Friday night the Admirals’ locker room was abuzz with activity. Music was blaring, players were smiling and there was a good vibe about the place.

Saturday night you could hear a pin drop. Most of the players were gone, and there was no music, save for the faint strains of the REO Speedwagon concert out on the rink.

The Checkers came into the Bradley Center and put the Ads under the gun. And took the game on the run. (That’s the only Speedwagon lyric reference you’ll see. I promise.)

The big crowd on hand had little to cheer about as the Ads fell 8-2 to Charlotte thanks to six power play goals. That tied an Ads record for most surrendered in a game.

Jeremy Smith got his first start in three games and stopped 18 of 26 shot attempts.

Coach Dean Evason didn’t mince words or try to blame any single element.

“Everything was bad. Our penalty kill, our forwards, our D, our goalie, our coaches,” Evason said. “The only thing we didn’t see, I guess, was our power play. We had one, so we can’t really say our power play was bad, because we didn’t see it. You just gotta throw the game away.”

Charlotte took the 1-0 lead 3:14 into the game on a power play. Zac Dalpe fired a shot from the right point that was deflected in by Riley Nash.

There wasn’t much action around the net the rest of the period, save for a nice play by Cam Reid to set up Chris Mueller 1-on-1. Reid worked the puck free from a pack of Checkers at neutral ice and fed Mueller who was stopped on the ensuing attempt. Shots were tied at 5-5 at the break.

In the second period it all went south for the Ads. Penalties kept piling up, and Charlotte capitalized in a big way. Moore went for tripping 11 seconds in, and Chris Terry made it 2-0 at the 1:35 mark.

Latta went for crosschecking, Dalpe made it 3-0. Winchester went for roughing, Nash made it 4-0. It felt like the cycle would never end.

Then it did when Jeremy Welsh put in an even-strength goal to make it 5-0, tipping in a Tommi Kivisto wrister.

Smith led the Ads out for the third period, a decision Evason made in the interest of playing it out and resting Magnus Hellberg.

“Our thought process was, Hellberg’s played three in a row, and we have three in a row, obviously. You never like to leave a guy in (at that point) obviously, but we knew after the second period that our group wanted to battle, and we knew Smitty would battle. That’s his personality.”

Mueller said the team had a “you never know” attitude during the second intermission.

The Ads started the final period with an early 5-on-3 that they killed off the front end of.

Reid, who was serving a two-minute slashing penalty for Michael Liambas (who had also been assessed a game misconduct), came out of the box and had a one-on-one rush.

He couldn’t get the shot on, and on the ensuing Charlotte possession Terry struck again on the power play. Welsh quickly scored his second of the game 30 seconds later to make it 7-0 with 17:08 to play.

The Ads finally did get on the board at the 11:16 mark when Kevin Henderson swooped in all the way from neutral ice and beat John Muse over his shoulder.

Michael Latta followed that up less than two minutes later with a nice slapper off a faceoff win from the right circle.

Charlotte extinguished any momentum off of those two quickies scoring less than a minute later to finish off the night.

Smitty stopped a shot on a 3-on-1 rush but Mark Van Guilder ran into him during the save, knocking him to the ice. The puck squirted loose, and with Smitty still down Sean Dolan fed Justin Shugg who had an empty net.

What do you say to your team after an 8-2 loss? According to Evason, absolutely nothing.

“I’m at a loss. It’s difficult to even put into words what happened. It was like what happened last night. If you told people we were down two goals, and we scored two empty-net goals and went to overtime, they’d be like ‘What? You’re crazy’. And say on the next night we just lost 8-2. You either look back and learn from both of them or throw them out and move forward.”

“We anticipated our group (would) go forward, as we talked about last night after the game. Maybe we’ll look back and say one of these two games was the turning point in our season. Who knows?”

Juuso Puustinen and Taylor Beck were both scratches for the game, and Evason said he’s confident one of the two will be back in the lineup tomorrow.

