Magnus Hellberg and the Admirals played well enough to take Game One, but a rough break in overtime put Milwaukee down 0-1 in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

After the Admirals tied the game at 7:11 of the third period, Brett Ritchie’s goal at 11:44 of OT sent top-seeded Texas to a 3-2 victory.

Ritchie took a neutral-ice pass from Mike Hedden (that was very close to being offsides), skated to the slot and whipped a high wrister past the big goalie.

(Goal starts at :18)

Hellberg finished with 41 saves in the solid overall effort. He said Joonas Jarvinen may have screened him a bit on the game-winner, but credited the quality shot.

After killing off Texas’ first chance of the game, Milwaukee got its first power play opportunity on a Scott Glennie holding call. The Admirals showed some spark right off the bat on the PP rattling off seven shots.

Patrick Cehlin finally Furied the Fury, getting the Ads on the board at 12:05 with three seconds left in the man-advantage. The puck came right to Cehlin at the left dot and his beautiful, quick slapper beat Christopher Nilstorp for the 1-0 lead.

Right after the goal, Nilstorp was assessed a 10-minute misconduct penalty and Toby Petersen served.

The Ads wouldn’t register a shot on net for the rest of the period, and with just 15.6 on the clock the Stars tied things up.

Ryan Ellis and Juuso Puustinen couldn’t get back and set up in time to disrupt a tight rush by Matt Fraser and Travis Morin. Morin chipped the puck towards Hellberg and Fraser redirected it slightly from the left slot for the equalizer.

The second period was a tough one for Milwaukee, as the Ads mustered just one shot on goal.

Zach Budish went to the box at 2:14 for interference, but the Ads killed off their second penalty thanks to back-to-back stops by Hellberg including a great save on Ritchie’s try from point-blank range.

After an interference call on Brad Winchester, however, Texas grabbed a 2-1 lead at 9:09.

Mattias Ekholm fell down a bit, giving Kevin Connauton too much space, and the defenseman lifted a wrister to beat Hellberg top shelf from the left dot.

Milwaukee headed to the break facing a one-goal deficit, and history wasn’t on its side. The Admirals have won just seven of 41 AHL playoff games when trailing after two periods.

After failing to get a shot on net in almost 30 minutes, the Ads started the third with four shots in the first five minutes.

Six seconds after a tripping call on Joonas Jarvinen, Hedden went to the box for embellishment. Then another Texas penalty on Joe Morrow gave the Ads a 4-on-3 chance that they would convert for the equalizer.

Early in the PP, Zach Hamill whiffed on a nice circle-to-circle feed from Winchester, but seconds later made it a 2-2 game from the exact same spot.

Winchester’s wrister from the right circle bounced cleanly off Nilstorp to a waiting Hamill in the left slot. He had plenty of room to bury the rebound with a wrister of his own and pick up some momentum for Milwaukee at 7:11.

The Ads kept the pressure on right after the goal, drawing an interference call against Connauton.

The Stars promptly responded with a solid penalty kill that ended with a nifty move by Morin on a shorthanded breakaway to draw a hooking call on Puusty.

Some monster pad saves by Hellberg kept the score tied and sent the game to the extra period, but it was for naught.

Notes:

Coach Dean Evason was pleased with the power play’s two for five performance, but felt his team didn’t produce as well at even strength.

Coach added that his team showed good composure despite the loss.

Evason wouldn’t confirm any player movement for tomorrow, but it’s probable that Daniel Bang, Austin Watson and Kevin Henderson will be recalled to the Predators. Evason also had nothing to add about Nashville’s decision to keep Filip Forsberg.

As AHL playoff records go, the Ads drop to 22-24 in Game Ones, 25-20 in one goal games and 20-23 in overtime games.

Milwaukee will get its second and final home-ice shot at Texas tonight at 7 pm CDT.

The Admirals needed a point Sunday to secure the eighth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference. They got two with a 3-0 victory in what was likely the last AHL game played by the Rivermen in Peoria.

Milwaukee ended up winning seven of its last eight regular season games, and it needed every one of those victories to make the playoffs for an 11th straight season.

