score his ninth goal of the season.

Things went from bad to worse as the first period went on. Mike Liambas suffered a scary looking leg injury after trying to deliver a check to Jani Hakanpaa following an offensive zone faceoff for the Admirals. Liambas got the check on Hakanpaa, bounced off of him, and crashed legs first into the boards with speed. He immediately clutched his lower shin and called for help off the bench. He required trainer Doug Agnew to get off the ice. Early report from Aaron Sims was that the team has stated Liambas did not suffer a break or sprain.

Having earned a power-play that carried over into the second period, the Admirals got level with the Wolves early through Viktor Stalberg’s eighth goal of the season. Viktor Arvidsson carried the puck down deep into the left wing and sucked the penalty killing unit of the Wolves in on him. He passed over to the opposite wing for the one-timed shot of Stalberg which bashed off the post and off of Jordan Binnington’s back and in for the power-play goal.

It then became the Shane Harper show. The Wolves winger scored two flashy goals back-to-back to give the Wolves a 3-1 lead. His first of the game saw him deke Jimmy Oligny off the right wing, power off Aronson, and poke the puck in past Hellberg. His second was a bit more simple. Harper set up low on the right wing circle and wired a shot against the grain of Hellberg high blocker side. Harper now has twenty-five goals on the season.

In the final minute of the second period the Wolves were able to net goal number four. Yannick Veilleux was able to get a redirect of a Hakanpaa point shot while fending off Aronson to score his sixth goal of the season. With the end of the second period came the end of Hellberg’s game in net. He stopped 17/21 shots on goal before giving way to Marek Mazanec for the third period.

The third period would cruise on by with no real quality chances on goal for the Admirals who are now on a five game losing streak. In their last four games the Admirals have also allowed four goals in each game. The Admirals only have a single win from their last eight games and are seeing the likes of Grand Rapids and Rockford both climb a little bit farther away in the Midwest Division standings.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Zach Budish (healthy), Joe Piskula (lower body), and Jonathan Diaby (healthy). After leaving the game with what would probably best be described as a “lower body” injury – Mike Liambas did not return to the game. The Admirals next play on Wednesday night when they take to the road against the Lake Erie Monsters. Of the next nine games on the schedule for the Admirals seven are road games.

What are your reactions from today’s game? What’s it going to take for the Admirals to get back on a roll? Is there any one particular issue that you’re noticing during this bad spell or is it a multitude of problems creeping out at once?

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The Admirals were shutout 4-0 by Petr Mrázek and the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday night. It’s the third career shutout by Mrázek against the Admirals in twelve career performances. The Ads now have only one win from their last seven games and have fallen down the pecking order in the Midwest Division.

It could have gone much worse but the first period was about as sluggish of a start as the Admirals have had all season. Their first shot came 9:57 into the frame and they were outshot in the period 12-6.

It’s probably no surprise then that the Griffins were able to generate a goal out of that opening period. After a counter rush back up ice for the Griffins, that saw a two-on-one pass for Andy Miele flame out, they capitalized off of an Admirals defense that was scrambling. Scott Czarnowczan stepped up from the point and got to the left side of Marek Mazanec. He fed on over to a wide open back door where Marek Tvrdon had a tap in for his seventh goal of the season.

After Petr Mrazek was called for a trip, the Griffins scored shorthanded in the third period to push their lead to 2-0. Tomas Nosek raced down the left wing and fought off the backcheck of Taylor Aronson before cutting across goal to go forehand to backhand past the extended left pad of Mazanec. The goal was Nosek’s sixth of the season and the Admirals seventh shorthanded goal allowed this season.

Jeff Hoggan scored midway through the third period to make it a 3-0 game. Xavier Ouellet’s stretch pass deflected off of Colton Sissons stick in neutral ice and wobbled its way perfectly in line with the Griffins captain. Hoggan finished off his breakaway with a forehand over the glove of Mazanec to score his eighth goal of the season.

The Admirals finally had enough of being bossed around and things exploded with Rich Clune instigating a small brawl. The fracas spilled into a secondary fight between Triston Grant and Chris Bruton. Grant bloodied up Bruton and the crowd finally had something to cheer about.

