The Admirals lost 5-1 on the road against the Chicago Wolves Saturday night. It is the Admirals first road defeat of the season. Despite an early goal from Mark Van Guilder, the Wolves grabbed this game by the horns around the halfway point of the first period and never let go.

The Admirals were able to get on the board early on the road tonight. Anthony Bitetto’s attempted stretch pass for Mark Van Guilder cleared all the way to the end boards. Due to how fast the Bitetto pass was, it bounced off the end boards and right out to Van Guilder before starting netminder Jordan Binnington could go out and play the puck. Van Guilder’s shot went through the glove of Binnington and in for his second goal of the season.

It wasn’t until the midway point in the first period before the Wolves really started to come alive. Defenseman Petteri Lindbohm fired a writer that had eyes and got through Marek Mazanec for his second goal of the season. Moments later, Yannick Veilleux whipped a shot from the slot past Mazanec for his third goal of the season to give the Wolves their first lead over the Admirals this season.

Chicago’s pace kept surging in the second period. They scored a mere thirty-eight seconds into the frame after Jake Chelios’ one-timed effort from the far left blue line was redirected by Jeremy Welsh. Mazanec really had no chance with Welsh right on his doorstep. It goes down as his fourth goal of the season.

The lone bright spot for the Admirals went bust in the third period when their perfect penalty killing performance finally conceded a goal. Shane Harper was able to take the puck from a neutral ice faceoff, enter into the attacking zone, fire, and ring a shot off the post and in. It was the first power-play goal from five chances for the Wolves. It’s Harper’s third goal of the season.

With well over two minutes remaining – Mazanec was brought to the bench to bring on an extra attacker. The final rally basically summed this game up. There wasn’t a lot of offense from the Admirals. There wasn’t a clean shooting lane. And, literally tenths of a second before the final horn sounded, Welsh scored on the empty net to make it a 5-1 final.

Ramblings: Tonight’s scratches for the Admirals included Pontus Aberg, Jimmy Oligny, Mike Liambas, and Patrick Cehlin. Aberg was injured in Wednesday night’s game after a collision with Viktor Stalberg. Tonight was Rich Clune’s first AHL game since 1/11/13 when he was a member of the Manchester Monarchs.

Thoughts from tonight’s game? What has happened to the Admirals offense these recent games? Should forward lines get shaken up? Can they rebound tomorrow afternoon?

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The Admirals lost 4-2 against the Iowa Wild Wednesday night. The defeat is the Admirals first of the year and saw the end of their franchise best six-game winning streak to start the season.

“That team wanted the game more here tonight,” said head coach Dean Evason of the Iowa Wild. “We didn’t figure it out until the end and we were close. But they took it out of us early with their drive and compete. They played hard.”

Iowa managed to get on the board first in this game and did so inside of three minutes. A one-timed shot by Jake Parenteau flew clean through Marek Mazanec like a hot knife through butter. The goal was credited to Michael Keranen for his second tally of the season. Perhaps the slightest of deflections was the reasoning behind Mazanec missing the save completely.

With the Admirals forward lines getting a shake-up tonight because of Viktor Stalberg’s inclusion. There was an opportunity to spread the wealth and link up Viktor Arvidsson with Miikka Salomaki. The rookie Swede’s rush into the zone started a rebound rodeo around Johan Gustafsson. Salomaki would be the man on the spot to deliver a first period equalizer for his first goal of the season.

After Mark Van Guilder was called for a holding penalty in the second period – the Wild went back out in front with a power-play goal. Former-Admiral Jonathon Blum picked out Marc Hagel in front of the net with a shot pass that was redirected past Mazanec for Hagel’s first goal of the season.

The Wild followed up with a second power-play goal in the second period. Tyler Graovac’s run to the net held all of Mazanec’s attention but the 21-year old forward dropped a pass off on the backhand to Zack Mitchell. With the Admirals netminder overcommitted to the left of goal – it was an easy take for Mitchell to score his second goal of the season and make it a 3-1 Wild lead. It was the first time this season that the Admirals trailed by two-goals.

In the third period there was a pair of teammate collisions. First up, the Wild’s captain Stephane Veilleux ran over defenseman Danny Syvret. Then the Admirals has a collision between Swedes. Stalberg bulldozed Pontus Aberg and left him down and out on the ice. The Admirals rookie went back to the locker room and didn’t return to the game.