Coach Dean Evason said he didn’t have to tell his team what Sunday’s game meant and what was at stake. Throughout the contest the Ads maintained the same level of calm control that had led to a 2-0 win the night before, and a 14-4-1 record in their previous 19 games.

Magnus Hellberg picked up first-star honors with 19 saves in his second shutout in as many days, all while collecting his fourth straight win and finishing the season 22-13 overall in net.

12:33 into the contest, Mattias Ekholm put the Ads up 1-0 on their second power play chance. The red light didn’t come on after Ekholm’s shot from the right circle bounced up and in off Mike McKenna’s shoulder, but the referee saw it all the way. Upon video review the goal stood.

Peoria pushed for the equalizer in the final five minutes of the period, but Hellberg and the Milwaukee defense stood tall. Daniel Bang provided a bit of foreshadowing, getting behind the Peoria defense in the final seconds, but his shot was stopped by McKenna.

The Ads built momentum at the start of the second period with eight unanswered shots, and at 10:34 Bang got another break and finished.

Taking a long pass from Joonas Jarvinen, Bang used his left arm to hold off David Shields and his right to steer the puck to the front of the net. After shaking Shields, he deked  backhand and beat McKenna for the 2-0 lead.

Zach Budish gave the Ads a three-score cushion with the first professional goal of his career. After Ekholm fired a shot from the point, McKenna left a fat rebound for Budish who backhanded the puck in.

Evason said his team would need to be tight defensively and avoid getting into a “track meet” with the Rivermen.

The result was a great overall performance on the backcheck as Peoria couldn’t generate any effective odd-man rushes. On top of that, Hellberg took a more conservative approach in net, freezing way more pucks than he attempted to play.

These elements were most present in the last 20 minutes, where despite allowing Peoria its only two power play chances of the game, the Admirals held the Rivermen to just four shots.

The Ads got two third-period PP opportunities of their own, one coming with 2:19 to play, and they used them to keep the pressure on McKenna down to the final minutes.

With little margin for error or room for lackadaisical play, the Ads stayed focused throughout and never let the Rivermen into the game.

Notes:

A 3-0 Oklahoma City win over Houston set Milwaukee up against the top-seeded Texas Stars in the first round. Games one and two will be this Friday and Saturday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The Ads beat Texas in the playoffs two seasons ago, but went 0-1-1 against the Stars this season losing 3-1 on the road on Oct. 24, and losing 2-1 in OT in Milwaukee on Dec. 5.

The Ads finished the season with a 41-28-4-3 record (89 points) placing them second in the Midwest Division. They ended up with the best record in the Midwest against divisional opponents at 28-13-1-2.

Hellberg’s sixth shutout was the second-most by an Admirals goalie in an AHL season.

Well Roundtable, the postseason push is finished, and the Ads pulled it off facing a slew of obstacles in the form of call-ups and injuries.

What kept this team in it? How impressive is an 11th straight postseason showing in today’s AHL?

What similarities and differences do you notice between this team and last season’s team that also qualified for the playoffs on the last day?

How much does this momentum help Milwaukee against Texas?

The Admirals are 14-4-1 in their last 19 games, and still can’t claim a playoff spot.

Yet, they still control their own destiny, and a point tomorrow in Peoria will give the Admirals the last spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

This is possible due to their big 2-0 win over the Chicago Wolves Saturday night, and absolutely no help from any other team.

Rockford trailed 3-0 to the 1st place Texas Stars.  The IceHogs apparently had them right where they wanted them, as they scored four goals in the third period to win 5-3.

Oklahoma City put 7 goals up against Abbotsford.  Rochester put up 5 against Hamilton.

If the Admirals had lost tonight, they would have been eliminated.

Coach Evason says that he’s not surprised that this team has had to do everything themselves down the stretch here.

And Coach says that this team doesn’t feel any pressure.

For the second straight night, Mark Van Guilder scored the first goal of the game, and this time it ended up being all the offense the Admirals would need.  After Kevin Henderson and Mattias Ekholm exchanged passes along the near boards, Henderson fed Van Guilder in the high slot area.  Van Guilder had time and space, and fired a slapper past Matt Climie, who fell to 0-7-1 against the Admirals this season.