In the closing minutes the Admirals burned their timeout and pulled Mazanec in the hopes of a miraculous comeback. That of course didn’t happen. What did happen was a long range empty netter for Landon Ferraro for his twenty-second goal of the season to seal the game at its 4-0 final.

The defeat pushes the Griffins that much further ahead in the Midwest Division. They now have a four-point gap over the Admirals. Combine that with the results out of the Rockford IceHogs tonight and the Ads have fallen to third place in the division.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Joe Pendenza (healthy), Joe Piskula (lower body), and Garrett Noonan (healthy). Johan Alm made his return to the Admirals after missing the previous thirty-two straight games due to a wrist injury. Jimmy Oligny returned after missing the last ten games due to a right knee injury. And Ian White returned after missing the last two games with the Admirals due to a family emergency. This was also Anthony Bitetto’s first game in the AHL since 2/15/15 when the Admirals played against the Lake Erie Monsters.

Thoughts on the performance tonight? Could you sum this game up by the Admirals being rusty and the Griffins being hot? What’s happened to the Admirals during the finish to the month of February?

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The Admirals lost 4-2 against the Iowa Wild Saturday night. It was an all-around sloppy performance for the Admirals who, yet again, find themselves on the losing end of a game against the AHL’s worst team by record the Wild. The Admirals have lost three out of four times to the Wild on home ice this season.

“They’re kind of our Achilles heel or kryptonite,” said Austin Watson. “They work. We know that no matter what they’re situation is with their players, who is up – who is down, that they’re going to come out and work. Unfortunately we haven’t met that work quite enough.”

Iowa got the game’s opening goal in the second period. Brady Brassart appeared to enter the zone slightly offside as he fed back to Kurtis Gabriel. The pass back allowed Brassart to skate around Jaynen Rissling and receive the return feed with only Marek Mazanec in front of him. Brassart’s shot to the near post fooled Mazanec and beat him for his fifth goal of the season.

The middle of the second period became scramble mode for the Admirals. They faced back-to-back five-on-three power-plays for the Wild and conceded from the first opportunity. After Austin Watson blocked a shot in a place that no man wants to block a shot, the puck fell forward to Zack Mitchell on the left wing side of the net and he had a clean passing lane for a tap-in shot by Tyler Graovac on the back door of Mazanec. It was Graovac’s seventeenth goal of the season.

In need of some type of jolt to the system Rich Clune took things into his own hands. With the second period winding down Clune ran into Justin Falk after a whistle and Ian Schultz made the breakup leading to a fight. I give the edge in that bout firmly to Clune. Both were swinging wildly, pun not intended, but Clune got some in with the takedown. He left the ice waving his arms up and getting the crowd the life it was lacking through two frames.

After a stiff arm styled high stick from the young upstart Ruslan Fedotenko – the Admirals were able to draw back a goal on the power-play to make it a 2-1 game. Kevin Fiala made a perfect wing-to-wing feed that Viktor Arvidsson unleashed his wrath upon with a slap shot. Johan Gustafsson had no chance on the blocker side to prevent Arvidsson’s seventeenth goal of the season.

Having read my quip, Fedotenko decided to score his first goal since joining the Wild on a PTO contract and restore Iowa’s two goal cushion. Greg Wolfe was able to jar a puck free on the forecheck and skate in-behind the net and deliver a pass to Fedotenko on the doorstep of goal on the left wing. It was the Ukrainian’s first goal in North America since 4/6/13 as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.

With the third period dragging towards its finish the Admirals were given successive chances on the power-play. On the latter chance, Iowa managed to break in numbers shorthanded. It would turn to be an awful mistake for them as the Admirals broke straight back with a three-on-one. Colton Sissons and Viktor Stalberg managed to juggle around the puck before Fiala popped home his seventh goal of the season to close the gap back to a one goal game with five minutes remaining in regulation.

The Admirals pulled Mazanec in favor of the extra attacker with a minute and a half remaining. Still not liking my snarky comment, Fedotenko scored the empty netter to seal this game at its 4-2 final. The defeat for the Admirals is their third straight and the win for Iowa snaps their seven game losing streak.

