The Admirals lost 3-2 in a shootout against the Grand Rapids Griffins Saturday night. After trailing 1-0 in the first period, the Ads responded with two-goals in thirty-seconds to start the second period – the shortest time between two Admiral goals all season. Grand Rapids drew the Ads back in the second period and took the game all the way into a shootout where only one man, Adam Almquist, would score.

Mike Liambas took a crosschecking penalty in the first period just as the Griffins were whistled for going offside. Liambas disagreed his way to the box and the Griffins earned the game’s opening power-play. Teemu Pulkkinen would go on to score his eighteenth goal of the season from a point shot bullet that found its way through Mitch Callahan, Scott Valentine, and Marek Mazanec. Admirals assistant coach Stan Drulia gave linesman Aaron Mills his money’s worth after the goal. The entry into the zone prior to the power-play goal was close and could well have been blown for an offsides. It wasn’t. Seconds later, it became 1-0 Griffins.

The second period started with a big bang. The Admirals were able to score two-goals in the space of thirty seconds to take a 2-1 lead. Vinny Saponari skated in through neutral ice – passed on to Joe Piskula – who then skated down the right wing and all the way in on Petr Mrazek for his first goal of the season.

Thirty-seconds later, Patrick Cehlin picked Adam Almquist’s pocket directly in front of Mrazek and fired. The steal and shot were almost done with the same stick motion by Cehlin. It happened all so fast that Mrazek had no time to close out the near post – where Cehlin would score his third-goal of the season. The two goals scored in rapid succession were the quickest by the Admirals all season. The previous distinction was forty-nine seconds apart by Colton Sissons and Anthony Bitetto on Oct. 18 – also against the Griffins. In his career now, Patrick Cehlin’s has played against the Griffins nine times, scored four goals, and picked up three assists.

The Griffins were able to tie things up over halfway into the second period through a Louis-Marc Aubry goal. This play was opened up after an exchange at the Admirals bench in which Filip Forsberg got into a tugging match before making his change. Kevin Henderson hopped over the boards and was late in joining the rush down at the other end. It was there that Aubry was able to zip around Mazanec’s cage and get to an uncontested right wing post for a goal. It was Aubry’s first goal of the season.

The third period had its chances for the Griffins. There were a few post jobs off of shots for them, but a tremendous display in goal tonight by Mazanec prevented this game from ending in regulation. Mazanec made thirty-five saves tonight and plenty of them were down right filthy. With the team in front of him turning the puck over, sometimes at neutral ice or on his doorstep, he stood tall and kept the team alive through regulation.

After an intense overtime period, in which the opening stint was almost all in the Griffins defensive half, the game shifted into a shootout. The Admirals decided to shoot first and used: Miikka Salomaki, Vinny Saponari, Filip Forsberg, Patrick Cehlin, and Mark Van Guilder. The Griffins wheeled out: Louis-Marc Aubry, Adam Almquist, Mikael Samuelsson, and Calle Jarnkrok. Mrazek stopped all five shooters for the Admirals. The lone shooter Mazanec missed out on, Almquist, beat him past the blocker with a wrist shot.

Ramblings: With Simon Moser being called up today – the Admirals literally were as tight as it gets. The team dressed seven defensemen and Zach Budish, the lone healthy scratch in Iowa, was back in the lineup. Scott Ford played in his three-hundred and fortieth game as an Admiral tonight – tying him with Tony Hrkac for ninth on Admirals all-time games list. Marek Mazanec kept his streak alive tonight – he has allowed a minimum of two-goals in all thirteen AHL games he has played.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? With the Admirals roster as stretched thin as it is – is a shootout defeat against the division leaders a small victory? Are reinforcements a must for the Admirals before Wednesday’s game?

The Admirals won 3-2 in overtime against the Iowa Wild Friday night. The Ads held a 2-0 lead in the third period only to see the Wild race back and push this game into overtime. With fifty-seconds remaining in OT, Bryan Rodney produced the goods to end the Ads two-game losing skid overall and six-game losing skid on the road.

“It was a pretty good hockey game,” said Assistant Coach Stan Drulia on Sports Radio 1250 WSSP after the game. “Obviously we’re pretty happy we found a way to get it done in overtime. Not crazy that we gave up a two-goal lead again here. But, a win on the road – and it’s a big win for our group.”

Austin Watson opened the scoring in this one to give the Admirals a 1-0 first period lead. Kevin Henderson made a pass from behind the net to Watson on the right wing faceoff circle. His sniper of a wrist shot beat Johan Gustafsson over the far shoulder for Watson’s eleventh goal of the season.

After a slow and methodical second period it didn’t take that long for the action to explode in the third. Just 1:32 into the final period of regulation the Admirals extended their lead. Miikka Salomaki’s shot zipped through a hefty net front screen of Vinny Saponari and two Wild defenseman to beat Gustafsson. The goal would be credited to Saponari after the game after a confirmed deflection. For Saponari, it is his eighth goal of the season.