“I think, at the last second, we thought the other guy was going to go,” said Viktor Stalberg. “It goes quick out there sometimes and we both kind of thought the same thing going below each other. Ended up on a pretty big collision there. Hopefully he’ll be alright here.”

Just at the halfway point in the third period the Admirals found the back of the net. After the Wild missed an opportunity to catch Mazanec out of position, Brendan Leipsic ran back the other way and started an attack that resulted in Austin Watson’s fifth goal of the season.

The Admirals pulled Mazanec and were surging with an extra attacker on. Yet, Wild defenseman Syvret scored the long range empty netter to seal the Ads first defeat of the 2014-15 season.

“They came out hard and had a bit of an edge in their compete level,” said Austin Watson. “It showed in the first two periods and we weren’t able to battle back from that.”

Ramblings: The Admirals roster tonight included the names Viktor Stalberg (#25) and Rich Clune (#36) as the pair were sent to Milwaukee from the Nashville Predators. Stalberg is on a conditioning assignment – meaning he will be with us no longer than fourteen days. Clune, however, cleared waivers from the Predators as he was sent down to make room for the return of Matt Cullen from IR.

Thoughts from tonight’s game? Where did it go wrong tonight? Was this more a case of the Wild winning the game than the Admirals losing it?

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The Admirals set a franchise record for wins to start a season with a 2-1 shootout win against the Lake Erie Monsters Saturday night. Magnus Hellberg won in his first start of the season, made 25-saves, and didn’t allow a goal in the shootout. Garrett Noonan’s first professional goal proved to be a streak-saver for the Admirals. He equalized with 7:21 left in regulation to give the Ads the opportunity that saw them win their sixth straight game to start the season.

“We’re going to ride it as long as we can,” said Triston Grant of the Admirals franchise best six-game winning streak to start a season. “We didn’t play up to our standards the last couple games but we have to take those wins because there’s going to be games that we play really well and we’re not going to win. That’s what happens in hockey.”

After a rather sluggish opening period – there were some real fireworks that spurted out of the second. The Monsters were awarded a penalty shot when Jimmy Oligny hauled down Andrew Agozzino. Magnus Hellberg, making his first start of the season, bailed out his rookie defenseman with a pad save on the penalty shot attempt to keep things scoreless.

Then some rough stuff. Joe Piskula and Colin Smith had a small scrap that only resulted in roughing calls for each. This was followed later in the second period by a fight of the year candidate between Triston Grant and Daniel Maggio. Both leveled one another to the point of patchwork. Grant, who I’d give the win to, had Quinten Tarantino level blood splatter on his helmet visor. His counterpart Maggio was handed a fresh jersey whilst in the penalty box.

After a puck was spilled by Hellberg in net, the Monsters broke the deadlock in the second period with a goal from Paul Carey. As soon as the puck left the clutches of Hellberg the battle in front of him became a mess. Carey picked up the loose puck, skated for a shot, and had the entire top shelf to hit for his second goal of the season.

Another scrum came in the third period as Austin Watson leapt to the defense of his linemate Brendan Leipsic after a solid check by Maxim Noreau. It wasn’t anything near the level or intensity of the previous Grant battle – but was a solid display of sticking up for your teammates from Watson nonetheless.

With 7:21 left in regulation, Garrett Noonan scored his first professional goal to level the game at 1-1. Noonan pump faked a slap shot and then zipped one towards traffic. Zach Budish jumped over the puck, Joe Pendenza set a screen in front of Calvin Pickard, and the Noonan shot flew past everyone and into the back of the net.

For the second consecutive night we were then treated to the new AHL overtime format. Prior to the three-on-three change over, the Admirals were awarded with a penalty shot as Viktor Arvidsson was chopped down by Stefan Elliott. Just like the previous penalty shot attempt. The five hole move wasn’t working. And this game lasted all the way into a shootout.

Leipsic was up first for the Admirals and beat Pickard with a barrage of moves. Mike Sgarbossa’s follow up for the Monsters belted the post and came right back out for a miss. Arvidsson stepped up next for the Ads and again failed on a five hole move. Smith was next for the Monsters and flipped his backhander high and wide. The game then fell on the stick of Pontus Aberg – who deked himself enough room to beat Pickard to the far post and in for the game-winner.