Ramblings: The Iowa Wild were without John Curry to back up tonight so it meant an emergency goaltender was needed. Jeff Dotson, goalie coach to the Junior Admirals, was their man. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Joe Piskula (lower-body), Ian White (family), Miikka Salomaki (upper-body), Jimmy Oligny (right knee), and Johan Alm. The good news was that prior to the game Oligny participated in pre-game warm ups and is close to making his return to game action.

Thoughts on tonight’s performance? What is it with the Iowa Wild? Why are the Admirals unable to secure points against them on home ice?

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The Admirals lost 4-3 in overtime against the Grand Rapids Griffins on the road Wednesday night. It was a matter of less than a second between the Admirals winning and the Griffins six game point streak coming to an end tonight. Instead, Any Miele scored in the last second and in overtime to steal the win in Grand Rapids tonight.

It took a little less than four minutes for the home side to get on the board. Andy Miele broke into the zone on the right wing and passed over to Mark Zengerle who passed over to Martin Frk. The Czech native gathered up the pass on the left wing and hammered a shot top shelf past Magnus Hellberg for his second goal of the season.

In the final minute of the first period the Admirals popped in a rebounder. Colton Sissons made the initial play in front of the net and his drive to the puck helped clear out Nick Jensen and Kevin Porter which lead to a loose puck chance for Rich Clune directly in front of Jared Coreau in net. Clune’s initial backhanded shot was stopped but his follow up came with Coreau down and out with no chance to save the follow up. The goal is Clune’s fifth of the season with the Admirals.

The second period started off with the Admirals taking a 2-1 lead. Garrett Noonan’s wrister from the left point seemed to go in from long range past the net front screen of Sissons. As it happens, the scorers decided that Sissons in fact got a piece of the puck as it traveled in. That makes it nineteen goals on the season for him and his fourth in his last five games.

Grand Rapids would respond off of a rather similarly worked play. Jakub Kindl managed to pound a slap shot from the blue line that found a lane through traffic to beat Hellberg in net and make it a 2-2 game. For Kindl it is his first goal scored in the AHL this season.

The Admirals followed that goal by the Griffins up with one of their own less than two minutes later. Kevin Fiala made a swooping play behind the net and snapped around with a wrister on the right wing that beat Coreau on the near post. The sneaky shot gave Fiala his fifth goal since joining the Admirals.

In the third period the Admirals attempted to park the bus and defend their 3-2 lead. It almost worked. As a matter of fact they were 0.4 seconds from winning at that scoreline. Unfortunately, following a late tripping call by Jonathan Diaby, Andy Miele caught a rebound off a Porter shot in front of the net to score on the power-play and send the game to overtime.

With three-on-three looming in the distance the Griffins secured the victory off of, guess who, Miele. Xavier Ouellet whirled a puck on net and Miele caught the shot to deflect it past Hellberg for his second goal of the night and seventeenth of the season. The Griffins point streak went to seven games. It was 0.4 seconds away from stopping cold on home ice at the hands of the Admirals.

That third period by the Admirals was the backbreaker. There were next to no offensive attacks established, created, or generated and it ended up with a period shot total of 15-3 in the Griffins favor. With the Admirals defense as depleted as it was coming in. To reply on it as heavily as they did in the third period was begging for the Griffins to attack and score the equalizer or more. They’re too good of a team to allow that much puck possession regardless of how well the Admirals blocked shots tonight. The defensive approach in that period on forward cost the Admirals the win and gave the Griffins two solid points when they should have finished the night with none.

Ramblings: Prior to the game the Admirals received Viktor Stålberg from the Nashville Predators. In addition, Frédérick Gaudreau was called up from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Also, defenseman Ian White missed tonight’s game due to the passing of his grandmother. For the first time in a long time it meant Mike Liambas slotting into defense. Tonight’s scratches were Miikka Salomaki (upper-body), Frédérick Gaudreau (healthy), Joe Piskula (lower-body), Ian White (family emergency), Jimmy Oligny (right knee), and Johan Alm (left wrist). In the first period, Griffins defenseman Brennan Evans suffered a groin injury and did not return to the contest.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? How frustrating was the third period effort by the Admirals? Where did the offense go? How did you feel Mike Liambas played on defense for the Admirals tonight?