“I hope at least one. We’ll evaluate them tomorrow after some skating and some treatment. Both guys are skilled, obviously and Beck arguably had his best game (Friday) night, so it would’ve been nice to have them in tonight’s hockey game. We’ll likely have one of them back.”

As Mueller said, despite the bleak loss, the two out of three objective is still a reality for tomorrow’s game. Winning three in a row helped keep it in play.

At a certain point, the final score can mean what you want it to mean. Look back at the 8-2 win over OKC for evidence of that.

These games happen, but the timing wasn’t as opportune as Milwaukee may have liked. It looked like they’d perhaps turned a corner coming in.

Questions:

Evason didn’t want to single out any one thing in particular as he shouldn’t particularly need to. He’s a coach and we’re fans and observers. That being said this is a discussion site, so let’s discuss.

There were a lot of bad things out there, but which were the worst? The Admirals didn’t do Smith any favors with the constant, costly and unnecessary penalties. But could Smitty have also stopped some of those shots?

Spending so much time on the penalty kill also heavily impacted the offense, and any possible support of Smitty at the other end of the ice. When you’re constantly a man down, it’s really difficult to get into any sort of a groove.

It’s hard to gauge the power play, as coach said, based on one chance, but you’d think down 3-0 that the Ads would’ve taken a little more advantage of the opportunity. They spent way too much of that power play in their own zone.

Trashing the game and moving on is probably the right mindset to have, especially with another one the very next day as Mueller commented. Unlike the last two weeks where the team would have days upon days to reflect on a loss, the next-day scenario helps in this case.

But is there anything, in your opinion, the Admirals should take from this game?

Chris Mueller didn’t want his bobblehead night to end.

With just a minute left to play, facing a two-goal deficit, Mueller sparked a fast and furious comeback that was capped off in overtime. Opening the hat trick weekend in style, Milwaukee picked up its third win in a row 5-4 over San Antonio.

From the get-go the Ads looked much better than they had the past few games, but despite taking a 5-0 shot advantage early, the Rampage scored on their first shot 3:49 in.

Former Admiral Mike Santorelli nearly shook Victor Bartley out of his skates and put a shot on net that bounced off the post. Quinton Howden was there for San Antonio to put the rebound in for the 1-0 lead.

Milwaukee answered at 9:11 when newly returned Mattias Ekholm tied the game thanks to a nice screen from Daniel Bang. Jared Gomes poorly attempted to clear the puck out of the Rampage’s zone, and Ekholm was there to fire a quick shot as soon as it got to him.

Coach Dean Evason was pleased with what he saw from both Ekholm and newcomer Brian McGrattan.

The Ads ran into some penalty trouble in the second half of the period, as San Antonio built a 3-1 lead thanks to two separate power play chances.

Santorelli one-timed in a pass from Zach Hamill to beat Hellberg on a 5-on-3 chance. Then with just under a minute to go before the break, Jed Ortmeyer’s blast from the point found the back of the net.

Both Evason and Mueller said they were surprised at the scoreboard heading into the first intermission. Both felt the Ads had thus far been the better team.

That attitude would show through for the rest of the game as the Ads scored again in the second period.

After a holding call on Jon Rheault, Taylor Beck showed nice patience on the power play, deking back and forth a few times in front to get Jacob Markstrom out of position before letting his shot fly.

Around the game’s midway point, however, San Antonio dampened the Ads’ rejuvenated hopes with a tipped in goal from Garrett Wilson.

The lead would stay at 4-2 until near the end of the third period. That’s when the real fun started and one Admiral made everyone hastily rework their three star votes.

With Hellberg on the bench, Brad Winchester threw a shot on net that was blocked in front. Mueller scooped it up and flipped it past Markstrom with exactly 1:00 on the clock.

Then Milwaukee’s assistant captain improbably struck again with 20.5 seconds left. Winchester fired another shot that rebounded off Markstrom and Mueller snuck it past the sprawling goalie to tie it at 4-4 and send the game to overtime.