“For a lot of the weekend we didn’t play the way that we had in our first four,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “The league is going to get better, teams are going to get better, and we need to get better. We’ll continue to work at it.”

Ramblings: Patrick Cehlin was the lone player out with injury tonight for the Admirals as he recovers from a hip injury. Jonathan Diaby and Mike Liambas were both listed as healthy scratches. Tonight was Magnus Hellberg’s first competitive start since 4/13/14 with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL – he stopped 21/22 in a 4-1 win. The Admirals remain the final unbeaten AHL team remaining with a franchise record 6-0-0-0 start to a season.

Thoughts and observations from tonight? How did Magnus Hellberg fair in his first start of the season? What did you make of the Admirals offense being, for the most part, shutdown tonight? And will this new AHL overtime format give you heart problems throughout the season? …because I think it will for me in the best of ways.

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The Admirals extended their unbeaten run to five games with a 3-2 overtime victory on the road against the Chicago Wolves on Friday night. Anthony Bitetto scored the game-winner as the Ads experienced the AHL’s three-on-three overtime format for the first time this season. Pontus Aberg and Austin Watson also tallied ahead of another fine performance in net, 26-saves, by Marek Mazanec.

The Admirals power-play unit continued doing damage by scoring tonight’s opening goal. After Petteri Lindbohm hauled down Brendan Leipsic – the Admirals were able to take advantage of the man-advantage and then some. Veteran Brent Sopel broke his stick on the Wolves penalty kill and allowed for even more space on the ice. Miikka Salomaki picked out Pontus Aberg for a one-timed effort that beat Matt Climie in net for the young Swede’s fourth goal of the season.

After the Admirals scored, the first period was heavily controlled by the Wolves both in puck possession and in shots. The first period ended with the Wolves outshooting the Admirals 9-3. As fast paced as the Ads have looked this season – the Amtrak Rivals were doing more than just step for step work. The Wolves, especially the combo of Ty Rattie and Terry Broadhurst, were by far the faster of the two teams through the opening twenty-minutes.

The Wolves found an equalizer off of a bad defensive change by the Admirals in the second period. Joe Piskula and Jonathan-Ismael Diaby were very slow to the bench. As they were coming off – the Wolves set Ty Rattie free on a breakaway. The man who tallied 31 goals as a rookie last season pulled a backhander to Marek Mazanec’s five hole to level the game up at 1-1. It was Rattie’s third goal of the season.

The Admirals reclaimed the lead in the third period after a great shift pulled by the line of Brendan Leipsic, Mark Van Guilder, and Austin Watson. Leipsic’s work around Climie’s net saw him pass out to the right side of the cage where Watson, draped by Jeremy Welsh, smacked home his fourth goal of the season to make it 2-1.

Welsh would factor back into the third period scoring with a goal of his own. After some quality defensive work by the Wolves behind their own net – they launched a counter attack on the right wing with Welsh. The 26-year old blazed past Diaby on the wing and whipped a shot past Mazanec to even things right back up at 2-2.

Then, what would an Amtrak Rivalry game be without some controversy? The Wolves had a late chance of a 4-3 power-play that would expand into a full forty-five seconds worth of 5-3 power-play time. Just as the two-man advantage expired – the Wolves had a goal disallowed by the officials. Pat Cannone rushed in on Mazanec, was tripped up by Felix Girard, and the puck kicked to Shane Harper who put it in the back of the net. There wasn’t a penalty for goaltender interference. The goal was waved off. And the Admirals would kill off a lengthy stay shorthanded.

Next came our first look at the new AHL overtime format. It is a seven minute time frame in which the first three minutes are four-on-four. After the first whistle past the four minute mark in the overtime – it goes to three-on-three until the final horn. It’s all in an effort to avoid the dreaded shootout which has also gone under some tweaking: it is now a best of three format this season as opposed to years past in the AHL where it was a best of five.

The Amtrak Rivalry’s first game of the season would go all the way into the new three-on-three format. With twenty-nine seconds remaining before the game turned to a shootout – Anthony Bitetto was able to step up off the left wing side and snap a wrister past Climie for the overtime winner and his first goal of the season. The Admirals have remained unbeaten in their first five games of the season and have won four-straight road games.