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The Admirals lost 3-2 against the Lake Erie Monsters Tuesday night. The story of the night was an Admirals power-play that went 0/6 and allowed a shorthanded goal to boot. Even though the Admirals outshot Lake Erie 37-18 they lost for the fifteenth time in regulation this season.

“It’s frustrating,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “[Calvin Pickard] competed his butt off. He’s done that to us before. It looked early like he was fighting the puck and then as the period went on, first second and third, we went in thinking we’re not going to score on him. He was just on. We had some amazing looks. You throw that many pucks at the net you think you’re going to get rewarded in some way. He did a good job.”

Colton Sissons scored his eighteenth goal of the season to open up tonight’s game. Kevin Fiala hit Sissons with a feed in stride as he broke into the attacking zone. He was able to catch Calvin Pickard going low and beat him high glove side on the near post for the goal. Since the turn to the 2015 side of the calendar Sissons has scored ten goals.

After a hooking call against Jared Nightingale the Monsters managed to level things up through the first period. Joey Hishon was able to net his twelfth goal of the season but he paid a price to do it. He crashed into Jaynen Rissling’s elbow head behind the net after driving in on goal. Hishon stayed down on his stomach for a while before being assisted off the ice by Lake Erie’s athletic trainer Brent Woodside. He would return in the second period.

There was plenty of physical and post-whistle antics in the meeting between these two on Sunday. That was no exception tonight either. Triston Grant and Daniel Maggio locked horns after a spectacular save was made in net by Pickard to deny Mark Van Guilder a goal. Grant won the fight and ended up receiving an additional roughing minor for his troubles.

Whilst skating even at four-on-four – the Monsters took their first lead of the game in the second period. Michael Schumacher was able to secure a rebound off of Marek Mazanec and throw in his sixth goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game.

In the third period the Admirals allowed their sixth shorthanded goal of the season. Pontus Aberg was unable to hold the puck on the blue line and Kenny Ryan stabbed it loose and was off to the races down the right wing. He finished off the shorthanded breakaway for his eighth goal of the season.

“I don’t know,” smirked Evason when questioned on the recent record of shorthanded goals allowed by the Admirals. “It was a tough puck tonight but clearly our awareness has to be better.”

With 3:50 remaining in regulation the team went empty net to bring on the extra attacker extra early to push. They burned their timeout with 2:12 remaining and, only seven seconds later, Van Guilder buried his seventh goal of the season off a rebound to make it 3-2.

The net emptied yet again with 2:01 remaining and, despite a solid push with the extra attacker on, it resulted in nothing. Pickard shut the door to hold the Admirals at the final score of 3-2.

“Clearly you have to learn from not getting the results here tonight,” said Evason. “But we have to take a lot of positives out of tonight’s hockey game. The way we put pucks to the net these last two hockey games we’ve had tremendous opportunities to score. We just didn’t tonight.”

Ramblings: Prior to the game there were a pair of roster moves made. Joe Pendenza was recalled from the Cincinnati Cyclones while Anthony Bitetto was recalled to the Nashville Predators. Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Miikka Salomaki (upper-body), Joe Piskula (lower-body), Jimmy Oligny (right knee), and Johan Alm (left wrist). In the first period, Jonathan Diaby took a puck to the mouth after a shot rolled up his stick and into his face. He did return in the second period.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What is the issue with the Admirals power-play? Was this a matter of tipping your cap to Calvin Pickard and getting on with things tomorrow night?

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The Admirals won 5-2 against the Lake Erie Monsters Sunday evening. Kevin Fiala produced his second multi-goal game of the season while Triston Grant made it five straight games with a goal.

“I think we played really well tonight both offensively and defensively,” said Magnus Hellberg. “Everybody played hard and we scored a couple of really nice goals. It was a good win for sure.”

Kevin Fiala put the Admirals on the board in the first period with his third goal of the season. Triston Grant passed over to him and Fiala held off a defenseman, waited, and waited some more before beating Sami Aittokallio high blocker side with a wrister.