Riding a full head of steam, the Admirals wouldn’t be denied in the extra period. In a mad scramble in front Captain Mike Moore sent the crowd into a frenzy, knocking the puck out of the air and in.

The horn sounded briefly as the refs didn’t immediately signal and skated off to the side to review the play. While San Antonio desperately argued that the puck had cleared the top of the net, the replay confirmed the game-winner was good.

As the Ads celebrated in mob fashion at center ice, Markstrom picked up a game misconduct, flinging his stick in frustration.

Moore had little doubt as soon as the puck crossed the line.

Notes:

Evason was quick to acknowledge that he was already looking on to Saturday’s game, but even the forward-thinking coach admitted this one was special.

Hellberg had a so-so night compared to his last two brilliant starts stopping 27 of 31 shots. Evason was fine with the big goalie’s performance.

Questions:

So the team’s predominant feeling was that they deserved better than the late two-goal deficit. That’s evidenced by their 41 shots. Did you think the Ads had the comeback in them all along? How about after the first Mueller goal?

Did the presence of a certain Packer wide receiver drive the team to victory?

71 games, 551 penalty minutes. That’s Brian McGrattan’s record-breaking stat line from his 2004-05 campaign with Binghamton. With both him and Liambas now in the lineup do the Ads strike you as a grittier, tougher bunch?

Who do you think we’ll see in net tomorrow? Will they give Hellberg a rest or save Smitty for the Sunday game?

The Admirals’ 2-1 win over Abbotsford was a huge victory in more ways than one. It was Milwaukee’s first win against the Heat in almost a year and Magnus Hellberg’s second consecutive win.

And it was step one of the “two-out-of-three” hockey plan coaches Dean Evason and Stan Drulia have stressed the last two games.

Evason went with the hot hand in Hellberg after he shut out Peoria on Sunday, and the big goalie kept rolling.

The Ads came out looking worse than they did two games ago in a 5-2 loss. For the first ten minutes Milwaukee had a hard time getting out of its own zone. The Heat held a 7-0 shot advantage before the Admirals got their first, and even that one was questionable…

By periods end, Abbotsford led 16-5 in shots, but thanks to Hellberg it remained a scoreless game. And the Ads wouldn’t waste his effort.

Hellberg admitted his defense helped him out with rebound control, and the fast start actually got him into the game early.

The defense stepped up, holding the Heat to four shots in the second period, and the Ads were finally able to break through on (wait for it) … THE POWER PLAY!

Chris Mueller brought the puck into the Abbotsford zone and fed it to Cam Reid in the slot. Reid fed another of his beautiful (quickly becoming trademark) centering passes to Juuso Puustinen who beat All Star Barry Brust at the 11:50 mark for a 1-0 lead.

It was Reid’s fourth point in four games as Puustinen picked up his seventh goal of the year.

On the ensuing faceoff the Ads got another big boost from Mike Liambas who dropped the gloves and rocked Zach McKelvie.

Right after that, there were hints of another scrum as the Heat went after Michael Latta. Uncharacteristically, Latta shook them off, refusing to let Abbotsford have a chance at gaining momentum.

Evason talked about the benefits of Latta’s decision.

3:35 into the third period, Milwaukee extended its lead to 2-0. Taylor Beck did a great job keeping the puck alive after Brust attempted to poke check it away. Beck was able to finish the play and put it past the diving goalie for his eighth of the year.

At the 9:18 mark, Max Reinhart broke up Hellberg’s bid for a second consecutive shutout.

Hellberg said he saw the puck and it was just a good shot by Reinhart.

The big goalie didn’t let in any more, stopping 10 shots in the third, helping the Ads seal the win.

Evason said he was surprised with his team’s slow start, but was pleased with how it finished the game with a full 60 minutes of hockey.

Notes:

Evason talked about his appendectomy experience and his unique opportunity to watch Sunday’s game online rather than in person.