“[Salomaki] managed the puck real well tonight,” said Drulia. “He works hard. That’s his DNA. You get him into these situations where you want meat and potatoes – you want hard work along the boards. You look at some of the scrums that he’s been in throughout the year. He goes to those hard areas.”

Then came the pressure from Iowa. After Marek Mazanec recorded his first ever AHL game without conceding a goal in the opening two periods – the Wild roared back with two unanswered goals to tie the game.

The shutout bid for Mazanec ended after a heavy slap shot from Carson McMillan. The shot beat Mazanec low to the glove side and made it a 2-1 game. Then, with just 5:12 remaining in regulation, a defensive lapse for the Admirals put Jim McKenzie in front of goal with tons of space to set up shop. Mazanec was able to disrupt the initial chance but McKenzie bashed in his own rebound before the defense could close him down.

The game rolled into overtime – which has not been kind at all to the Admirals this season. The Ads lead the entire AHL with six overtime defeats this season and were fresh off of the one to the Rockford IceHogs. With fifty-seconds remaining in OT, enter Bryan Rodney and a game-winning goal that ended the Admirals two-game skid overall and six-game road losing streak. Rodney, creeping in from the right wing, was picked out by Salomaki. The shot near the slot beat Gustafsson for Rodney’s third goal of the season. The Ads have yet to lose against the Iowa Wild in five meetings this season.

Ramblings:

Patrick Cehlin returned to the lineup tonight for his first game since 11/3/13 @ Iowa. In tonight’s game he was a -1 with two shots on goal. With his goal tonight Austin Watson now has thirty-one career goals as an Admiral – which ranks him twenty-third in the AHL history of the team with Andrew Hutchinson and former linemate Juuso Puustinen. Tonight’s lone scratch was forward Zach Budish. The team dressed seven defensemen and rotated a wing spot on a line with Henderson and Watson throughout the night.

The Admirals lost 4-3 in overtime against the Rockford IceHogs Sunday night. The Ads were up by 3-1 until the IceHogs stormed off with two rapid goals from Jeremy Morin in the third period to push this game into overtime. The OT period was nearly over when Adam Clendening blasted in the game-winner from long range to end the Ads and IceHogs three-in-three weekend battle royale.

There were more Vinny Saponari theatrics in tonight’s game. Last night was a double toe drag spin-o-rama for a goal. Tonight he pulled out the toe drag again and almost put IceHogs d-man Theo Peckham on his wallet. The follow up shot from the toe drag was a wrister to Jason LaBarbera’s stick side for Saponari’s seventh goal of the season and second in as many days.

Despite the opening goal, the IceHogs really controlled the first period of play. They outshot the Ads 20-6 in the frame and were able to generate two power-plays. Shortly after a Joe Piskula hooking penalty the IceHogs scored an equalizer. It wasn’t the best goal conceded by Marek Mazanec. The shot from Alex Broadhurst skipped along the ice surface and rolled into goal alongside Mazanec’s right toe. He was simply playing a little too deep in net and it cost him moving side to side. It was the younger Broadhurst brother’s eighth goal of the season.

In the second period the Ads reclaimed the lead on the power-play. Mark Van Guilder guided a pass towards the net to Simon Moser – who expertly tipped a pass across to an oncoming Miikka Salomaki. The pass was backhanded in by Salomaki for his eleventh goal of the season.

Next came some rough stuff. Mathieu Tousignant, our resident chirper, dropped the gloves with Garret Ross. Tousignant was a thorn in the side of Rockford all weekend – playing style and mouth. The fight wasn’t anything special. There were some noogies dished out by both in a grapple fest but no real solid blows landed – if any.

With fifty-seconds remaining in the second period Joonas Jarvinen scored his second goal of the season. Jarvinen stickhandled through Adam Clendening and shot five hole on LaBarbera. The puck took a while to reappear but it had enough gas on it to cross into goal to make it a 3-1 Ads lead.

Then came twenty-three seconds that the Admirals would like to have back tonight. In that third period span they lost their two-goal lead from two goals off the tape of Jeremy Morin. The Ads were just finishing off a power-play when Morin charged down the right wing and delivered a wicked wrist shot that powered top shelf across the grain of Mazanec. Just twenty-three seconds later the IceHogs had a two-on-one and Morin popped it in for his eleventh goal of the season.

The game would head into overtime. Both sides looked gassed from the third period onwards. Just when I was thinking both could be playing for the shootout, and any goal this late in OT would ruin a week for the losing side, the IceHogs scored with twenty-one seconds left in OT. The IceHogs team leading scorer Clendening blasted a slap shot from the far right wing side of the blue line. His shot appeared to take a hit from an Admirals stick just after the shot was taken, lowering the puck’s flight pattern, and burning Mazanec for the late OT game-winner. That’s Clendening’s sixth goal of the season – and the one that makes tonight that little bit sour as the Ads and IceHogs cap the weekend three-in-three.

