The Admirals won 4-1 against the Rockford IceHogs Friday night. With the victory the Ads have officially clinched a playoff spot for the twelfth consecutive season.

The Admirals scored the opener tonight just seven seconds into a power-play. Klas Dahlbeck flipped a puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. After Colton Sissons won the draw, the puck circulated down by the net to Miikka Salomaki who was all alone by netminder Jason LaBarbera. Salomaki passed across the veteran goalie to Filip Forsberg on the left wing who scored on a one-timer for his thirteenth goal of the season.

We then had a fight of the year candidate as far as the Admirals are concerned. This whole situation was a spillover from an earlier incident in which Francis Wathier hit d-man Adam Clendening into the boards at an awkward angle. Wathier didn’t get called for any penalty from the play – but that didn’t stop Brandon Mashinter from wanting to drop the gloves with him. The two landed big time right handed bombs and resulted in Mashinter getting really bloodied by Wathier. You can give the win to Wathier in your fight cards.

With just over a minute remaining in the second period the Admirals extended their lead to 2-0. Wathier was skating down the right wing and fired a puck through the net front traffic to Taylor Beck. The eventual shot by Beck was deflected in by Austin Watson who was racing in on LaBarbera. The goal went under review before officially being counted as Watson’s eighteenth goal of the season.

As the third period neared the halfway point Teuvo Teravainen marked his AHL debut with a goal courtesy of Scott Valentine. With the puck behind Marek Mazanec’s net, Valentine passed the puck out into the slot if he thought Scott Ford was there. He wasn’t – but Teravainen was for a quickfire goal to make it a one-goal game.

Valentine went from lowlight to highlight in the space of five minutes. After his blunder in his own defensive end – Valentine scored his second goal of the season to restore the Admirals two-goal lead. He received a feed from Simon Moser, entered from the right wing, and whipped a wrister over the blocker of LaBarbera to make it a 3-1 game.

The Admirals sealed this one with a long range empty netter by Colton Sissons for his twenty-sixth goal of the season. The game ended 4-1 and the Admirals officially punched their ticket into the 2014 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs. It is the Admirals twelfth consecutive season of playoff hockey.

Mazanec, who may have been unfortunate not to earn his first AHL shutout tonight, was named the first star of this game. He stopped twenty-five of twenty-six shots faced tonight. It goes down as his sixteenth win of the season and, after so many two or more goals allowed performances, he has picked up back-to-back games of one goal hockey. He’s starting to get fired up at the right time.

Ramblings: Simon Moser made his return to the lineup tonight after missing fourteen games with a left shoulder injury sustained on 3/7/14 against these very same IceHogs. Defensemen Scott Ford and Scott Valentine also returned tonight having missed Tuesday’s game in Milwaukee.

The Admirals won 3-1 against the Rockford IceHogs Tuesday night. The Ads moved one step closer to punching their ticket into the 2014 Calder Cup playoffs on the strength of a penalty kill unit that was a perfect six for six tonight. Colton Sissons also made his mark in his return from Nashville with a power-play goal that finished off the scoring in tonight’s game.

“I felt like we were kind of hanging on there for a long time,” said Sissons. “We obviously had some calls that we didn’t exactly like but we also took some silly penalties. It’s tough. It wears you down – mentally and physically. We were hanging on there and we needed a goal to separate ourselves a little bit. I was fortunate enough to find the back door and [Taylor Beck] found me.”

It took just eleven seconds in this game before we saw Milwaukee Admirals history. Mike Liambas took a slashing penalty shortly after the opening draw. This gave him an Admirals AHL record for most penalty minutes in a single season with 267. The previous record was 266 penalty minutes by Jordin Tootoo during the 2004-05 season.

Unfortunately for Liambas he did not return to the game following his penalty. He appeared to awkwardly finish off a check as the delayed penalty was on at the start of the game. It was unclear as to what he may have injured – but the Admirals played a forward short for effectively the entire game.

The Ads picked up the opening goal with under two minutes remaining in the first period. Francis Wathier was skating down the right wing and dropped a puck off behind him for Mathieu Tousignant. With Wathier still up ice – it gave Tousignant the space to fake a shot, move towards the slot, and slide the puck underneath Jason LaBarbera for his seventh goal of the season.

“I don’t know what else you can say about that guy,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of Tousignant. “He’s a hockey player. That’s what you have to say about him. Yes, he gets under people’s skin but he kills penalties for us, scores goals for us, scores shootouts. He just plays the game. He doesn’t care where he plays – he just wants to play hockey. That’s pretty refreshing.”