Patrick Cehlin was back in the lineup tonight, while Jack MacLellan was recently sent down to Cincy.

Krys Kolanos’ reign of terror finally came to an end Tuesday. Coming in with a point in each of his last 10 games against Milwaukee, the Ads finally were able to keep him off the scorecard.

Questions:

So Roundtable, how big was this win in your eyes?

Who gets the start Friday? Evason said he’s going to evaluate, and as you heard Hellberg’s going to respect whatever decision is made.

On a two-game win streak how will the Ads finish off the homestand in the 3-in-3 this weekend?

The big goalie had a Hell of a night as the Admirals’ two-game losing skid snapped Sunday with a 1-0 win over Peoria.

In his first start since January 20, Magnus Hellberg broke a personal six-game losing streak and recorded his first professional shutout, stopping all 30 shots he faced.

Milwaukee’s offense didn’t leave Hellberg much room for error, but the team came out a lot stronger than it had in back-to-back 5-2 Friday losses.

Coach Dean Evason missed the game after having his appendix removed yesterday, and assistant coach Stan Drulia guided the team to the win.

The Ads got out to a fast start thanks to Cam Reid’s third point in as many games. Bartley fed the puck to Reid at center ice to set up a 2-on-2 break, and Reid’s pass to his right found a crashing Mark Van Guilder who deflected it in at the 4:17 mark.

MVG talked about the goal and the adjustment he had to make on a pass that could’ve been crisper.

That would be it as far as offense was concerned as Hellberg held the line the rest of the way.

While the Rivermen wouldn’t be considered by most to be an offensive juggernaut, Drulia felt Hellberg was challenged throughout the game.

As nice as it was to see the Ads finally pull one out, it would’ve been nicer to see them capitalize on some chances.

“0 for 4 on the power play” has become a phrase mentioned a bit too often this season, and Van Guilder offered his thoughts on the special teams struggles.

MVG also commented on the team’s overall offensive confidence.

Drulia said the better start to the game was a reflection of the team’s sense of desperation which has become a big focal point moving forward.

That urgency will be tested again Tuesday with Abbotsford coming to town. The Ads haven’t beaten the Heat since last February, going a collective 0-5 in regular season and postseason play.

If “two out of three” hockey is indeed going to be the standard, a win Tuesday would be greatly needed.

Notes:

Van Guilder had a lot to say after the win, even offering his musings on Dean Evason’s absence.

Despite a season of competing against one another on the depth chart, Jeremy Smith posed a nice gesture to Hellberg, snatching up the game puck for the big goalie to keep as a souvenir of his big night.

Questions:

So was this what the Ads needed to get something going? Who besides Hellberg impressed you tonight?

How much do you think Hellberg was challenged tonight? I thought his movement in net looked a bit crisper and he made some good stops on some 2-on-1s.

Do you think the “two-out-of-three hockey” concept is realistic for this team?

That wasn’t the start we were hoping for.

Another loss (one very similar to last Friday’s 5-2 contest against Chicago) ended a week-long break for Milwaukee and kicked off the stretch of six home games in 10 days.

Depite a glimmer of hope right out of the gates, the Ads’ offense ultimately started slow and wasn’t able to recover after digging a big hole despite a well-played third period.

Milwaukee’s newest face, left winger Michael Liambas, started his AHL career with a bang. On just his second shift, Liambas dropped the gloves to announce his presence and showcase his knack for fighting. In the end, Liambas pulled the taller Ryley Grantham to the ice.

Coach Dean Evason talked about what Liambas brought early and the role he expects him to play.

Cam Reid opened the scoring with his second goal in as many games about three minutes later. Taylor Beck fed Reid with a nice pass from behind the net and he put it in past Matt Hackett easily.

The Aeros answered at 11:09 when Justin Fontaine fired an unassisted shot from the slot that beat Jeremy Smith cleanly.