Ramblings: The line combinations tonight were a continuation of what we saw in Iowa: Salomaki-Sissons-Aberg, Leipsic-Van Guilder-Watson, Arvidsson-Girard-Grant, Pendenza-Gaudreau-Budish, Diaby-Piskula, Bitetto-Noonan, and Alm-Aronson. Patrick Cehlin and Mike Liambas remained out due to injury. And Jimmy Oligny was a healthy scratch. As for the Wolves, the St. Louis Blues recalled Dmitrij Jaskin after placing Paul Stastny on injured reserved this afternoon. The Texas Stars loss tonight against the Oklahoma City Barons means that the Milwaukee Admirals are now the last remaining unbeaten team in the AHL. It is the second time in team history the the Admirals have won five straight games to open a season. It is a record for most consecutive road wins to start a season, with four.

Thoughts from tonight’s game? Was this the true test for the Admirals start to the season? What did you make of the brand new AHL overtime format? Is three-on-three overtime hockey any less laughable than ending the game in a shootout? Can the Admirals keep the winning streak going on home ice tomorrow night against the Lake Erie Monsters?

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The Admirals won 4-0 on the road against the Iowa Wild Saturday night. It is only the third time in team history that the Milwaukee Admirals will have started the season off with four-consecutive wins. You’d have to go back to the 1988-89 and 1982-83 seasons to find the other two.

Tonight’s standout performers were highlighted with man in net shutting the door and another picking up a natural hat trick. Marek Mazanec earned his first career AHL shutout by stopping all twenty-nine shots he faced in net tonight. And rookie winger Viktor Arvidsson scored the Admirals first road hat trick since 3/29/09 when Mike Santorelli did so in Chicago.

The Admirals fourth line kept their solid start to the season going by scoring tonight’s opening goal. Zach Budish fired a low-wrister from the right wing that netminder Johan Gustafsson kicked back into the slot. Joe Pendenza’s center-lane drive saw him get to the rebound before Gustafsson could spot the puck. It was a tap in for Pendenza – his second goal of the season.

After a frantic night for the penalty box last night there was only one penalty called in the first period. The Wild’s captain Stephane Veilleux was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct as he was on the bench.

The resulting power-play saw Viktor Arvidsson score his second goal of the season. The Wild’s penalty kill was pressuring the puck carrier heavily and the Admirals cycled along the wall to escape the thick puck pursuit. Garrett Noonan jumped up on the play and stationed himself behind the net before laying a pass off to Arvidsson that was taken first-time. The shot would have missed the net completely if not for the unintentional assistance of ex-Admiral Jonathon Blum. The puck hit his leg and flew past his goaltender to give the Ads a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Arvidsson’s scoring would continue in the second period as he tallied two more timed to complete a natural hat trick. For his second goal of the night he was leading a two-on-one rush with Triston Grant on the left wing side of him. Rather than slip a pass, Arvidsson faked a slap shot and threw a change-up along the ice and past Gustafsson’s five hole to make it 3-0.

On the Admirals second power-play of the night – Arvidsson would complete his first North American hat trick with an absolute howitzer. His slap shot was borderline violent and resulted in his fourth goal of the season, third goal of the night, and third power-play goal of this young season.

The third period was really cruise mode for the Admirals. The defending stayed strong and allowed for a first career AHL shutout for Marek Mazanec. The 23-year old Czech never looked rattled for a moment in tonight’s game. He stopped all twenty-nine shots he faced tonight. It’s the fourth time in two seasons that Admirals have shutout the Wild.

Ramblings: The defensive shuffling continued tonight with Taylor Aronson being brought back into the lineup at the expense of Jimmy Oligny. Jonathan-Ismael Diaby kept his place in the team-sheet for his second appearance of the season. Scratches outside of Oligny included the injured pair of Patrick Cehlin and Mike Liambas. The hat trick by Viktor Arvidsson was the first by an Admiral since Austin Watson’s teddy bear toss night performance on 4/12/14 against the Chicago Wolves. Raphael Bussieres of the Iowa Wild was injured late in the second period and did not return to the contest. The Admirals have scored 17 goals in 4 games this season. The next closest in the AHL are the Bridgeport Sound Tigers with 15 goals.