The Admirals penalty kill had to be strong, and they killed off all four Chicago power play chances.  The Milwaukee power play was kind of meh, but they only had two opportunities the entire night.

Nursing another one-goal lead in the final minute of the game, the Admirals got an empty net goal for the second straight night.  This time, newly returned Kevin Henderson had the honors, after the Admirals did a great job keeping play to the perimeter when the Wolves had the goalie pulled.

Magnus Hellberg…what else is there to say about the job Magnus Hellberg has done as the Admirals have been on this 14-4-1 stretch.  He has started the last 10 games due to Jeremy Smith’s injury and has a 7-3 record.  He’ll be playing his third game in three days tomorrow in the regular season finale — the second time he’s had to play 3-in-3 this month.  Tonight was his fifth shutout of the year.

Coach Evason says that Magnus has come a long way this season.

Seems like it was only two years ago that Mark Dekanich got injured in a March game, and then the Admirals rode his replacement, Jeremy Smith, into the post-season.

While the Admirals couldn’t clinch a spot for themselves tonight, we can enjoy that they got to officially eliminate the Wolves.  They finished the season with an astounding 10-2 record against Chicago.  Outstanding.

So for the second straight season, it’s going to come down to game 76.  Last year, the Admirals rose to the occasion with a convincing 6-1 win over the Checkers.  This year, they’ll be playing in Peoria, in a game that may be the last AHL tilt in that building for awhile, depending on how things work out in the off-season.  The Admirals have a 7-2-0-2 record against the Rivermen this year.  The Rivermen have lost their last three games, including a shutout tonight courtesy of Charlotte.  All the Admirals need is a point tomorrow to make the playoffs.

We all know what’s at stake.  The stage is set.  Just need to wait for 5pm to get here.

Questions:

No questions.  Just talk amongst yourselves.  You don’t need me to give you a topic.  Fine, I’ll give you a topic.  Madison Square Garden is neither a square, nor a garden, nor is it in Madison.  Discuss.

Milwaukee’s final home game of the regular season was one of its most exciting, as the Admirals rose to the occasion to rebound from a bad second period and pull off a 6-4 victory over the Charlotte Checkers.

After taking a 3-1 lead early in the second, the Ads allowed three unanswered goals and headed into the final twenty minutes down 4-3.

At 11:38 Joe Piskula tied things up, putting home a great pass from Juuso Puustinen from the point.

Less than two minutes later, Josh Shalla scored the game-winner for Milwaukee after a strong move to the net by Joonas Rask. Rask had the puck poked away from him, but it went right to Shalla who snapped it past Mike Murphy.

With 1:45 to play, the Ads faced a two-man advantage after Mattias Ekholm was called for holding and Murphy hit the bench.

In the final minute, Zach Hamill intercepted a pass and fired a laser beam from the Ads’ blue line that slid coast-to-coast and hit the back of the empty net, sealing the victory.

Coach Dean Evason said he didn’t say anything to his team in the second intermission, but knew the third period was the Ads’ time to come together.

The victory brought Milwaukee’s magic number to three, meaning wins in its final two games or a win and an overtime loss would punch a postseason ticket. Milwaukee and Rockford are tied for the eighth spot with 85 points, but the IceHogs will play their final game tonight at Texas.

Mark Van Guilder opened the scoring for the Ads at 10:31 of the first period, putting back a rebound off a Zach Budish attempt.

The Ads got another goal off a rebound about three minutes later when Ekholm’s shot from the right circle was stopped, and Patrick Cehlin snuck the puck past Murphy for the 2-0 lead.

Jeremy Welsh got Charlotte on the board at 15:55, taking a pass from Zach Boychuk and finding himself all alone in front of the Milwaukee net.

Rask answered with his first goal in his first game with the Ads 2:14 into the second period, rushing into the Charlotte zone and whipping Murphy with a wrister from the slot.

The 3-1 lead wouldn’t last, however, as Boychuk and Zac Dalpe scored within two minutes of one another halfway through the period to tie the game. Matt Marquardt gave the Checkers a 4-3 lead at 18:17, putting a rebound past Magnus Hellberg with a backhand shot.