With 5:39 left in the period, Jason Zucker was called for roughing, giving the Ads their first power play. Just a few seconds in, however, a diving Chris Mueller unintentionally tipped a pass to Houston’s Carson McMillan that set up a 2-on-1 rush the other way.

McMillan fed it to MacDonald and MacDonald whipped it back to McMillan who beat Smitty right in front for the shorty.

The next 20 minutes were pretty uneventful as the Ads killed off a five-minute boarding penalty to Daniel Bang and whiffed on a couple of power play chances.

Houston added to its lead with 1:14 left in the second period when Zucker fired a wrister from the left circle that went in off Smitty’s glove. Milwaukee finished up the second down 14-4 in shots.

It didn’t get much better seconds into the third, when Kyle Medvec made it 4-1 on a shot behind Smith from the far left.

At 3:19, the Ads showed some life, finally scoring on the power play when Austin Watson pulled off a spinning shot from point blank. Austin Watson swats in the goal. Try saying that five times.

Despite outshooting Houston 15-6 in the final 20 minutes, the Ads couldn’t rally. Smith left the net with about 2 minutes left, but Fontaine grabbed an empty netter to seal the deal with 1:08 left.

Evason said the team’s sense of urgency really needs to improve as these last two games have shown.

The loss was a blown chance to gain ground on the Aeros who currently sit in the eighth spot in the West. With five games left in the homestand, Evason reiterated that Milwaukee needs to capitalize on home ice.

Questions:

Coach said the lack of offense was more to blame for the loss than Smitty’s night, but what did you think? He made some big saves, but were those goals against all good ones in your opinion?

What did you think of Liambas in a Milwaukee uni for the first time? He obviously showed a lot of physicality, but made some really nice plays on the puck as well.

It’s hard to speculate on what was going through the Admirals’ heads in that first period.

They might’ve had a period with fewer shots earlier this season, (one shot against OKC on Jan. 7th), but you could argue the first 20 minutes of Friday night’s 5-2 loss to Chicago was the worst the team’s played all season.

Alex Friesen opened the scoring for the Wolves 6:06 into the contest with a goal down low that beat Jeremy Smith over his right pad.

Taylor Beck committed a slashing penalty about three minutes later, and Chicago took advantage. Smith gave up a big rebound off of a blast from the blue line by Brad Hunt and Bill Sweatt was there to put it away.

We didn’t see Beck on the ice again after that penalty and Coach Dean Evason explained why.

The Ads used a time out after the goal, but it did little to help things.

Guillaume Desbiens made it 3-0 about 3 minutes later after he made Scott Valentine look silly.

The Wolves would get one more at 14:26 courtesy of Michael Davies.

Mike Moore talked about the atmosphere after the timeout and the team’s disappointment with the result.

Milwaukee came out flat in just about all facets of the game, getting outshot 14-7 in the first 20. But what stood out most was the defense (or lack thereof) and for that reason, Evason decided to keep Smitty in net for the second period.

The Ads couldn’t do anything with a 5-on-3 to start the period, and 4:41 into it the Wolves scored their fifth and final goal after Joonas Jarvinen was called for high sticking.

On a night when the power play went 0 for 7, surprisingly, it was a shorthanded strike from Mark Van Guilder that got Milwaukee on the board at the 11:06 mark.

Magnus Hellberg came out and played a solid third period. The big goalie stopped six shots and his offense put forth a great, but futile effort.

Milwaukee got off 23 shots in the final period, but they only yielded one goal. 7:16 in, Cam Reid put in his first of the year adding a little spark to an otherwise dreary evening.

He was glad, but realistic about it.

Note:

When asked about Patrick Hornqvist’s injury and possible implications of an Admirals call up, Evason replied there had been zero discussion on the issue.

Questions:

What went wrong out there in your opinion? Why do you feel the Ads came out so flat?

Reid said, while declining to use it as an excuse, that the long break may have had something to do with it, but he also said the Wolves just “wanted it more” out of the gates.