Ramblings: Marek Mazanec started tonight’s game making him the first goalie since Magnus Hellberg (the final three games of the 2012-13 season) to start all games of a three-in-three. With his assist tonight on Miikka Salomaki’s goal – Mark Van Guilder scored his 100th career point as an Admiral. Only fifteen other players have reached the 100 point plateau in Admirals AHL history.

Thoughts from tonight’s game? How about this series? Should Marek Mazanec have played all three games in net this weekend?

The Admirals lost 2-1 against the Rockford IceHogs Saturday night. The Ads opened the scoring tonight with a brilliant goal by Vinny Saponari. A massive sixty-five delay to repair conditions on the ice set the stage for an IceHogs team that surged in the second period – and found a late game-winner in the third.

“It was a long long break obviously,” said assistant coach Stan Drulia on Sports Radio 1250 WSSP after the game. “I think we lost a little bit of momentum. And then we got into four penalties right in a row. So we kind of lost momentum there in the second period. And then we just don’t get the job done when it got late. We got over committed on our forecheck and gave up a two-on-one. We can’t be giving up a two-on-ones with three minutes to go in a 1-1 hockey game.”

In last night’s game Colton Sissons made a case for the best Admirals goal of the season. Tonight it was Vinny Saponari. The Georgia native skated in from the left wing and into the slot around a sliding Viktor Svedberg (all 6’9” of him), toe dragged around Zach Miskovic, did a clockwise spin, backhand shot, and beat veteran goaltender Jason LaBarbera to the five hole. The goal is Saponari’s sixth of the season – and please YouTube produce the goods.

Next came a massive delay due to unsafe playing conditions. The Rockford IceHogs were having a “Pink The Rink” night. They were wearing pink accented uniforms to promote breast cancer awareness and also tinted the ice a shade of pink. Whether or not that was the route of the problem isn’t entirely known – but, after a sixty-five minute delay, the pink ice was fully shaved and the ice was resurfaced.

“Some guys were on the bikes, stretching, and just trying to keep moving,” said Drulia of how the team dealt with the delay. “We had some time to look at a few things. But we didn’t do a whole lot of coaching because there really wasn’t a whole lot to do.”

Both teams had to endure the delay – but it was clear that the IceHogs started the second period far better than their first. In the second period the IceHogs outshot the Admirals 12-4. They’re attacking pressure was constant in the period and drew four power-play chances.

After a Scott Valentine slash and a delayed call against Joonas Jarvinen for boarding – the IceHogs scored a power-play goal to level the game at 1-1. Brandon Pirri’s shot to the net deflected off of ex-Admiral Brad Winchester and past Marek Mazanec for the tying goal. For Winchester, that is now thirteen goals this season – he had nine all last year with the Admirals.

After a misplay from Jarvinen – the IceHogs were able to spring a two-on-one rush. Brandon Mashinter, who dropped the gloves last night with Mike Liambas, used his hands for good by tapping a shot through Mazanec’s five hole for the go-ahead goal.

The Ads were able to earn an offensive zone faceoff, use their timeout, and play with an extra attacker for the final minute. Nothing came of it. And the Admirals fell 2-1 in Rockford for the team’s sixth straight road loss.

Ramblings: Filip Forsberg returned to the Admirals lineup after missing last night’s contest due to an illness. This meant the team returned to a six-defensemen look with Charles-Olivier Roussel being the odd-man out tonight. Interesting move by the Rockford IceHogs for this game: they benched their top scorer d-man Adam Clendening after costly turnovers in Friday’s game. By allowing two goals tonight, netminder Marek Mazanec continued his run of allowing two or more goals in every AHL start. The lone game where he managed to concede more than two goals game in a 5-4 shootout loss in Oklahoma City last weekend.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Was the long delay the real buzzkill for the Admirals tonight? Why do the Ads seem to struggle so much on the road? How do you feel in regards to Mazanec consistently allowing two goals per game?

The Admirals won 3-2 against the Rockford IceHogs Friday night. In front of a massive crowd, nearly 17,000 fans in attendance, the Ads were able to come back and hold off Rockford. The goals from the Ads included a brilliant shorthanded goal from Colton Sissons, a wicked wrister from Austin Watson, and a game-winner from Mark Van Guilder off of an IceHogs turnover. Marek Mazanec also played a big part in the win tonight – making twenty-eight saves in the win.

For the most part, the Admirals outplayed the IceHogs in the opening period. They spent more time on the attack and outshot the visitors 17-12 in the first period. The IceHogs work from their defensive half on a counter rush did force some big saves from Marek Mazanec throughout the period – but there was never anything that really caught Mazanec off guard.

After a Mike Liambas high-sticking call, the IceHogs were able to score the opener from a power-play with thirty-seconds remaining in the period. A shot from BLURBLE was spilled out into the path of Mark McNeill. With Mazanec out of position due to the initial save – all McNeill had to do was smack it in for his eleventh goal of the season.