In the second period Bryan Rodney scored an outstanding goal for his fifth of the season. The veteran puck moving d-man faked out two IceHogs with two fake wind ups on a slap shot, moved in on goal, and finally let that slapper loose to beat LaBarbera to make it 2-0 Admirals. The primary assist on the play went to Jonathan Diaby – who was making his professional hockey debut tonight.

Marek Mazanec lost his shutout bid in the third period following a goal from Mark McNeill. Pat Mullane made a wrap-around move, left wing to right wing, and passed out in front to Stephen Johns. The blueliner fired to the net and the luck was redirected by McNeill for his eighteenth goal of the season.

With the IceHogs continuing to buzz around the Admirals defensive zone – Brad Mills was given an interference minor that the Ads quickly turned into a power-play goal. Colton Sissons, fresh from his one month stay with the Nashville Predators, scored his twenty-fifth goal of the season after a great pass by Taylor Beck picked him out in the low left wing circle. It was a tight shooting angle but, with the pass from Beck, Sissons had the time to catch, measure, and beat LaBarbera to re-establish the Ads two-goal lead.

The game would end by the scoreline of 3-1. It is only the second time this season that Mazanec has accomplished that feat in net. He stopped twenty-six of twenty-seven shots on goal and was quite possibly the team’s best penalty killer tonight. The Admirals kill unit was a perfect six-for-six in tonight’s victory.

“We thought we held our composure,” said Evason. “Some of the penalties are our responsibility. It was a tough game for the penalty kill and they came through.”

Ramblings: Jonathan Diaby made his professional debut tonight. He recently finished up his junior career with the Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL. Tonight’s unhealthy scratches included: Mark Van Guilder, Simon Moser, Scott Ford, and Scott Valentine. The healthy scratches consisted of: Joe Pendenza, Mikko Vainonen, and Kirill Gotovets. Celebrity Corbin Bernsen took a massive airborne spill during the second intermission. He was attempting to throw a puck into the net baseball style and lost his footing. He appeared on the jumbotron, bandage on the back of his head, near the end of the game. Still not sure what he was thinking – but he seemed to still be having fun regardless.

Thoughts on tonight’s win? What impressed you the most from tonight’s game? What was Corbin Bernsen thinking?

The Admirals lost 4-1 against the Chicago Wolves Saturday night in Rosemont. This game was level after two periods of play – but the Wolves with a power-play goal and two empty netters finished off the Ads in the third period.

This was the first game in the Amtrak Rivalry this season that didn’t finish as a one goal game. It did however continue the Wolves run of not dropping a point against the Admirals. The Wolves are now 7-0-1-2 (17 points) this season against the Ads. The win also clinched a playoff spot for the Wolves.

The last time these two met a puck didn’t cross the goal line until the bottom of round one in the shootout. Tonight it took only 2:06 of ice time. Pat Cannone was stationed on the left wing faceoff circle and saw Jani Hakanpaa racing in from the point. He teed him up perfectly and Hakanpaa beat Scott Darling for his fourth goal of the season.

In the second period the Admirals were able to equalize thanks to the pace of Joonas Rask. The play all starts with e Scott Valentine clearance attempt from the Ads defensive zone. It chipped down the ice and towards Jake Allen. Rask hustled all the way through neutral ice, around Hakanpaa, and took the puck forehand to backhand past Allen for his fourth goal of the season.

Then a major missed opportunity. While throwing the puck out of the Ads zone, Scott Ford was leveled into the boards by Eric Selleck. Ford remained down after the hit and favored his right leg. Selleck was given a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct.

With a full five minutes worth of nonstop “score at will” power-play in the bank – the Admirals hardly sustained any pressure in attack. If anything, it was the Wolves penalty kill that forced Darling into making multiple saves from quality scoring chances. It was a power-play that looked as sloppy as sloppy gets without getting burned for poor passes. The Ads were fortunate to not concede a shorthanded goal – something they had done three times to the Wolves prior to this game.

After a too many men on the ice penalty from the Admirals – the Wolves scored their second power-play goal against the Ads from their forty-first chance this season. Derek Nesbitt’s slap shot from the right wing evaded a screen by Adam Cracknell and trickled through the legs of Darling and past the goal line. It was Nesbitt’s first goal as a member of the Wolves since joining from San Antonio Rampage – he has twelve goes overall this season.