Hellberg ended up stopping 26 of the 30 shots he faced and making some key saves down the stretch.

Notes:

The Admirals were 5-23-0-1 when trailing after two periods heading into Friday, but they got their sixth when it really mattered.

In its last 18 games Milwaukee is 13-4-1-0 making for a huge playoff push down the stretch.

The Ads overcame an unbalanced night on special teams by killing off four of five Charlotte power plays and scoring a shorty, while being granted just one chance with the man-advantage.

Charlotte came in with the best road power play unit in the league, and Evason thought the unevenness of the chances created a tough challenge.

It was a heck of a night for the newly formed Shalla-Reid-Rask line, and Evason was particularly impressed with Rask, who picked up second-star honors.

Coach added that he hasn’t been briefed on whether or not Daniel Bang and Kevin Henderson will rejoin the Ads tomorrow in Rosemont. With Nashville losing in overtime in Chicago tonight, it remains a possibility.

Questions:

What impressed you about the Ads’ ability to come back in the third period Friday after they hadn’t done so for much of the season?

What did you see in Rask’s game that appealed to you? Any other players stand out to you as unsung heroes?

What did you think of Hellberg’s night overall? He had a rough second period, but stopped the final 10 shots he faced to keep his team in it.

How likely is it that we’ll see Bang and Henderson back in the lineup Saturday night?

Is there any doubt in your mind that the Ads will finish off the playoff push?

The Ads were presented with the Amtrak trophy before Tuesday night’s game, but they still had plenty of work to do against the rival Chicago Wolves.

After dominating the first two periods of play, Milwaukee withstood a third-period push by Chicago to pull off a 3-2 victory with huge playoff implications.

The Admirals fired ten shots before the ten-minute mark of the first, and after former Ad Mark Matheson was called for interference, Zach Hamill Furied the Fury to put Milwaukee up 1-0 at 9:13.

Hamill shot the puck from the right corner and it was tipped in front by Yann Sauve past Matt Climie.

A few minutes later, Hamill had a great chance for his second goal of the night after a great pass through traffic by Brad Winchester, but Climie was able to get over in time to stuff the attempted one-timer.

Chicago didn’t register a shot on net until the 15:2o mark as Milwaukee finished the period up 12-3 in shots.

Coach Dean Evason said the strong early defense came from the improved two-way play of his forwards.

In the first ten minutes of the second period, the Ads continued to pressure the Wolves, and Josh Shalla made it a 2-0 Milwaukee advantage at 8:29.

Shalla robbed Jordan Schroeder at neutral ice to start a 2-on-1 rush with Cam Reid. Shalla kept the puck all the way and whipped Climie with a nice wrister from the slot.

Scott Ford gave the Admirals even more momentum seconds later, dropping the gloves and dropping Darren Archibald to the ice with a nice right hook.

The Ads continued to dominate the shots battle, winning the second period 14-8 and finishing the period with an impressive penalty kill.

Just 3:18 into the final period, Kevin Henderson scored the eventual game-winner for Milwaukee. Henderson’s chip shot from just under the left circle snuck over Climie’s shoulder for the 3-0 Admirals lead.

The 3-0 lead stood until 7:33 when, with the Wolves on the power play, Brett Sterling put Chicago on the board with an elevated shot from the left circle that snuck over Magnus Hellberg’s shoulder.

Under a minute later, just after the Ads had killed off another penalty, Bill Sweatt scored on a slapper from just under the Perkins logo. Hellberg may have been screened and didn’t get over in time to make the save.

With the Wolves rallying it took a concerted effort by the Ads defense to shut the door. With a minute to play, Climie headed for the bench, but the Ads iced the puck down the ice three times to inch closer to the win.

An impressive diving block and clear by Henderson iced the game with under ten seconds left and improved Milwaukee’s record over Chicago to 9-2-0.

After grabbing first star honors, here’s Hendo’s post game:

Notes:

With the win, Milwaukee improved its record to 26-13-1-2 against the Midwest division, 21-10-1-1 when scoring on the power play, 23-8-4-3 in one-goal games and 7-0 against Chicago in one-goal games.