Zach Budish was called for a trip early in the second period. Cue Colton Sissons and one of the best individual plays by an Admiral this season. Sissons was able to jar a turnover loose, win a race in the neutral zone, skate over and in front of DEFENSEMAN, and beat Simpson’s glove for a shorthanded goal. The goal leveled the game at 1-1 and extended Sissons team-lead for goals with sixteen.

Then something that hadn’t happened in the previous three meetings this season between the Ads and IceHogs: a fight. Off of a faceoff Mike Liambas dropped the gloves with Brandon Mashinter. It appeared like this was all instigated from the draw by Mashinter and then Liambas obliged him. I scored my fight card: Liambas 10, Mashinter 9. The edge goes to Liambas who landed solid body blows throughout the fight. Both ended the scrap with solid punches landing flush to the face.

In the third period the Ads were able to gain their first lead of the game from Austin Watson’s tenth goal of the season. Watson skated in from the right wing and fired. His shot may have taken a deflection off of a stick in front of him before it got to Simpson. The shot appeared to knuckle en route to goal and snuck through Simpson’s arm.

The eventual game-winning goal came through an IceHogs turnover in their own zone. Mathieu Tousignant was able to intercept an outlet pass at the top of the blue line. This kept Van Guilder onside and right on target for a Tousignant pass. Van Guilder threw it by Simpson to give the Ads a two-goal lead and picked up his eight goal of the season.

The IceHogs were able to score a shorthanded goal of their own with five-minutes remaining. A bit of miscommunication and steady pressure from the IceHogs generated a turnover from the left wing pocket. Brandon Pirri was able to score directly in front of Miikka Salomaki and Mazanec to make it 3-2 – where the game would remain.

Ramblings: Filip Forsberg missed tonight’s game due to an illness and was a very late scratch from the lineup. In his place the team dressed seven defensemen with Charles-Olivier Roussel – who actually played the full game as a right winger. A pleasant surprise in tonight’s pre-game skate was the return of Patrick Cehlin. The Swede played the full skate-around and might return at some point this weekend. Taylor Beck, who was called up to the Nashville Predators this week, has been a healthy scratch in two-straight games since his call up.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Can the Ads sweep the weekend?

The Admirals won 3-2 against the Toronto Marlies Tuesday night. All three goals by the Ads came on the power-play: Salomaki, Salomaki again, and Sissons. The Ads started fast. The Marlies finished ugly – with eighteen penalty minutes in the third period alone. Despite a goal scored with the extra attacker on – the Marlies shot themselves in the foot in the third and the Ads were able to pick up their first win in three games.

The opening goal tonight came from the Admirals on the power-play. Taylor Beck had a good chance in on goal but his stick exploded. He skated to the bench, got a new twig, skated back into the action, and set into motion the power-play goal. Beck’s wing-to-wing pass found Bryan Rodney creeping in on the right wing. Rodney’s shot nailed the pads of Marlies goaltender Garret Sparks and the puck went directly to Miikka Salomaki for a tap in. That is Salomaki’s ninth goal of the season.

Milwaukee dominated the opening period. It took the Marlies more than ten minutes to force Marek Mazanec to make a save. In total, the Ads outshot the Marlies 14-3 in the opening twenty-minutes. That meant the Ads team leader for shots in the period, Salomaki, was on level terms with the entire Marlies team. Even with a power-play to their credit rarely did the Marlies sustain any offensive pressure.

After a successful penalty kill the Marlies equalized through a rebound goal by Wade MacLeod. Major credit goes to the initial shot from Greg McKegg who waited, waited, and waited for a shot to the net. When he fired Mazanec made the pad save but the puck kicked out to MacLeod who finished the rest. It was his fifth goal of the season.

The second period was much more even between the two. Shots were 15-12 in the Admirals favor. The bulk of those shots from the Marlies were low shots on Mazanec’s pads in an effort to generate rebounds for players crashing the net. It worked once. They kept pushing the entire period looking to make Mazanec’s legs move.

Midway through the second period saw a very ugly boarding penalty by Brad Ross on Scott Ford. The puck was in the right wing pocket as the Marlies were forechecking. Ross had full view of Ford’s name and number – and Ford was a few feet clear of the end boards. Ross put a shoulder to the nameplate and drove Ford face first into the glass. Ford remained down briefly and then got up swinging. He landed one solid punch before things settled down. The call on the ice was a boarding minor. Nothing against Ford for the punch. Blood was drawn from the hit. The only possible reason I can see why that wasn’t a boarding major and a game misconduct was the reaction by Ford once he got up. Should that merit the lack of a match penalty for that type of hit? In my book – absolutely not. It looked ugly at full speed as it happened. It looked even worse on the replays – which were shown before a call was made on the ice.

In the third period some more nastiness came from the Marlies. Right in front of their player bench Mike Liambas was smashed from the back by Andrew MacWilliam. Liambas looked like he was dangerously close to catching his chin on the top of the boards. He went right after scrum following the hit. Nothing more than words from that post-boarding reaction. Also, that hit was also just a minor penalty.
The ensuing power-play for the Ads resulted in their third goal on the man-advantage. A net front scramble for a loose puck finally ended with Colton Sissons getting the crucial touch to chip it by Sparks. That goal extends Sissons team lead in goals to fifteen.