Thoughts from tonight’s game? What was the issue tonight with the Admirals power-play? Was the lack of a power-play goal from the five minute major for boarding the difference maker tonight?

The Admirals won 1-0 in a shootout against the Chicago Wolves Tuesday night. The game was deadlocked all the way through regulation and overtime – and eventually even went to the sudden death rounds of the five round shootout.

The game was given its conclusion courtesy of Patrick Cehlin’s game-winning shootout goal. And Scott Darling capped off a thirty-six save shutout in the win for his fifth shutout of the season.

“It was a pretty good hockey game,” said a modest Milwaukee Admirals assistant coach Stan Drulia after the game on 1250 Sports Radio WSSP. “A lot of guys played well. Chicago had their chances. Scott Darling was exceptional.”

This game was stunning for the goaltending and defensive efforts displayed from both sides. For the first time this season – the Chicago Wolves entered the third period scoreless. That scoreless trend lasted all the way to the shootout. Both Scott Darling and Jake Allen picked up shutouts for their regulation efforts.

The Wolves went first in the shootout and wheeled out their top scorer Ty Rattie – whose backhander missed wide. Mathieu Tousignant, the Admirals would-be leadoff hitter of late in these scenarios, did it again. Tousignant was the first man to put a puck in the net, first round of the shootout – second skater, and lifted a shot over Allen’s right shoulder.

Keith Aucoin answered right back in the second round of the shootout and give the Wolves their first taste of a goal in the game. He managed to beat Darling’s glove to make it 1-1. Taylor Beck followed but was stopped Allen’s paddle to keep things level out of two rounds of the shootout.

Not content with stress levels – the 1-1 scoreline in the shootout carried through five rounds and into sudden death. In the sixth round, after Derek Nesbitt was denied from a five hole attempt, Patrick Cehlin skated in from center – stayed center – fired between the circles – and beat Allen five hole to give the Admirals the 1-0 shootout victory.

Darling continued to display just how good he has been with the Admirals this season. His thirty-six save shutout tonight was his fifth shutout of the season and he has only made eighteen starts. He has been phenomenal when given the opportunity.

“When you keep [Scott Darling] hungry he always responds,” said Drulia. After he sat out a for lengthy periods of time with [Magnus Hellberg] playing and [Marek Mazanec] playing, then [Pekka Rinne] was down, then his injury, and all those types of things – his first game back, every time, he is exceptional. He does a lot of good things.”

Despite the lack of games played, which via minutes logged put him out of contention for many of the statistical categories such as goals against average or save percentage, Darling is now tied for second in the AHL in shutouts – trailing only his counterpart tonight, Allen, who earned his league leading sixth in a shootout defeat.

Ramblings: Prior to the game, the Milwaukee Admirals reassigned Josh Shalla to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Vinny Saponari returned to the lineup after an upper body injury he sustained against the Lake Erie Monsters last Friday. Scott Valentine moved into sole possession of the twentieth spot on the Admirals all-time AHL games played list with his one-hundred-and-eighty-seventh game with Milwaukee.

What are your reactions from this game? How brilliant has Scott Darling been for the Milwaukee Admirals this season? Shouldn’t Darling be the man in net heading towards the playoffs? Considering the playoff-like atmosphere, and potential that this could be a first round match up, what does this game say about the Admirals defense?

The Admirals lost 3-1 against the Grand Rapids Griffins Sunday night. It was a strong night for the visitors as they outshot the Milwaukee 36-27 and had yet another great performance from Petr Mrazek en route to a win that ended the Ads point-streak at four games.

“[Grand Rapids] played a smart game,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. “They controlled the puck. They got pucks deep on us. And they worked. We anticipated that they would be a little bit more fatigue than they looked, but that’s why they won the league last year.”

In the first period the Griffins were on the receiving end of a quick whistle that cost Miikka Salomaki an opening goal. Patrick Cehlin’s shot from the left wing trickled through Petr Mrazek’s pads, was rolling towards goal, and then Salomaki pushed it in. Unfortunately, the whistle blew just as the Finn barreled in on goal for the puck.

“[The official] apologized,” said Evason. “He just said, he thought the goaltender had it, and he just said, sorry. It happens. Obviously, big goal too. For us, momentum. Just a bad break.”