Grant continued the first period scoring by tallying his tenth goal of the season. He skated in from neutral ice, received a feed back by Zach Budish, and fired on goal past a net front screen. Grant has now scored a goal in five straight games and scored six goals from his last seven contests

It took only 2:05 into the second period for the Admirals to put another puck past Aittokallio. Colton Sissons was on the receiving end of some outstanding passing put together by Viktor Arvidsson and Fiala. The 18-year old from Switzerland started the play by swooping all the way around the net looking for a wrap-around. That didn’t work but the following tic-tac-toe to Sissons at the front of the net to score five hole did. It’s his seventeenth goal of the season.

There was a really spirited fight that came in the late going of the second period. Rich Clune and Mitchell Heard chucked their gloves and helmets off a draw and proceeded to unload. They actually swung each other down to the ice, officials tried to skate in to stop them, and they popped up and went at it some more. After the bout, Clune wanted to get the crowd to make some noise and grabbed the Admirals “Shooting for a Cure” crest on the purple jersey and he left the ice.

The game wasn’t going too kindly for Aittokallio in net for the Monsters and it didn’t get better when Fiala scored his second of the night. There were plenty of bodies crushing into the Lake Erie netminder as a loose puck scramble started. Fiala was able to pop in the puck for his fourth goal of the season but Aittokallio was livid about the lack of response by the officials as he was unable to make any attempt of stopping Fiala’s chance.

“Arvidsson went to the net and he went in the goalie,” said Kevin Fiala. “The puck was just laying there in front of the net. I just had to put it in. I don’t know if it was interference or not but it was a goal. So it’s a goal now.”

The second period ended with Magnus Hellberg’s shutout bid coming up short. A puck kicked around the left wing side of goal and fell over to a slap shot awaiting Karl Stollery. His blast found a hole through Hellberg on the glove side for his fifth goal of the season.

In the third period the Monsters were able to make it a two-goal game again courtesy of Gabriel Beaupre. Lake Erie was buzzing on the shift and when the puck fell back to the point the puck was wristed in from the right point. The puck glanced off a post before going in as Beaupre’s first goal of the season.

With time running out the Monsters emptied their net early as they trailed by two. Arvidsson managed to defend at one end, skated up towards neutral, and bag his sixteenth goal of the season on the empty net marker to make it 5-2.

To set the stage for Tuesday night’s rematch there was one last fight. Heard engaged his earlier combatant Clune after the game was over and that would prove to be a really bad idea. Clune clobbered him in the post-game tilt. Both received fighting majors and game misconducts after the completion of the game.

Ramblings: The pre-game news was headlined by the Nashville Predators making a trade that sent Admirals winger Brendan Leipsic to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He will be reporting to the Marlies. Anthony Bitetto was reassigned to the Admirals ahead of the game, as well. He was a game-time decision but played through flu-like symptoms. Today’s scratches for the Admirals were Joe Piskula (lower-body), Jimmy Oligny (right knee), Johan Alm (left wrist), and Jaynen Rissling (healthy). Piskula is expected to be out for a good while. Both Oligny and Alm have returned to skating with the Swede now sans-cast on his left wrist.

Thoughts on the win? Is simplicity to the Admirals offensive approach the key to their success? Which players will need to pick up the offensive pace with Leipsic leaving via trade today and what will his loss in Milwaukee mean moving forward?

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The Admirals lost 2-1 against the Rockford IceHogs Friday night. The story of the night was defense. Both sides played very tight and it played far more like a playoff game that last weekend’s roller coaster set played out. In the end, the IceHogs managed to score a power-play goal in the third period. It was enough for them to hold on and get the win tonight.

“Five-on-five we’re not giving much up,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “I don’t think [Mazanec] had to work extremely hard – certainly five-on-five. We’re not generating as much as we should be to score goals as we were because we’re a little bit too fancy a little bit too cute right now. Trying to do things one-on-one as opposed to just simplifying our game. We got to get back to that Sunday for sure.”

Off of the game’s first power-play chance the Admirals allowed their fourth shorthanded goal in six games. The IceHogs turned off the draw and went straight down ice. Stephen Johns’ shot from the right point took a net front redirect by Phillip Danault. The deflected puck went straight down and through Marek Mazanec for Danault’s eighth goal of the season.