At this point, the Ads can make the playoffs by either winning out or winning two of their last three and losing a game in overtime, regardless of what Rockford and Chicago do.

Evason said the return of Daniel Bang, Austin Watson and Mattias Ekholm was huge, and he was grateful that Nashville let the trio play Tuesday for Milwaukee.

Evason added that they’ll stay in Milwaukee at least for tomorrow, but their return to Nashville will depend on the Predators’ injury situation.

Coach also said nothing has changed on the status of Mike Moore and that Moore “isn’t close” to coming back.

Milwaukee will take on Charlotte Friday in the home regular season finale before two road games at Chicago and Peoria to finish up.

In a crucial home contest against the IceHogs, the Ads came out a bit flat. Ten surrendered power play chances heavily contributed to a 3-1 loss that knocked Milwaukee down a spot to ninth place in the West.

Magnus Hellberg’s three-game winning streak came to an end as the big goalie stopped 33 of 36 shots he faced. He looked solid, but as coach Dean Evason reiterated in his postgame overview, two of the goals he allowed were last touched by Admirals.

Evason felt some of his team’s ten two-minute minors were earned and others weren’t, but as a whole they kept the Ads “chasing the game.”

The Ads went on the penalty kill for the first time just 2:12 into the game after a high sticking call on Ryan Ellis.

Brad Winchester had a great chance for a breakaway shorty, but Carter Hutton got a piece of the shot and sent it over the net.

Mike Liambas tried to bait Garret Ross into an unsportsmanlike conduct call, but the refs didn’t call it after Ross dropped his gloves. Instead both players dropped the gloves on the next faceoff and Liambas dominated the ensuing fight, knocking Ross to the ice twice. Liambas would play the rest of the first and the second period wearing No. 19 due to blood on his jersey.

The Ads got 1:10 of power play after a too many men on the ice call negated another Ellis high stick. The Winchester-Zach Hamill-Juuso Puustinen line got some good chances on net, but failed to score.

The Ads got another power play chance after a Martin St. Pierre slashing call, but the Ads PP unit again couldn’t capitalize despite some good puck movement.

At the end of a scoreless first period, Rockford led 10-7 in shots. The IceHogs would outshoot Milwaukee 18-6 in the second thanks to six Admiral penalties.

After a holding call on Anthony Bitetto, who filled in for an injured Mike Moore, gave Rockford another early power play chance, Adam Clendening’s long slapper found its way into the net. It looked like it may have bounced in off Ellis.

Rockford added to its lead at 14:08 with another power play goal. This one was tipped in to an empty net by Ben Smith after a Jeremy Morin shot was initially held out by Hellberg.

At 12:47 of the third period, Klas Dahlbeck’s redirected slapper beat Hellberg five-hole to give the IceHogs a three-goal cushion.

Juuso Puustinen finally got the Ads on the board with five minutes to play, backhanding in a Patrick Cehlin rebound for his seventh point in eight games.

That would be all for the Ads, however, as 32 shorthanded penalty minutes kept them from getting into a consistent offensive rhythm.

Notes:

Evason said he has no report or timetable on Moore’s return as he hasn’t been officially evaluated yet by team medical staff. He did, however, say we could see Joonas Rask as early as Tuesday. He hadn’t been cleared to play Saturday.

We caught up with Hamill and asked him about the experience of joining a team battling for a late playoff spot, and how he views his game.

The Ads are now two points behind Rockford for the eighth spot with four games left to play next week.

Questions:

Saturday felt like it could have been a turning point either way for Milwaukee. After some really solid outings on the road, this one felt like a reversion. How big a blow is this to the team’s postseason hopes (if any at all)?

How many of those calls did you feel the Ads deserved? How much do you think it affected their rhythm as the game progressed?

Zach Hamill and Magnus Hellberg helped Milwaukee cling to the eighth spot in the Western conference, pacing the Ads to a 4-1 win in Grand Rapids.

Hamill, the newest member of the Admirals, helped the Ads’ longest-tenured member celebrate a special night with the victory.

Scott Ford played his 295th game with Milwaukee, which pushed him past Kelsey Wilson for the most games played for the Admirals in the team’s AHL history.