Former-Admiral Jordin Tootoo clobbered Mathieu Tousignant into the boards in the second period – and it drew the ire of Mike Liambas. Tootoo was going to receive a penalty for boarding, but Liambas instigated and landed some decent blows. Once the dust settled, Liambas also received a ten minute misconduct to go along with an instigator and his fighting major.

Liambas now has 258 penalty minutes this season and is second only to Tootoo in team history in that respect. His combatant tonight holds the record with 266 penalty minutes from the 2004-05 season.

After leading the way in shots for the majority of the contest – the Griffins finally found the back of the net. Francis Wathier was called for kneeing to give the division leaders their second power-play of the game. Ryan Sproul’s shot from the right point was saved by Marek Mazanec with the pads. Yet, he kicked the save out to the left wing for an easy rebound goal for Teemu Pulkkinen – his twenty-ninth goal of the season.

With a power-play putting life back into the Admirals game – they found a breakthrough in the third period that leveled the score at 1-1. Filip Forsberg ripped a shot from the point that eluded four bodies in front of Mrazek and into the net. It was Forsberg’s eleventh goal of the season.

“We didn’t feel we got enough chances in the first two periods,” said Filip Forsberg. “We know that they have some pretty slow d-men there – pretty good size – so we have to use our feet. I think we did that pretty good in the third and created some chances. It was unlucky we couldn’t score more than one goal.”

The Griffins struck back with 3:32 remaining in regulation in eerily similar fashion. They had just capped off a power-play, maintained pressure in attack, and then Sproul’s blast from the right point beat a net front screen and Mazanec for the eventual game-winning goal. It was Sproul’s tenth goal of the season.

The Admirals emptied their net with 1:14 remaining. Pulkkinen’s try on the empty net, post. Mitch Callahan’s chance on the empty net, up and over. Yet Callahan followed in and set up Pulkkinen for the empty netter for his second goal of the game and thirtieth of the season.

Mrazaek has had his way against the Admirals this season and he continued his dominance tonight. He stopped twenty-six of twenty-seven chances – only beaten by a puck that cruised through a wall of traffic. In six meetings against the Admirals he has now won five games in net for the Griffins.

“He had some great saves,” said Forsberg. “We had a couple of good shots and he was there. It’s hard. We have to get in front of him. That goal that we scored we had a lot of people in front so that’s what we need to do and we didn’t do that enough until the third.”

Ramblings: Prior to the game, Mark Van Guilder was officially recalled to the Nashville Predators under emergency conditions. He made his NHL debut in Nashville against the Washington Capitals wearing his #29. Patrick Cehlin played in his one-hundredth game as an Admiral today. Meanwhile, Braden Pimm was playing in his first career AHL game after joining the Admirals in recent days from Northeastern on an ATO.

The Admirals won 4-3 against the Lake Erie Monsters Friday night. The line combination of Taylor Beck, Francis Wathier, and Austin Watson helped the team get two of the team’s four goals in their second straight win.

“We’re sound,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of the team’s recent performances. “We’re playing the right way. Everyone is buying in. Our line combinations work. The group doesn’t care who is out of the lineup – who is up in Nashville – they just play the game. It’s a good mix.”

The Monsters came out as the better looking of the two teams in the first period. They had their reward at 4:18 of the frame when Markus Lauridsen scored his third goal of the season. Andrew Agozzino threw a pass from the left wing faceoff circle that picked out the open Lauridsen. The shot whipped past Marek Mazanec to make it 1-0 Monsters.

Vinny Saponari tied the game back up later in the period from a bizarre series. It appeared as though the puck was offsides – and the Monsters sort of reacted with a panic when they realized it wasn’t. Miikka Salomaki cradled it, passed to the left wing side of the cage for Mark Van Guilder, and Van’s pass to Saponari saw him patiently wait for the roof of the net to open for him. It did, and he beat Sami Aittokallio for his fifteenth goal of the season.

Then came an incredibly poor goal that allowed the Monsters to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room with fifty-seven seconds remaining in the first period. Mazanec was run over from an initial scoring chance by David van der Gulik. In the melee, Mazanec lost his goaltending stick and really didn’t have his bearings set as the play continued. Mazanec kicked his stick into the net as he tried gathering himself, set back in net, but Mark Olver’s shot beat him to the stick side – where Mazenec lacked the paddle to make a save. It was Olver’s fourteenth goal of the season. I still have troubles understanding why the play wasn’t blown dead for a goaltender interference call.

The Hockey Gods were there for the Admirals in the second period. They were able to score two goals in the period – both of which were down right spectacular.

