The road success for the Milwaukee Admirals has carried over to the new year and the new roster.  Ryan Thang had two goals including the eventual game winner, and the Admirals won their 17th straight regular season road game, defeating the Peoria Rivermen 4-1 on Saturday night.

Box score here, Admirals recap here, Rivermen blog recap here.

Jeremy Smith made 22 saves on 23 shots for the victory.

Coach Muller (I typed “Lambert” in at first….I’ll get used to it) said he thought the team stayed true to the game plan.

Peoria got on the board first at 9:06 of the first period.  Admiral nemesis Brett Sterling welcomed himself back to the Western Conference by deflecting a Danny Syvret shot from the point amidst a lot of traffic in front of Smith.  It was a power play goal that came just after a 5-on-3 power play ended.

Michael Latta was awarded a penalty shot at 15:45 after a hook from behind foiled a breakaway.  On the penalty shot attempt, Latta came in slow, flinched to fake a wrister, went to his forehand, and beat Jake Allen five-hole.

The ice conditions were a problem (it was 85 degrees in Peoria today), and both teams had some issues with puck control.  As the first period was concluding, a Riverman forward took a pass out of their defensive zone, but couldn’t control it, and ended up playing it back IN to the defensive zone.  A few seconds later, Victor Bartley had a shot from the point that hit iron, but Ryan Thang put the rebound past Allen with 1:04 left in the period.

After a scoreless second period, the Admirals stretched their lead to 3-1, with a Jusso Puustinen goal.  But the major credit on the play goes to Jani Lajunen.  Despite Rivermen D-man Mark Cundari having position in the neutral zone, Lajunen went around him, stripped him on the puck, and led a rush back into the offensive zone.  He found Puustinen in the slot for the goal that Coach Muller said was the turning point of the game.

Ryan Thang scored an empty-netter with 1:30 left in the game.

NOTES:

Thang – Mueller – Bourque
Wilson – Lajunen – Puustinen
Champagne – Van Guilder – Beck
Cahill – Latta – Flynn

Ellis – Sloan
Bartley – Ford
Foss – Valentine

Coach Muller says he got contributions from all of his lines.

That line of TJ Hensick, Brett Sterling, and Jonathan Cheechoo….lots of offensive talent.  They can try to be too cute at times, and they can be a little slow back into the d-zone.  The only Admiral goal they weren’t on the ice for was the penalty shot.  They all finished -3 on the night.  Here’s how Coach Muller prepared for that line.

Biggest change in this game compared to last year:  there was no sign of the prevent-defense.  They weren’t playing to hold on the lead.  The Admirals played hard the whole game.  They outshot the Rivermen 30-23 overall, and 11-6 in the 3rd period.  This is very encouraging.

Lajunen and Puustinen have some great chemistry together already, and Kyle Wilson had some great chances on that line too.

Jeff Foss….looked miles better than the way he played at his ATO at the end of last year.

Atte Engren dressed as Jeremy Smith’s backup.  Chet Pickard didn’t.  Don’t know if we should read anything into that, but you can if you want to.

New referee….Graham Skilliter.  Or as he’ll be known as for the rest of the year, Graham Skeletor.

OK Roundtable — whether you made the trip to Peoria, or made the trip to Buck Bradley’s, or made the trip to your radio to listen to Aaron, what did you think of the first game?  Which line did you think was best?  Who are you excited to see more of?  

While Michael Latta was serving a hooking penalty in the overtime period, Darren Haydar scored the game winning goal, as the Wolves edged the Admirals 2-1 Saturday night in suburban Chicago.

Haydar’s shot went over Chet Pickard’s shoulder, and was the only shot that beat him in his 31:57 time on ice in relief of Atte Engren.

Engren gave up the first goal after a Milwaukee defender turned the puck over right behind the net.  Engren stopped the other 11 shots he faced.

Taylor Beck scored the lone Admiral goal with a wrist shot from the near circle on the power play that beat Matt Climie five-hole with 5:24 left in the 3rd period.  The Admirals had a power play goal in each of their pre-season games.

Coach Muller and Herbie will probably be making some roster decisions on the busride back to Milwaukee.  Word is that Nashville is also likely to make some cuts tonight, so I expect we’ll have some more news to share in the next 24 hours…whenever the press releases get…um…..released.

A strong four-goal second period sparked the Admirals to a 5-3 victory of the visiting Rockford IceHogs on Friday night at the Kern Center.

Five different Admirals scored on the night, and Jusso Puustinen and David Leaderer had two assists each, while Jeremy Smith stopped 22 of 25 shots to get the win.

While the Admirals outshot the IceHogs 7-5 in the first period, I kind of felt that the Admirals started out a bit sluggish.  But Coach Muller liked the adjustments his team was able to make.

The second period started with a quick strike by Joel Champagne, but Puustinen deserves a lot of credit on the play.  (So much credit, the referee originally gave the goal to him).

Jani Lajunen cashed in on a power play goal ten minutes later.

Taylor Aronson and Mark Van Guilder scored 2:22 appart later in the frame.

Needless to say, Coach liked the 2nd period.

After the start of the game was delayed by a Zamboni Olympia issue, there were some more ice issues late in the game around Jeremy Smith’s net.  The Kern Center goals don’t have the pegs that the Bradley Center has, so things are a little less stable in the net area.  So the end of the game had next to no pace to it.  Which is okay, I guess, especially if the Admirals are killing off a 6-on-4 power play.