In his first game in an Admirals jersey, Hamill made an immediate impression with two points, while Hellberg stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced in another solid start.

Griffins goalie Tom McCollum committed a delay of game penalty just 1:49 into the game, giving the Ads an early power play chance. Hamill Furied the Fury and got Milwaukee on the board with his 17th goal of the season. After a good pass from Patrick Cehlin to Mike Moore, Hamill deflected in Moore’s wide-open slapper.

At 17:41 Brad Winchester gave the Ads a two-goal cushion with the eventual game-winner.  Josh Shalla took away a pass along the boards and started a quick rush into the Grand Rapids zone. He hit Winchester in stride at the top of the right circle and his hard wrister beat McCollum glove side.

The Griffins cut it to a one-goal deficit 2:09 into the second period, as Brett Skinner scored right off a faceoff win. It was a bouncing shot that trickled in and caught Hellberg off guard, but it was the only one that found its way past the big goalie.

Hellberg would make 13 saves to keep Milwaukee up 2-1 heading into the third period, where the Ads would regain the two-goal cushion.

In his first game back from recent injury, Kevin Henderson let loose a blazing slapper from high between the circles that bounced in off McCollum.

A critical late slashing call on Luke Glendening put the Griffins in a deeper hole at 17:35 and Mattias Ekholm’s empty-netter just over a minute later sealed the Milwaukee win.

Here are the highlights courtesy of grifvision.

Notes:

Juuso Puustinen’s six-game point streak came to an end.

The victory was the Admirals’ 500th win in the franchise’s AHL history.

Fordo had a couple shots on net with nothing doing on his big night. Valentine also registered two shots in his fourth game at wing.

Moore ended up leaving the game with an injury. We’ll keep you posted on his status as we find out more.

Questions:

The new guys continue to fill in nicely for the Ads. While Moore did most of the work on Hamill’s goal, and his assist came on an empty-netter, it was nice to see Hamill position himself nicely to pick up some points.

What did you hear about or see in his game tonight that stood out to you? How big will his presence be should the Ads get into the playoffs?

What do these last three wins against Charlotte and Grand Rapids (the current fourth and third seeds respectively) mean for the team?

By battling to get in against higher caliber teams, do you think this recent run might give Milwaukee a competitive edge in the postseason (knock on wood)?

Another early April trip to North Carolina might’ve been just what the Ads needed to get rolling.

Ryan Ellis’ fifth goal of the season gave his team the edge in a close contest decided in overtime.

Milwaukee kept its postseason hopes alive and kicking, as the 3-2 win got the Admirals back into the playoff picture. With OKC’s win over Chicago today, the Ads currently own the eighth spot after starting the day in ninth place.

Despite losing yet another huge piece in Austin Watson, Milwaukee’s offense had a nice showing with 34 total shots, but Magnus Hellberg was even more impressive in net.

In his third start in three days the big goalie stopped 34 of 36 Charlotte shots, improving his record to 17-12-0.

Milwaukee needed him to stand tall right out of the gates as the Checkers outshot the Ads 15-6 in the first period.

Hellberg made some huge saves to keep Charlotte off the board for the first 28 minutes, but the Checkers finally got one past him at 8:54 of the second. Eric Baier scored his first goal of the season, firing a wrister from the right circle after taking a great pass from Zach Boychuk.

Milwaukee would quickly help out Hellberg, however, rallying back to take the lead before the end of the period.

Scott Valentine skated in along the boards to the left dot and beat John Muse between his glove and the right post with a slapper. It was Valentine’s sixth of the season and second in his third game at left wing.

Daniel Bang scored the go-ahead goal at 16:35, shooting, rather than passing, from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush with Brad Winchester. The shot beat Muse between his legs for Bang’s eighth goal of the season.

After Milwaukee won the shots battle 13-8 in the second period, both teams combined for 23 shots in the final 20 minutes.

Hellberg tried valiantly to hold on to the 2-1 lead, but Charlotte tied the game at 12:30. Brody Sutter was able to put a rebound through Hellberg’s legs to eventually send the game to the extra period.