Austin Watson scored his fifteenth goal of the season after a massive redirection from the end boards. Scott Valentine was rimming the puck around the boards from the right point and it hit a seam right at the trapezoid line. Aittokallio was looking around the other side of the net waiting for it to reappear. Watson had a tap in to make it 2-2.

“I guess I was just looking the right way,” said Austin Watson. “At the last second I saw it come out. If I don’t put that one away I’d be kicking myself.”

The Monsters took a too many men on the ice penalty in the dying minutes of the second period. Having looked great all night without the goal to show for it – the power-play unit delivered with Patrick Cehlin’s sixth goal of the season. Cehlin’s initial shot caused his stick to explode in half. He raced to the bench, grabbed a fresh twig, skated down the right wing wall, and fired a wrister that whistled into the net with 0.7 seconds remaining in the second period. I wonder if he scored that goal with someone else’s stick for as quick as that play happened.

Taylor Beck hit plenty of iron tonight: power-play, even strength, shorthanded, he pinged pipe a lot. Fortunately for him, Austin Watson set him up perfectly with a wing to wing pass that gave Beck a clean look on net for his fourteenth goal of the season – and first goal since the opening game of the Ads four-game road trip.

Goals of the bizarre continued with an Andrew Agozzino shot from the far left wing corner. The puck seemed to beat Mazanec right along the skate and near post and squeak in for Agozzino’s thirteenth goal of the season.

With the game tightened up at 4-3, and an empty net, the Admirals were able to survive a late push from the Monsters to extend their current point streak to four games. In the month of March, ten games, they are now 7-2-0-1 (15 points).

Ramblings: The team wore throwback uniforms tonight in honor of the 2004 Calder Cup Champions. They’ll be wearing them again for Sunday’s game against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Joonas Jarvinen and Simon Moser remained out with injury. Josh Shalla was a healthy scratch tonight. In the first period, following his goal, Vinny Saponari was injured and did not return from the game. He is probable for Sunday.

The Admirals won 3-1 against the Rochester Americans Wednesday night.

The Ads steamrolled the home-side in the first two period of play: leading 3-0 and outshooting them 25-6. The victory caps off the four-game road trip – and the Admirals managed to take five points from a possible eight.

“We really liked the way that we came out,” said Milwaukee Admirals assistant coach Stan Drulia after the game on Sports Radio 1250 WSSP. “We wanted to make sure our guys started real good today and they did that. They really hunted the puck.”

It took the Americans over twelve minutes into this game before getting their first shot on goal. That shot came after a failed five-on-three power-play but during the back half of that opportunity.

With the shots heavily favoring the Admirals, finishing 14-3 in the first period, they found the payoff with Miikka Salomaki’s eighteenth goal of the season. Anthony Bitetto flipped a backhanded shot on starting goaltender Andrey Makarov. The puck knuckled in on the young netminder and Salomaki was in front of the net to pop in the garbage for the opening goal.

Mark Van Guilder was injured during that initial penalty kill in the first period. For those who remember back – Van Guilder blocked a shot in the Hamilton game last Friday, was on crutches after the game, and played the rest of the weekend. He was helped off of the ice, not putting weight down on his right leg, by Bryan Rodney and Doug Agnew.

I mention that injury out of sequence because the legend of Van Guilder continued tonight with yet another warrior mentality display. In his first shift back on the ice, the same period in which he was helped to the bench, he scored a goal to make it a 2-0 Admirals lead. Patrick Cehlin forced a turnover directly in front of the net. With the panic button firmly hit for the Americans – Cehlin and Van Guilder, and both defensemen covering them, crossed paths. Van Guilder took a whack at the loose puck to the side of the net and scored his fourteenth goal of the season.

In the second period, Salomaki was able to score his nineteenth goal of the season and second goal of the game. He made a power move to the net from the left wing with Johan Larsson all over him. There wasn’t a call made against Larsson but it wouldn’t have mattered. Saloamki’s initial shot was saved by Makarov but the young Finn drove in the rebound to extend the Admirals lead to 3-0.

Through two period of play, the Admirals outshot the Americans 25-6. The Ads season low for shots allowed in a period was three back when they played in Charlotte against the Checkers on 12/1/13. Tonight, the Ads achieved that in, back-to-back periods through forty minutes.