Toronto’s undoing in this game was really their own in the third period. The visiting penalty box’s door darn near needed WD-40 – and may well get treated before Friday’s game. In total the Marlies took four penalties for eighteen minutes worth of PIM’s and hell for Marlies head coach Steve Spott to endure. There were two five-on-three chances that exceeded one-minute in length. And it felt as if, once a penalty was killed or finished off by an Ads power-play goal, another penalty was drawn. The Marlies were beyond agitated in this game. Drawing misconducts on the ice and from the bench.

Through all the awfulness of the third period the Marlies did manage to score a goal with the extra attacker on the ice. They worked low around Mazanec’s cage and Sam Carrick’s pass, post-to-post, was slammed home by McKegg.

Pressure continued for the final 1:31 of the game. Luckily for the Admirals that just wasn’t enough time to level the game. The Marlies, and all their frustration, got the better of them in the last period. By every sense of the word: the Marlies earned the loss tonight.

Ramblings: In tonight’s game, the Admirals fired a season-high forty-six shots on goal. Kevin Henderson was a healthy scratch and the team dressed seven defensemen. Bryan Rodney returned after a four-game spell of being a scratch. Taylor Beck, who tallied for two assists, moved past Neil Meadmore on Ads all-time (IHL and AHL) list with 109 pts – tied for fifty-fourth with Dan Eastman. By conceding two goals again tonight – Marek Mazanec continued his run of conceding no less than two goals in every single AHL start.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Did the Marlies ‘lose’ this game more than the Admirals ‘won’ it? If you were in attendance, because I doubt the footage turns up online, what did you make of the boarding calls to Ford and Liambas? Let’s talk Filip Forsberg on a night when he doesn’t score goals: what do you see from him lately?

The Admirals lost 5-4 in a shootout against the Oklahoma City Barons Sunday afternoon. The Ads trailed 4-2 late in the third period but a goal from Mark Van Guilder and an incredible goal from Simon Moser with 2.6 seconds remaining secured a point by sending the game into overtime. Unfortunately, the Ads weren’t able to top the Barons when it came to the shootout.

After coughing up two goals in last night’s first period – it was evident that the Ads wanted to attack hard to start this game. For their efforts they cracked Barons goalie Richard Bachman a heck of a lot faster than they did last night. Taylor Beck provided a cool backhanded pass across ice to Filip Forsberg who buried his sixth goal of the season. It’s only Forsberg’s second even-strength goal scored in North America – both of which have come with the Admirals.

A trend that couldn’t be corrected from last night was the Ads power-play who, like last night, failed to capitalize from a lengthy five-on-three chance. Last night it was a minute and eighteen seconds worth. Today it was fifty-one seconds worth. Both came and went without any damage done. When you get opportunities like that – they need to be buried.

Just before the final minute of the first period the Barons equalized by finishing off a three-on-two rush. Tyler Pitlick received a pass from the left faceoff circle from Jack Combs and was able to beat Marek Mazanec for his fourth goal of the season.

The lone tally of the second period came off of a rebound effort for Barons winger Jack Combs. David Musil’s hard shot from the point was mishandled with the glove by Mazanec and the puck spilled out to Combs – who finished with a backhander. The goal by Combs was his first of the season.

In the third period Marek Mazanec did something he has never done before in the AHL: he allowed goal number three. In all six starts prior to this he had allowed exactly two goals. The third goal was scored by Matthew Ford on a low wrist shot to the stick-side – his tenth of the season.

As mentioned, a real struggle all weekend long has been the Admirals power-play. They earned another five-on-three chance in the third period. It wasn’t capitalized on – but the backend to that penalty was for the Ads first power-play goal in twelve chances on the weekend. The goal was fired in from the left circle by Vinny Saponari for his fifth goal of the season.

At the time I felt this was going to be the backbreaker. Right after the Ads score on the power-play Scott Ford took a cross-checking penalty that set up an instant response for the Barons. The shot from Taylor Fedun ricocheted off of Mark Van Guilder’s leg and past Mazanec for a power-play goal – and Fedun’s sixth of the season. It was a 4-2 Barons lead with 5:12 remaining in the game.

Then some karma for Van Guilder. Having had the puck bounce off of him and in at one end – he scored down at the other end. The set up came from a good pass by Saponari that gave MVG a quality chance on Bachman. He delivered with his seventh goal of the season.

Like last night, this came down to the wire in the extra attacker situation once Mazanec emptied his net. Unlike last night, the Ads came through… with 2.6 seconds left on the clock! Huge credit on this play goes to Van Guilder winning a faceoff with 4.2 seconds remaining. The puck went back to Moser who scored five-hole for his eighth goal of the season – and queued up overtime.