Despite losing the lead, the Admirals finished strong in overtime, outshooting Charlotte 4-1. Ellis’ goal came at 3:20 after he took a pass from Mark Van Guilder.

He pulled off a beautiful move in front of the Charlotte netminder and slid the puck right across the goal line to light both the green and red lamps.

Notes:

Scott Ford played his 294th game with Milwaukee, which tied Kelsey Wilson for the most games played for the Admirals in the team’s AHL history. Good on Fordo, as he’ll likely set the team record this Friday in Grand Rapids.

The Ads played a disciplined game allowing just one power play, but they meanwhile couldn’t score on five such attempts. 

With an assist on Bang’s goal, Juuso Puustinen extended his point streak to six games. Ellis’ goal was his first since returning the Admirals’ roster Saturday.

Questions:

What did the second period rally say to you about this team’s sense of urgency? It’s been called into question often this season, but did the Ads show they’re locked in and ready to make a serious run at this thing?

Valentine continues to impress at wing, but with the loss of Watson who else needs to rise up on the offensive end in this final push?

As we said, last season’s team won two big games in Charlotte last spring, but this team did it faced with the added adversity of a constantly changing roster. What impresses you about this team’s ability to step up compared to 2011-12’s playoff squad?

Milwaukee bounced back from Friday’s home loss to Rockford, as it knocked off the Checkers 3-0 in Charlotte Saturday.

Magnus Hellberg picked up his fourth shutout of the season, stopping all 18 shots he faced. The Ads did a good job keeping the pressure off the big goalie registering 26 shots of their own.

The performance hearkened back to last season’s Admiral squad, which traveled to Charlotte for a pair of road contests in the midst of a playoff push with eight games to play. The first game of that trip was a shutout as well, as Milwaukee won 4-0.

The Admirals got off to a great start thanks to Charlotte’s five first period two-minute minors. The steady stream of power play chances helped Milwaukee outshoot the Checkers 16-5 in the opening 20 minutes.

Mike Liambas and Nicolas Blanchard kicked things off with a bang, dropping the gloves at 5:40. After an even start Liambas finished strong to put Blanchard on the ice and grab some momentum for Milwaukee.

Mattias Ekholm’s seventh goal of the season and second power play goal gave the Ads the lead at 13:30. Patrick Cehlin made a nice entry into the Charlotte zone and fed Brad Winchester. Winchester hit Ekholm with a solid pass to the left circle, and Ekkie’s wrister beat Rob Madore between his legs.

The teams combined for just 11 shots in the second period as Milwaukee’s penalty kill unit killed off Charlotte’s only two power play chances of the game. The PK’s now killed 47 of its last 50 (94 percent).

Both teams would get six shots a piece in the final period, but Milwaukee was able to turn two into insurance goals within two minutes.

At 1:46, with a delay of game penalty upcoming, Joe Piskula’s shot bounced off Madore and caused a mad scramble in front. Daniel Bang and Winchester tried to hack the puck home before it finally came to Juuso Puustinen who put it into the empty net. Puusty’s third goal in four games brought his point streak to five games.

A hooking call on Chris Terry set up Paul Crowder’s first goal as an Admiral at 2:54. He took a pass from Mike Moore at the right circle and put his shot over the left shoulder of Madore.

With the cushion in place, the Ads defense clamped down and Milwaukee skated away with a relatively easy victory.

Notes:

Ryan Ellis was back in the starting lineup after getting sent down by Nashville earlier today. He got a shot on net, but otherwise wasn’t heard from much.

Scott Valentine didn’t show up on the score sheet either, but he looked good again at forward. Evason’s been really impressed with his ability on offense in the two games he’s played at wing.

Zach Budish got the start tonight, skating with Liambas and Van Guilder this time out. Coach is still trying to find a good place to fit him in and while he didn’t do much, putting him on a line with MVG is a good place to start.

Questions:

In the aftermath of the Latta trade, the Ads have been trying some new things with the lineup, and they’re getting production from some different places (namely Valentine last night and Crowder tonight.)

What does that say to you about a team trying to make a final push sans a guy like Latta? 