The Americans finally broke through the Admirals defense in the opening minutes of the third period to make it 3-1. A backhanded pass from Phil Varone picked out Kevin Sundher who slapped one past Marek Mazanec to end the shutout bid. It’s Sundher’s sixth goal of the season.

After two shots pinged off the posts surrounding Mazanec – the Ads found themselves on a breakaway with Joonas Rask getting tackled down by Nick Petrecki. Rask was awarded a penalty shot but failed to convert from the opportunity. His forehand shot was snagged with the glove of Makarov.

The game would end at a 3-1 scoreline. The Ads defense was brilliant tonight and the shots disparity really shows that: 32-16, Admirals. In addition, tonight marked the first game from twenty-six previous appearances that Mazanec allowed less than two goals in a game. He wasn’t tasked with too much work in the opening two periods tonight – but really shined in the third period when the Americans pushed heavily late in the game.

Ramblings: With his goal in tonight’s game, Mark Van Guilder now has fifty career goals with the Milwaukee Admirals. Van Guilder is just the thirteenth player to reach that milestone since the team joined AHL. He is now tied with Scottie Upshall on Admirals all-time AHL list for goals scored. Austin Watson’s seven game point streak ended tonight. The Rochester Americans have now lost eight straight games.

The Admirals lost 4-3 in a shootout against the Utica Comets Sunday afternoon. A late goal from Francis Wathier pushed this road game into overtime but the Comets went 3-2 in five rounds of the shootout to take home the extra point.

“I thought both teams played hard,” said assistant coach Stan Drulia after the game on Sports Radio 1250 WSSP. “We had an unfortunate couple of bounces but we were resilient. Showed some real good poise as a group to get a point.”

After a Kent Huskins cross-checking minor, the Admirals used their opening power-play to crash the net and get the opener just as time had expired on the man advantage. Vinny Saponari was in the right spot in front of the net to dump the puck past Joacim Eriksson for his fourteenth goal of the season.

“Since Vinny has come up from Cincinnati he has done a fantastic job,” said Drulia. “We had a big debate at the end of the exhibition schedule whether he was going to make our hockey team or not. Right now, he’s done everything he can to stay in our lineup. He is a regular now. His game has come so far as this season has progressed and the credit goes to his determination to get back here and be a factor.”

In the opening period there was a fight between Anthony Bitetto and Brandon DeFazio. The fight stirred from a hit by Bitetto on former Admiral Cal O’Reilly. DeFazio took exception, jumped in, and the two engaged.

Compare that situation to the second period when the exact same situation happens in reverse. Darren Archibald hit Josh Shalla hard in front of the Comets’ bench, Scott Ford took exception, the two fought, and the officials gave an extra roughing minor to Ford for the altercation. Why? I’m not sure if the officials even know why.

Only ten seconds into that Ford roughing minor the Comets found an equalizing goal from the power-play. They managed to win the face off and Frank Corrado’s shot to the net was deflected by Alexandre Grenier past Scott Darling to make it a 1-1 game. The goal for Grenier was his seventeenth scored this season.

The Admirals did answer back with a goal of their own in the second period – thanks to a brilliant individual effort from Mathieu Tousignant. The master of all things chirping jumped up at the blue line, gloved a puck down to himself, and was in on Eriksson with a mini-break. Tousignant beat him to the glove side to restore the Admirals lead and pick up his sixth goal of the season.

Archibald created the Comets second goal of the game in the third with a great outlet pass that found David Marshall. Once he was in the zone he turned to Pascal Pelletier who beat Darling to the glove on the short-side for his fourteenth goal of the season.

Following a Charles-Olivier Roussel interference call – the Comets managed to score their second power-play goal of the game. DeFazio was set up in the high slot and wired a puck past Darling to give the Comets a 3-2 lead from his fourteenth goal this season.

Francis Wathier was able to earn the Admirals an equalizer with less than five minutes remaining in regulation. Austin Watson made a strong play behind the net that set up Wathier on a wrister for his seventh goal of the season and second goal since joining the Admirals from the Texas Stars. Watson now has a seven game point streak: two goals and five assists.

“We liked [Austin Watson] on the wing,” said Drulia. “[Dean Evason] and I have talked about it and he has been a real good winger the last little while.”

The Admirals survived a last second penalty in regulation that spilled into overtime – and worked their way to a shootout.