The Admirals might be disappointed that, after racing back late to earn a point, they didn’t bury the Barons in the OT period. The chances were there to be taken. Beck, Moser, Watson, and Roussel all had quality scoring chances that might have finished this one off. Instead we went to the shootout.

The Barons chose to shoot first and Combs scored five-hole. Tousignant stepped up and his backhanded five-hole chance wasn’t doing. Then Ryan Hamilton scored by ringing his attempt off the post and off the back of Mazanec and in. Pressure on. Beck skated up and ripped a low wrister past the glove of Bachman. Lander was stopped by a Mazanec blocker save. Forsberg skated in and skated himself right down to the ice – falling and missing his chance. Roman Horak’s shot hit off Mazanec’s right pad. Saponari was denied with a blocker save from Bachman. Tyler Pitlick had the opportunity to clinch the win if he scored – but was stopped by a stick save from Mazanec. Moser, who tied the game with 2.6 seconds remaining, needed to score – and did score, forehander to the stick-side, to force sudden death in the shootout. C.J. Stretch beat Mazanec to the low stick-side. Miikka Salomaki needed to keep the game going by scoring – but his backhanded effort missed the net.

So, you can look at this game in the silver lining’s sense that they probably shouldn’t even have earned a point in this game. Otherwise you can just as easily look at these two games in Oklahoma City, see the shots piled up and missed chances on the power-play, and get cranky that much better results should have been had on this road trip. Three games. Two points. Short memory for now – the Ads play at home against the Toronto Marlies on Tuesday night.

Pesky Fact: Tonight’s game was a new season high for shots in a game by the Admirals with forty-five shots on goal. Colton Sissons and Scott Valentine lead the team with six shots each.

Thoughts on today’s game? Happy with escaping with the one point or disappointed? What will it take for the Ads to find success on the road? What do you make of Mazanec’s form in his two games back from Nashville? The Ads have now conceded thirty-two goals in eight January games… what’s the problem?

The Admirals lost 2-1 against the Oklahoma City Barons Saturday night. In his return to the Ads, Marek Mazanec lost his first AHL game in six starts by conceding two first period goals. It was his counterpart in the Barons net, Richard Bachman, who really stole the show tonight: stopping 32/33 Admirals shots. The lone goal for the Ads was scored by Mike Liambas late in the second period.

Not much was doing in the opening period until the final four minutes. Will Acton was able to beat the glove of Mazanec on the shortside to score the opener at 16:26 of the period. It was Acton’s fifth goal of the season.

After a Mike Liambas call for goaltender interference the Barons scored on the power-play. Brad Hunt banged home a slap shot from the point to make it 2-0 Barons. The two goals were scored a mere thirty-one seconds apart.

In the second period we had the game’s first fight. It was Mathieu Tousignant against Kale Kessy. Both fights tonight didn’t last very long. This one actually sounded like Kessy nearly knocked himself out. After swinging wildly he lost his balance and Tousignant landed on top of him. I’m not sure if a single punch was even landed.

With the clock ticking down on the second period Mike Liambas deflected home his second goal of the season. Colton Sissons shot to the net pinged off of net front traffic with a final touch from Liambas to make it a one-goal game.

The third period saw the last fight of the night. After a big hit by Scott Valentine on Travis Ewanyk – the two grappled. It was another scenario where the Ads this season delivered a clean hit and were forced into a fight with no instigator penalty assessed on the play. Valentine, similar to Kessy in the first fight, lost an edge and possibly never even landed a single punch.

The Ads finished the game on a power-play with Mazanec to the bench for an extra attacker. The Barons missed an empty net chance. The Ads burned their timeout with 33.8 remaining. Nothing came of it. And the Barons held off the late great chance for the Ads to push the game into overtime.

Hats off to Barons goaltender Richard Bachman in this game. The Ads produced the shots tonight: First Period, 13. Second Period, 11. Third Period, 9. Outshooting the Barons 33-25 in the game. It took twenty-one shots before a Liambas deflection goal fooled Bachman. He was sharp from start to finish.

As far as Mazanec in the AHL goes: this was his first loss and the fourth time this season that he allowed two first period goals. He did so against the Griffins on the road on 10/18/13. He also did it twice against the Texas Stars at home on 10/26/13 and 10/30/13. He won all of those contests but lacked the offense to bail him out against the Barons tonight. In every start this season he has allowed two goals. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Ramblings:

Tonight Charles-Olivier Roussel suited up for his fiftieth career AHL game – all played with the Milwaukee Admirals. Bryan Rodney was scratched for his third-consecutive game since allowing two turnovers that turned into two goals for the Wolves on 1/11/14.

The Admirals lost 5-4 in a shootout against the San Antonio Rampage Thursday night. This game was all over the place: Ads trailed 2-0 early, came back to tie things up at 2-2, took the lead at 4-3, and then lost in the shootout with starter Magnus Hellberg getting injured late in OT forcing the Ads debut of Hannu Toivonen in net. Silver lining: by earning a point on the road tonight the Ads are now tied for second in the division with the Chicago Wolves.