What do you think of Budish getting the start tonight? He mentioned the transition from the college to the AHL game. Do you think it’s an attempt to get him more accustomed?

In a back-and-forth contest, Rockford beat the Admirals for the second time in a row.

The 4-3 win tied the IceHogs and Admirals in points with 75 a piece and will make things a little more difficult down the stretch for the Ads’ playoff hopes.

Magnus Hellberg got his fifth straight loss against the IceHogs despite a solid 43-save performance.

Coach Dean Evason said the Ads struggled to win puck battles and that resulted in a whopping 47 shots from Rockford.

Just eight seconds into their first power play, the Ads got the lead courtesy of a great pass from Brad Winchester to Juuso Puustinen. Puusty was able to whip the one-timer past Henrik Karlsson from the left circle.

Puusty said the Ads tried something a little different on the power play that led to the quick score.

Martin St. Pierre tied the game at 12:39 after Hellberg held off the first two shot attempts of an IceHogs possession. St. Pierre was able to grab the rebound and slide it underneath Hellberg who couldn’t really see it through a crowd.

A long blast from Ryan Stanton deflected in off of Patrick Cehlin to give Rockford the 2-1 lead at 16:42. The Ads had a shot to tie it with just under a minute left in the period, but Brandon Svendsen made a great effort to lay out and block a Mattias Ekholm strike.

Milwaukee was outshot 18-8 in the first period, and needed  to respond quickly to turn the tide. It did just that in the first twelve minutes, outshooting Rockford 8-0.

The Ads couldn’t use their second power play to tie things up, but Austin Watson, Ekholm and Mark Van Guilder all fired off good opportunities.

Paul Crowder had a great chance for his first Admiral goal with eight minutes left. He came in contested on the rush, freed the puck up for Josh Shalla, and it came back to him, but he couldn’t steer the puck past a defender.

Milwaukee finally did get the equalizer with 2:54 left in the period when Watson grabbed a Rockford turnover deep in the IceHogs’ zone. He fed it to Puustinen who fired a sweet pass right to a wide-open Daniel Bang in the slot.

Bang almost gave the Ads the lead taking a pass from Watson on a 2-on-1 rush, but he couldn’t get quite get enough on the shot. The score remained tied at 2-2 heading into the third period.

Rostislav Olesz put the IceHogs back up 3-2, knuckling a shot from the slot through a defender and over Hellberg’s right shoulder. With the awkward flight of the puck, it was tough for Hellberg to get a read on it.

In his first night playing as a winger, Scott Valentine made it 3-3, putting in a Paul Crowder rebound. It was Crowder’s first point as an Admiral and Valentine’s fifth goal of the year.

Olesz quickly sucked the life out of the Bradley Center, and put Rockford back up 4-3 just 33 seconds later. Some sloppy Milwaukee defense led to his second goal that would become the game-winner.

Hellberg hit the bench with a minute remaining, and the Ads couldn’t poke an attempt home on a scramble in front with 39.3 to go. It stayed mostly at Rockford’s end for the remainder of the contest as the IceHogs ran out the clock.

Notes:

Brad Winchester played his first game with an “A” on his jersey after the Martin Erat and Michael Latta for Forsberg deal left the Ads an alternate captain short. Evason said Winchester and Scott Ford will share the “A” with Ford taking home games and Winchester taking the away and third jerseys.

In his first game for Milwaukee Zach Budish skated with Cam Reid and Michael Liambas on a pretty imposing line. Budish didn’t make much of an impact tonight, and the Minnesota Golden Gopher star said fitting in will be a gradual process.

Evason thought both newcomers made solid first impressions.

The coach said Jeremy Smith is nowhere near coming back or even getting back out onto the ice with an unspecified “lower body” injury. He said Kevin Henderson, however, will likely return soon though probably not this weekend.

Questions:

Valentine made a few big hits as a forward and scored that key goal to tie the game late. Evason thought he should’ve played Valentine more.

What did you think of him on the offensive end tonight?

What did you like or dislike about Crowder and Budish?

What’s the problem with Hellberg and Rockford? Tonight, to be fair, he got let down a few times by his defense, particularly on the St. Pierre goal and the Stanton goal.