After an ice delay, the Admirals shot first with Tousignant who scored fivehole on Eriksson. Pelletier was able to answer straight back with a forehander. After misses from Beck and Saponari, Miikka Salomaki was able to level the score at 2-2 in the shootout after scoring backhander to the stickside. With the Admirals shooting first – this meant Darling needed a save to keep the shootout level heading into round five. Marshall beat Darling off the crossbar and down – in what would be the game-winning goal following a failed attempt from Wathier.

“Pretty good,” said Drulia of his assessment of the weekend. “Obviously, we didn’t like the way we played Friday but big game yesterday – big effort again today. If we can find a way to get a win in Rochester we’re going to put ourselves in a good spot here.”

Ramblings: Before the game, Filip Forsberg was recalled to the Nashville Predators and the Admirals recalled Josh Shalla and Paul Crowder from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Both Shalla and Crowder started today’s game – Zach Budish was listed as the lone healthy scratch. Joonas Jarvinen, Simon Moser, and Michael Young – are out with injury.

Thoughts on the game today? All things considered, was this still a good result for the Admirals? Can the days off before the Rochester game set them up for a strong finish to this four-game road trip?

The Admirals won 5-1 on the road against the Toronto Marlies Saturday afternoon.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS HERE

“It’s amazing,” said assistant coach Stan Drulia of the Admirals rebound effort this afternoon. “To go from our effort and the way we played yesterday – to the way that we really competed. They played the game really, really hard. There wasn’t a weak link among us. Everybody did a really good job today.”

The Ads were able to flip the script in last night’s game by picking up two first period goals. They also jumped out in the second period with another two-goal period, taking a four goal lead, and finishing with that advantage.

The opening goal came from a power-play tally by Miikka Salomaki. Anthony Bitetto’s initial shot to the net spilled free and created a scramble in front of Marlies netminder Christopher Gibson. Salomaki was able to get the final decisive touch for his seventeenth goal of the season.

Taylor Beck was able to force an error out of T.J. Brennan that created a turnover and rush the Admirals way. Salomaki picked up the puck and then Austin Watson for the Admirals second goal in the first period. Watson now has a points streak of six games and the goal was his sixteenth of the season.

Last night the Admirals found an unlikely goal scorer in the form on Mike Liambas. Today they found another one, Scott Ford. An attack into the zone from the left wing by Joonas Rask led to a drop pass for the on-rushing Sheriff. His wrist shot beat traffic and the glove of Gibson – who was pulled following the goal in favor of Garret Sparks. The goal is Ford’s third of the season.

Sparks introduction to the game was met with some chaos on his part. First, he played the puck outside of the trapezoid. Then he misplayed a puck behind his net and it allowed Filip Forsberg to score one of the easiest goals he’ll score this season. Mark Van Guilder and Patrick Cehlin were there to set it up for him following Sparks mistake – but Forsberg had an open net to shoot on for his tenth goal with the Admirals this season.

Scott Darling’s shutout bid ended just eleven seconds into the third period. Korbinian Holzer was able to dink the puck behind the Admirals defense and Trevor Smith was off on a breakaway. He lifted a backhander past Darling to make it a 4-1 game on his seventh goal of the season.

For those who missed Aaron Sims discussion on Mark Van Guilder during the game – he made mention that Van Guilder was on crutches last night and when he entered the team bus for their trip to Toronto. He was injured following a blocked shot in Hamilton but played despite that today. Hockey players right?

Van Guilder’s response was to play through the pain and he was rewarded with his thirteenth goal of the season. His wingers, Forsberg and Patrick Cehlin, were buzzing around the cage and teed him up for the shot in front of the net. The Admirals lead extended back to a four-goal cushion, 5-1.

The game ended with a bout between Mathieu Tousignant and T.J. Brennan. Tousignant landed an uppercut but was polished off by Brennan. He never seems to do well in any fight he ever takes part in – but Tousignant tries.

Darling, playing in his twentieth game of the season, earned his tenth win of the season. He made thirty saves and the only goal he allowed came from the Smith breakaway eleven seconds into the third period.

Ramblings: Michael Young made his AHL and Milwaukee Admirals debut today. Zach Budish was listed as a healthy scratch in Young’s place – meaning the Admirals dressed seven defensemen for today’s game. The Admirals improved to 15-4-1-2 all-time against the Marlies this afternoon – including a 7-3-0-1 record in Toronto. ICEHOGS NEWS, Bobby Shea has been suspended eight games and Jared Nightingale six games for their involvement in one hilariously stupid display of Rockford logic.

Thoughts from the Admirals performance today? What changed yesterday to today?