Thoughts from tonight’s game? Is Marek Mazanec becoming a rock for a young Admirals defense? Is there something wrong with Colton Sissons and Miikka Salomaki offensively or are the rookies just looking that much better through four games? How long can this unbeaten run to start the season last for the Milwaukee Admirals?

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The Admirals won 4-3 on the road against the Iowa Wild on Friday night. Austin Watson’s hot start to the season continued as he became the first Admiral since Alexander Radulov (2006-07) to score a goal in each of the first three games of the season. The Admirals have won their opening three games for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

After the two team captains collided along the boards, the Admirals took the game’s first power-play and quieted the opening night crowd in Iowa with a goal. The wing-play of the Admirals on their power-play unit is strong enough to open up space right down the slot. That means setting up for rebounds or wing-to-wing passes such as Brendan Leipsic to Pontus Aberg. The young Swede picked up his second goal of the season off the power-play to make it 1-0 Admirals.

Then the first period seemed to tilt the way of the Wild. The first period ended with a hefty 14-5 shots advantage for the home team that stormed back after conceding with a goal of their own. Zach Mitchell managed to score his first professional goal. He did it by camping out in front of Marek Mazanec and backhanding a juicy rebound to make it a 1-1 game.

The Admirals answered back late in the first period following a successful penalty kill. It appeared as if Wild goaltender Johan Gustafsson overplayed a puck and Aberg caught him out of position. He managed to leap back from behind the net and backhand a shot past the scrambling goalie for his second goal of the game.

Iowa took a roughing penalty with 0.3 seconds remaining in the first period. That meant the Ads effectively had a full power-play to work with from the second period puck drop. Just two minutes into the second period and the Admirals found themselves two goals richer.

On the opening second period power-play, Colton Sissons scored his first goal of the season after a poor turnover by the Wild behind their own net. A minute and eleven seconds following Sissons goal and Austin Watson scored – his third in three games this season. Leipsic hit Watson with a pass as he barreled down the slot. It was Leipsic’s third primary assist of the game. The Watson goal was enough for the Wild to swap goalies and bring in John Curry.

Watson would go to the box for a hooking call midway through the second period. His role on the PK was substituted with Aberg who seemed to get lost in the Wild’s puck shuffle. When the puck got to Zach Phillips it left Aberg and Anthony Bitetto scrambling to the right wing. Phillips’ pass across the penalty kill would result in a tap in for Curt Gogol to make it a 4-2 contest.

This game stayed at that two goal margin until the Wild scored with their net empty and the extra attacker on. With 46.6 seconds remaining, Danny Syvret’s point shot ricocheted through traffic and past Mazanec to make it a one-goal game. The goal was credited to Brett Sutter for his first goal as a member of the Wild.

Despite the late tally and a strong push against Mazanec and the Admirals late. The Wild ended up dropping their home opener and the Ads continue their hot start to the season with their third regulation win from three games.

Ramblings: The scratches tonight included Patrick Cehlin (hip), Mike Liambas (undisclosed injury), and Taylor Aronson (healthy scratch). It meant we saw the all left-handed defense for the Admirals this season – with an introduction to Jonathan-Ismael Diaby in place of Aronson. The Admirals and Wild combined for 15 total penalties tonight. The Ads PP went 2/7 while the Wild’s PP went 1/8.

Thoughts on tonight’s effort? Are you at all worried over the Admirals defense? Would you start Marek Mazanec again tomorrow night or give Magnus Hellberg his first start of the season? Which young forward has impressed you more, Brendan Leipsic or Pontus Aberg?

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The Admirals won 3-2 on the road against the Rockford IceHogs Saturday night. Marek Mazanec put in a first star performance with thirty-one saves. And Joe Pendenza’s first career goal as a professional hockey player ended up going down as tonight’s game-winner.

Being that this was the opening game of the season for the IceHogs you’d have expected their energy levels to be very high. They were by far the more lively team in the opening period and it seemed as if the Admirals were looking to head into the locker room at a 0-0 deadlock.

The IceHogs were finally rewarded for all their first period pressure after a quick back-and-forth of chances. Teuvo Teravainen ripped a two-on-one chance just wide of Marek Mazanec. Then, after a turnover by the IceHogs, Brendan Leipsic was in-behind the defense and missed on a breakaway chance.