“Our guys are not recognizing when there is danger,” said Evason of the shorthanded goals allowed. “We’ve found ways the last two games to give up a penalty kill goal and a power-play goal. We certainly have to be better in that department.”

From that very same power-play opportunity the Admirals were able to save face by leveling things up. The IceHogs worked up ice again but were caught with numbers back and it allowed the Ads took take advantage of the space moving forward. Pontus Åberg found Triston Grant all alone on the right wing to the backdoor of Scott Darling for the goal. It is Grant’s ninth goal of the season. He has scored a goal in four straight games and five of his last six.

In the third period the IceHogs would regain their lead with a power-play goal. Ville Pokka, Teuvo Teräväinen, and Joakim Nordstrom linked up for a tic-tac-toe passing play that ended with the puck on the tape of Nordstrom alone at the hashmarks to beat Mazanec on the glove side. It was the Swede’s ninth goal of the season.

These two will not meet again until Tuesday April 7th in Rockford. The Admirals already have the season head-to-head against the IceHogs won. As for what the Midwest Division standings will be come the time of that game – that will be the question. Plenty of games between then and now. I expect it to be tight.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals were Zach Budish (healthy), Joe Piskula (lower body), Jimmy Oligny (right knee), and Johan Alm (left wrist). Miikka Salomäki made his return to the lineup tonight after missing the previous seven games due to an upper-body injury. On the road Wednesday it was Triston Grant wearing the extra “A” available with captain Piskula out to injury. Tonight at home the extra “A” was given to Austin Watson.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What happened to the offense tonight? Was this a positive game considering how battered the defense of the Admirals is?

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The Admirals lost 3-2 in overtime against the Chicago Wolves on the road Wednesday night. It’s the third time this season that was the final scoreline in the Amtrak Rivalry but the first that saw the Wolves have the winning edge.

Jaynen Rissling’s first contribution to the AHL may not be something he’ll be too fond of. He was called for interference and the Wolves capitalized off of it to score the game’s opening goal. Petteri Lindbohm passed over to Magnus Paajarvi on the right wing for a shot pass in front of Marek Mazanec to Terry Broadhurst. The redirection went up and over Mazanec for Broadhurst’s sixth goal of the season.

It didn’t take too long for the Admirals to respond. Less than two minutes after the power-play goal allowed the Ads had a deflection goal of their own. Ian White’s shot from the right point was stabbed on the way to the net by Triston Grant. The redirect put the puck low and out of the reach of Jordan Binnington for Grant’s eighth goal of the season.

The Wolves were not too happy about the Admirals second goal scored in the first period. Colton Sissons had slight contact at the net with Binnington and then the netminder was completely screened by Rich Clune. White had a shot that kicked out perfectly for Sissons to tap it in for his sixteenth goal of the season. There was no call or review on the play despite Binnington instantly getting snippy with the officials.

In the second period the Admirals generated plenty of power-play chances. They had two five-on-three opportunities but didn’t generate goals from them. With the period coming to a close the Wolves scored shorthanded. Brent Regner sent Rob Bordson up ice with Jeremy Welsh on a break. The Ads had the numbers back but Kevin Fiala didn’t backcheck Welsh and it allowed Bordson’s feed to hit him in stride to the net for his twelfth goal of the season and fifth scored against the Admirals this season.

The game would roll through the third period and into three-on-three overtime. Pat Cannone was able to dodge a stick check of Austin Watson and break in on goal from the left faceoff circle to square up Mazanec and beat him top shelf over the glove for his eleventh goal of the season.

The loss tonight for the Admirals ends a franchise record six-game road winning streak. The point gained by making it into overtime does allow the Admirals to earn sole possession of second place in the Western Conference.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches included Miikka Salomaki (cleared for game action today, healthy scratch), Joe Piskula (lower body), Jimmy Oligny (right knee), and Johan Alm (left wrist). With the team captain out tonight the extra “A” went to Triston Grant.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? With all the banged up bodies was taking a point on the road still a positive result? Who is most to blame on the shorthanded goal allowed?

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