The Ads started the game by earning an early power-play chance only eighteen-seconds into the game. Sadly, they just were not able to capitalize off of it and the Rampage came off of the kill flying. 4:06 after the Ads power-play expired the home-side earned a chance of their own from a Mike Liambas boarding call. The result was a deflected goal from Joey Crabb for San Antonio’s first power-play goal against Milwaukee in ten chances over three games.

The pressure stayed on and Wade Megan stepped into the attacking zone and roofed a shot to the shortside over Magnus Hellberg’s shoulder to make it 2-0 Rampage. It was Megan’s fourth goal of the season.

2:31 after the Megan goal it was the “Soft Hands, Hard Hands” line of Liambas-Tousignant-Rask pulling back a goal to make it a 2-1 game. After some solid forecheck work, including a hit from Joonas Rask in the right wing pocket, the puck came free to Liambas at the right trapezoid line and he delivered a backhanded pass in front of the net. This teed up Mathieu Tousignant for a goal against his ex-team in San Antonio for his third goal of the season.

The second period had a real momentum swing to start the frame. Joonas Jarvinen and Vinny Saponari both took hooking penalties to give the Rampage a very brief 5-3 power-play opportunity. The Ads were able to kill off both chances and charged forward for an equalizing goal so soon after the Rampage man-advantage. The play by Austin Watson was instrumental in setting this goal up. He skated in from the ring wing and delivered a very hard low wrist shot on Jacob Markstrom. The puck ricocheted off his pads and right to Kevin Henderson who took care of the rebound for his fifth goal of the season and his fiftieth career point as an Admiral.

A boarding call on Jarvinen set the backdrop on the Rampage’s second power-play goal of the game. Taylor Beck actually was denied on a shorthanded breakaway just before this play happened down at the other end. Again, momentum swings a plenty out of the transition game tonight: attack one way – attack the other way – repeat. The goal by Crabb was a bomb from the slot for his second of the game on the power-play and sixth of the season. In his career, Crabb has scored fifteen points (four goals, eleven assists) in thirty-three games against the Admirals.

To start the third period there was a goaltending change by the Rampage. Markstrom gave way to the ex-Checker Rob Madore. No word on any sort of injury to Markstrom but one has to assume that’s the lone reason a change was made.

Looking to get the jump on the cold netminder, the Ads quickly pounced to attack and earned a power-play inside the opening minute of the period. On the first shot that Madore faced the Ads scored a goal on the man-advantage from Taylor Beck. A cross ice pass from the Olympian Simon Moser set him up for his eleventh goal of the season to make it 3-3.

Moser responded with a goal of his own a few minutes later to give the Admirals their first lead of the game. The play went under review after Moser’s shot hit post and knuckled down. It would hold up to the microscope and the Ads lead 4-3. With the assist on that goal – Taylor Beck moved past Scottie Upshall for thirteenth on Ads all-time AHL scoring with 106 points.

Then perhaps the game’s backbreaker. Just forty-one seconds after earning the lead the Ads conceded a goal that tied the game back up at 4-4. There was a big scrum in front Hellberg in net and Bobby Butler was able to find the loose puck and pop it in for his twelfth goal of the season.

The game would go into overtime. Scott Valentine nearly cost the Ads by taking a swipe to the back of the head of Vincent Trocheck – earning a roughing penalty in the early stages of the OT period. The Ads were able to kill off the penalty and last through OT but not without some bad news.

After another net front scramble, Magnus Hellberg injured his right leg as he sprawled out of the net. He needed some assistance, stayed in the game momentarily, but with four-seconds remaining in the OT period gave way to Admiral debutant Hannu Toivonen. The twenty-nine year old Fin was a former first-overall draft choice by the Boston Bruins and this was his first appearance in the AHL since the 2010-11 season with the Rockford IceHogs.

The game went to a shootout. Both starting goalies, in a nutshell, injured. Back up goalies in. Away they went. There wasn’t a goal until the fourth round when Rampage’s Trocheck beat Toivonen off the crossbar and down. The Rampage did have a chance in the final round to cap it but Toivonen stopped Denny Urban and gave the Ads hope. Miikka Salomaki scored off of a forehanded shot to force sudden death in the shootout. Logan Shaw beat Toivonen to the five hole off of a forehand shot. And Moser’s forehanded effort went begging to give the Rampage a shootout victory – their second over the Ads in San Antonio this season.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Will we be seeing Marek Mazanec back in an Admirals sweater come Saturday night? How do you feel the Ads can do without Hellberg or Darling – if both are out for an extended period of time? Will the Ads lose a forward in the near future, Forsberg or Beck?

(Photo credit: Scott Paulus)

The Admirals won 6-5 against the Lake Erie Monsters Sunday night. This one ended up becoming far closer than it had to be. The Ads lead 6-2 in the third period before finding them holding on into the final seconds for a one-goal victory.