The next rush back up the ice resulted in a shot by Matt Carey leaking through Mazanec and trickling closer and closer to the goal. Ryan Hartman won a race to insure that the puck went in and gave the IceHogs a 1-0 lead after the first twenty-minutes.

Austin Watson recorded his second goal of the season and did so twenty-one seconds into the second period. Mark Van Guilder won an in-zone faceoff and Watson was waiting for it as if he were a quarterback. He fired off the successful draw and beat IceHogs goaltender Michael Leighton. Watson scored twenty-two seconds into the third period last night.

Van Guilder would give the Admirals a one-goal lead after he crashed the net and put in a loose puck. The line that features Watson, Van Guilder, and Salomaki were buzzing around the net and the puck spilled to the Admiral veteran who has now scored a goal in five seasons for Milwaukee.

Mazanec was really looking solid during the course of the first two periods in this game. It looked like the IceHogs were really in need of an ugly goal and that is precisely what they got with four-minutes remaining in the second period. Zach Miskovic’s shot from the point went into traffic, took a deflection, and beat Mazanec. The goal was credited to Hartman – his second goal on the night.

The fourth line of the Admirals would come through with the game-winning goal in the third period. After a puck fooled Adam Clendening behind the IceHogs’ cage, Frederick Gaudreau pounced, collected, and threw a nearly blind backhanded pass out to the left wing side of the net. Joe Pendenza was the man on the spot for Gaudreau’s feed and earned his first career goal as a professional hockey player.

Rockford emptied their net after an icing call with 1:19 remaining in the third period. The man who stood out the most in this game, Mazanec, held his own yet again. He had thirty-one saves tonight – including a big time blocker save with only seconds remaining. For my money that was the best performance Mazanec has put together as an Admiral. He came up big multiple times.

The Admirals next games are in Iowa this coming Friday and Saturday. They should get some more time to comb over things from an opening weekend that saw them grab all four points. It’s possible, with nine defensemen on the roster, that we could also see a shake up as well. Still. When you’re winning games. It’s hard to change something that is working. And the defensive effort the Admirals had in the third period was outstanding.

Ramblings: The Admirals dressed the exact same roster as they did in yesterday’s opener. That meant healthy scratches for Jonathan-Ismael Diaby, Mikko Vainonen, Jaynen Rissling, and Josh Shalla. Patrick Cehlin (hip) and Mike Liambas (undisclosed) remain out with injury.

Thoughts on tonight’s performance? Would you have expected the Admirals to win both games here on opening weekend? What is your long term outlook for the Ads season? Would you change anyone on defense? Would you consider Magnus Hellberg for either of next weekend’s games in Iowa?

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The Admirals won 6-3 against the Charlotte Checkers in Friday night’s season opener. The new faces for the Admirals made some serious dents tonight as Viktor Arvidsson, Pontus Aberg, Frederick Gaudreau, and Felix Girard all scored goals in their AHL debuts. Yet, the familiar face of Austin Watson was the difference when he scored twenty-two seconds into the third period to give the Ads a lead they’d hold onto until the final horn.

“The Nashville Predators organization has talked for a few years about getting more skill and more offense,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “I think clearly it’s a credit to the scouts and or Paul Fenton and David Poile for signing these guys. There’s been a shift for sure I think to have that skill.”

The Admirals opened tonight’s scoring on the power-play. It seemed as if whoever was operating within the faceoff circles for the Admirals was getting good looks with the man-advantage. The beneficiary of this was Viktor Arvidsson who bashed in a rebound after a one-timer by Brendan Leipsic fell right into his lap.

Only minutes later the Checkers returned the favor. Phil DiGiueppe’s one-timed effort spanked off the crossbar, down, and in. Even if Marek Mazanec tracked the pass from defenseman Dennis Robertson to DiGiueppe he’d have had a hard time stopping that shot where it was placed.

Pontus Aberg was the next new Admiral to get on the scoresheet and he did it in spectacular style. After Johan Alm tossed a puck over to him in the Admirals defensive half, Aberg proceeded to race up ice, into neutral, deked past Robertson, and finished off his coast-to-coast run by scoring on Drew MacIntyre.

The Admirals extended their lead to 3-1 in the second period from a third different goal scorer. This go-round it was Frederick Gaudreau who tallied with a crafty bit of work from his hands. He managed to move around Keegan Lowe and pull back on MacIntyre to the near post for his first career professional goal.