Did you agree with Evason’s decision regarding Taylor Beck and later Michael Latta? I think he gave some pretty strong statements on “silly” penalties.

What about leaving Smith in to save him the embarrassment as Coach said? Do you share his opinion that his teammates left him out to dry?

Before discussing this, it’s important to remember that its just one game. There’s no need for hyperbole. Remember last week’s 8-2 romp over OKC? Nuff said. And they’ll get a long time to straighten things out with no games on the schedule ’til next Friday.

Milwaukee scored its second straight win against a team that’s given them some trouble this year, the Peoria Rivermen.

After stopping a regular season-high 44 shots Friday night, Jeremy Smith didn’t show much fatigue making 38 saves.

Jack MacLellan opened the scoring with his first goal of the season 7:01 into the first period. Taylor Beck added to the lead with his seventh 9:37 into the second.

With about 4:40 left in the period, however, Chris Bruton got Peoria on the board. Smitty kept the Ads ahead for most the third period and it looked like the Ads might hold on, but Derek Nesbitt tied it up with just 1:29 to play.

With a possible win streak in jeapardy heading into overtime, good old Chris Mueller gave the Ads a lift. Mueller picked up his 14th goal of the season to win the game one minute into the extra period and send Milwaukee into the All Star Break on a high note.

Notes:

The power play was 0-4 again, so they still weren’t able to get that going.

You can watch All Star Victor Bartley represent us tonight in the skills competition at 10 pm. on Time Warner Sports 32.

Questions:

Happy with the win over Peoria to keep things on track?

Puusty breaks out Friday and now it’s nice to see J-Mac get his first. Who’s the next Ad you’ve been waiting to see back on the scoreboard? I got Lajunen.

What event would you most like to see Bartley compete in? Hardest slap shot anyone?

Coach Dean Evason had talked about his team’s recent buildup of frustration. Friday night provided release of that frustration.

The Admirals pulled off an 8-2 laugher over Oklahoma City on Country Music night in front of their biggest home crowd of the season.

The victory snapped Milwaukee’s six-game winless streak and (even more relieving) the power play snapped its 30-0 scoreless streak.

A long list of Ads had big nights.

When Jeremy Smith stops a career-high 44 shots and doesn’t get the first star, you know it’s been an impressive team showing.

Juuso Puustinen came to play scoring the first, sixth and eighth Admiral goals to record his first hat trick since an exhibition game at home in Finland last year.

And Puusty said after that performance he’s going to be gunning it more the rest of the way.

Austin Watson scored 49 seconds into the second period on the power play to get the monkey off the unit’s back.

The lineups looked a little different with Mueller and Cehlin seeing some time at the point. Evason talked about what Mueller added to the PP and whether we can expect to see him at the point in the future.

But in the offensive onslaught, ironically, Milwaukee scored on just one of four opportunities with the man-advantage. The Admirals did, however, nab a shorty courtesy of Scott Valentine 12:40 into the final period.

Evason had expressed concern about the guys passing up shots, but that was no issue in the victory. They let shots fly and it paid off for once. Coach was pleased with that.

But again, ironically, the final shot tally was misleading. You would think judging by the scoreboard the Ads would’ve crushed OKC in the shooting department, but Milwaukee was actually outshot by a whopping 46-29 margin. Smitty’s night was just that good.

Notes:

Evason said Ben Ryan will be out for a while with an “upper body” injury and Josh Shalla was sent down to Cincy today for an undisclosed period of time.

We got a chance to catch up with Victor Bartley and ask him about how much crap he took from his teammates following the Gangnam Style parody as well as his quite eventful last two weeks.

Questions:

Well, they finally scored on the power play. Allow me to open the can of worms by asking “What do you think they did to break the skid?”

Who was your first star? I personally think that as nice as a hat trick is, Smitty might’ve gotten the edge with his career night.

Do you think this turns the corner?

What did you think of Victor Bartley Style? Kudos to Charlie Larson for painstakingly putting that together. Think it’ll be going viral?