Filip Forsberg kicked off the scoring in this game with a power-play goal. The set up and goal was short and sweet. Charles-Olivier Roussel softly passed over to Forsberg who promptly one-timed it by Calvin Pickard in net for his fourth goal as an Admiral this season.

The next Admirals goals came in the late stages of the first period and took place almost one-minute apart. Kevin Henderson scored an even strength goal for his fourth of the season. Henderson was racing behind Pickard’s net and banked the puck into the net off of the netminder’s left skate. Just 1:08 after that goal the Ads secured another goal from the power-play. Roussel’s shot from the point was pinged in by Taylor Beck for his tenth goal of the season. After the horrors of playing in Lake Erie, the first period finished with the Ads leading 3-0 and outshooting their opponent by a hefty 17-7.

In the second period there were four goals scored between the Ads and Monsters – including both scoring shorthanded.

After the Ads saw Beck and Jarvinen go off to the box, the Monsters had a short opportunity to wheel out a 5-3 power-play chance. Almost the moment Beck left the box to get involved the Monsters scored on the power-play to draw the game back to 3-1. Joey Hishon scored a very crafty goal: played in-tight to Darling and still beat him top shelf. It was Hishon’s sixth goal of the season.

Then came a shorty for the Ads. The Monsters had a play set up perfectly for a one-timer on the left wing but the shot was fanned and the puck flew out of the zone. This set in motion a two-on-one for Simon Moser and Colton Sissons. The Olympian and the All Star skated into the offensive zone. Moser waited and delivered a stiff shot on Pickard that just squeaked behind him but stalled in the goal crease. Sissons was able to whack it in before Lake Erie could clear for his team-leading fourteenth goal of the season.

Fun Fact: All goals scored in North America by Filip Forsberg, to this point, were on the power-play. Well fun fact no longer! Forsberg, who was skating in towards the slot from the right wing, stopped on a dime and fired an absolute howitzer of a slap shot. It was his second goal of the night and fifth with the Admirals.

The Admirals woes when it comes to conceding shorthanded goals continued tonight when Guillaume Desbiens was on the receiving end of a great feed by Andrew Agozzino. It is the eight shorthanded goal allowed this season by the Ads and second in as many days.

In the third period the Ads buried their third power-play goal of the game. Beck tossed a cross ice pass from the left to right wing where Miikka Salomaki was stationed for a shot. He took it first time and scored his eighth goal of the season.

The game was at a now very comfortable 6-2 Admirals lead. So it felt at the time anyways.

The Monsters responded to the Ads sixth goal with a score of their own less than a minute later. A great feed from the left wing pocket by Mikael Tam to the backdoor of Darling’s net set up a tap in for Hishon and his second goal of the game. 6-3 Admirals.

Next we were given the game’s one and only fight: Mike Liambas versus Vincent Arseneau. Liambas pounded his opponent with some solid blows to the face before getting whipped down to the ice. It looked like Arseneau threw a late punch once they hit the ice and proceeded to shove Liambas into the ice long after the fact. Arseneau would not head to the box right away. He needed his face repaired.

Then some very odd penalty calls started to manifest themselves late in the game. There were lots of antics by Garrett Meurs of the Monsters in this game where he engaged players, set them up to fight, got roughed up, and skated off earning a power-play for his team. This happened late against Vinny Saponari – who gave Meurs a good couple of whacks to his face. Then a light tripping call along the boards also sent Scott Valentine to the box. It was a five-on-three chance that would be capitalized on for Lake Erie – and a hat trick for Joey Hishon. His eight goal of the season came when his shot deflected off of Joe Piskula’s skate and rolled up Darling’s arm and in. 6-4 Admirals.

Just when Pickard was waving at the Monsters bench to empty his net for an extra attacker: goal. The Monsters tallied for their third-straight goal of the third period to make it 6-5 Admirals with 1:20 remaining. Credit where credit is due: the shot and goal from Matt Hunwick was a beauty from an absurd angle. Probably one of many that Darling would want back, but a nasty shot that found the net.

The extra attacker was brought on. The anxiety was raised. The Ads missed two chances for an empty netter to provide an exhale before time expired. Then, exhale, game over. It certainly was made a whole lot more exciting than it had to be. But, at day’s end, the Admirals got their first win over the Lake Erie Monsters since March 16, 2012.

Ramblings: Filip Forsberg had a four-point night (two goals, two assists) and lead the game in shots on goal with six. Taylor Beck had a three-point night (one goal, two assists).Charles-Olivier Roussel nearly picked up as many assists as he has stitches on his face *ba dum tss* with two primary assists coming on the power-play. Bryan Rodney was a healthy scratch tonight with the team electing to go with Scott Valentine in his place. Valentine picked up an assist and four-penalty minutes tonight.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Did it really have to be this close? What happened in the third period? Does Scott Darling’s last two games in net get you worried at all about his game? When can we expect to lose Filip Forsberg again to Nashville? Do you believe Valentine will start over Rodney when the Ads take to the road?