Next came a series of fights and road goals.

Kyle Hagel appeared to jump Anthony Bitetto in the first bout. Hagel was given an instigator and a misconduct for his actions that left Bitetto with a cut above his left eye. Justin Shugg followed up with a goal for the Checkers after running past Taylor Aronson and beating Mazanec with a wrister. The second fight was initiated on the Admirals end this time. Jimmy Oligny shoved Brendan Woods hard into the Checkers net and the two engaged quickly. Give the decisive win there to Oligny on the take down.

Right after an Admirals power-play the Checkers were able to cap off the second period with an equalizer to make it 3-3. Trevor Carrick fired a low shot that Zach Boychuk expertly redirected. The deflection came only a few feet in front of Mazanec and left the Czech no time to react.

With the Admirals losing a two goal lead in the second period they had an immediate response for the Checkers to start the third period. A mere twenty-two seconds into the frame and Miikka Salomaki’s wing to wing pass was flicked up and over MacIntyre by Austin Watson. It was a tough fight for Watson to get body position and a piece of Salomaki’s pass but, when he did, the puck took a weird flight pattern that almost got a piece of Mark Van Guilder in front of the net. It goes down as a goal for Watson. It’s his 43rd career goal with the Admirals.

Another familiar face to the Admirals lit the lamp next. After a stretch pass by the Checkers was intercepted by Gaudreau, his rush into the zone and subsequent layoff put Zach Budish into sniper mode. He hammered the puck past MacIntyre for his 5th career goal as an Admiral.

To close this one off, Felix Girard tallied an empty netter to give the Admirals a 6-3 scoreline for their season opener. The goal for him is as simple as it gets but Aberg’s effort to push the puck his way summed up the Ads performance rather nicely tonight: smart with speed.

“We have a lot of young guys that have a lot of skill,” said Anthony Bitetto. “It’s going to be fun to watch this year. I think we tighten up the little things: neutral zone, [defensive] zone. I think we’re going to have a good start and a good run.”

Ramblings: The scratches tonight included Joshua Shalla, Mike Liambas (undisclosed injury), Patrick Cehlin (hip), Jonathan-Ismael Diaby, Mikko Vainonen, and Jaynen Rissling.

Thoughts from the opener? What do you make of your new look Milwaukee Admirals? Can this team be special with the skill that they have? What are some of the negatives you might have seen from the opening contest? And can the team carry this offense into Rockford tomorrow night?

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The Nashville Predators were humbled by the Columbus Blue Jackets in their final home contest of the pre-season Monday night. The game ended in a 3-0 shutout for the Blue Jackets despite the fact that the Preds outshot their opponents 36-27.

This was the Predators first defeat of the pre-season and it comes after the roster cuts that followed on Saturday night. Ryan Ellis, fresh off of signing his new contract, made his 2014-15 debut: 19:51 TOI, 4 shots, 4 hits, and a plus/minus of -1. Filip Forsberg had perhaps his roughest outing of his pre-season by being a -2 on the ice – including a turnover that lead directly to a shorthanded goal by James Wisniewski. On that wing battle, both Kevin Fiala (10:48 TOI, 0:08 PP TOI) and Taylor Beck (10:21 TOI, 0:08 PP TOI) had similar nights on paper – lone difference being that Beck recorded a hit.

Real story on the night that should be rather disappointing to Nashville was going 0/6 on the power-play. Forsberg was on the ice, specifically for the power-play unit, a grand total of 6:31 of ice time. For all that he only managed 2 shots on goal and wound up making a mistake that lead to a shorty. Paul Gaustad had 5 shots on goal with Derek Roy and Olli Jokinen having 4 shots on target. Nothing went through. Suppose some proper credit can be given to Curtis McElhinney. He did stop all 36 shots for the shutout after all.

These same two teams will lock up in Columbus on Saturday night. By then, the Milwaukee Admirals pre-season will have already started. The NHL regular season for the Predators starts up on Thursday October 9th.

Does this game hurt the chances of guys such as Taylor Beck, Filip Forsberg, or Kevin Fiala from making the Predators roster out of the pre-season? What’s going to happen to Beck? Is Fiala better suited to return to Europe this season or should he slot into the AHL mix here in North America?