Here’s who Coach liked in the game.

Definitely agree on Latta.  Some great individual efforts, and as the second period was winding down there was a rush where he battled for the puck along the near boards and was able to spring himself on a good scoring chance.  Puustinen and Lajunen can also stick around.

Not a fan of Charles-Olivier Roussel.  Seen about enough of him.  Aronson got a goal, but I think he will probably be sent back to juniors.  Those were the two guys that stuck out in a bad way for me.

Heading to Hoffman Estates tomorrow?  Here’s some stuff to expect.

Last chance for some guys to make a good impression, as we won’t have to wait too long for pink slips.

So Roundtable — thoughts on the game?  Who did you like?  Who didn’t you like?  How about Scott Ford coming out for the 3rd period wearing uniform #5?  Did you notice improvement since the last time you saw Ryan Flynn?  Did you like Garrett Suter’s game?  He was on the ice for the first 3 Admiral goals. 

(Photo Credit:  AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Pekka Rinne and Jeremy Smith combined to stop all Washington shots, and Chris Mueller had a goal and assist, as the Preds blanked the Caps 2-0.

Colin Wilson continued his strong play with a with another goal.  Niclas Bergfors assisted on both goals.

Good for Mueller.  It’s really nice to see him putting up points, to remind the coaching staff that he deserves to be in the conversation for one of the open NHL slots, and remind them that it’s not just the Craig Smith show in town.  Two goals and assist for Mueller in two pre-season games.  Good on him.

And that’s got to be a major confidence boost for Smitty — to blank the Capitals, who played a number of their offensively gifted players in this game.

The sideshow from the game will likely be how awful the ice surface was in Baltimore.  Former Capital Tyler Sloan and Pekka Rinne gave the money quotes of the night that have been retweeted a ton already…

Sloan: “It was bad. Along the boards, there was cement. Guys were ticked off … it was dangerous.”

Pekka’s response could have been a bonafide punchline to a joke.  Man it was so hot out there….Audience yells back HOW HOT WAS IT?

Pekka:  “It was so hot on the ice, it felt like a Finnish sauna.”

(Photo credit:  Joel Auerbach / Getty Images)

We’re still in that weird part of the season where we are second-hand reporting everything.  The Nashville blogs will have the more in-depth coverage, so for further enrichment, I encourage you to read their reports.  But we’ll hit the nuts and bolts of everything.

Game 1:  Preds win 5-3.

– Jeremy Smith starts in goal and makes 14 saves on 15 shots.  Chet Pickard came on in relief, stopping 20 of 22 shots, and getting the W.

– Sergei Kostitsyn had three assists.

– Goals from Colin Wilson, Kyle Wilson, Jon Blum, Chris Mueller, and Jani Lajunen

Game 2:  Preds blow 3rd period lead, Panthers win 4-3.

– Anders Lindback starts, Atte Engren comes in relief, and gives up two goals.  Here’s the play-by-play from the @rinkside twitter account.

“Huberdeau squeezes a pass through two Preds defenders to Santorelli in the low slot.  It’s an easy one-timer for Santorelli.”

Santorelli….that name sounds familiar….where have I heard that name before….

The second goal was a scramble in front of the net, and @rinkside indicates that Taylor Aronson may have knocked it in off of his skate.

– Scoring for the Preds, tthree guys who suited up for the Admirals last season.  Teemu Laakso opened the scoring with an unassisted goal a minute into the contest.  Ryan Thang and Blake Geoffrion also scored.

– Craig Smith did not score at all.  He did spend some time in the penalty box though.  That’ll slow the hype machine down a bit.

The Preds will travel to Charm City (that’s Baltimore for you inlanders) to play the Capitals tomorrow.

The game was a bit closer, but after spotting the Panthers an early one goal lead, the Nashville rookies scored the next three for a 3-1 victory early Tuesday afternoon.

Craig Smith followed up his four goal game yesterday with ONLY two goals today.  What a letdown, right?

Atte Engren started and gave up the lone goal against.  Chet Pickard came on in relief and stopped all the shots he faced.

A link to some video highlights can be found here.

But ok Roundtable….here’s what I want to know from you.  Six goals in two games for Craig Smith is pretty great.  But it’s just two games, against rookies….What do you think are the odds that Craig Smith opens the season with Nashville?

Give your answer PTI style.   BS your rationale like Michael Wilbon for a sentence or two, and then give me a percentage.

Taylor Beck, Craig Smith, and Gabriel Bourque were the featured line for the Nashville rookies in their debut against the Tampa Bay rookies.

That line delivered big time.

Smith had four goals and an assist, Bourque had four assists, and Beck had a goal and two assists, as the Nashville rookies scored 7 times en route to a 7-3 win over Tampa Bay.  (OnTheForecheck.com has video of all of the goals.)

Austin Watson and Brent Andrews had the other goals for Nashville.

Chet Pickard and Atte Engren split time in net.  Pickard started and allowed two goals, making 20 saves on 22 shots.  Engren allowed just the one goal in the final minutes of the game, and stopped 20 of 21 shots.

Kirk Muller was behind the bench — hopefully his first of many lop-sided wins.

Former Admiral Cory Conacher had a goal and an assist for the Lightning.

The Nashville rookies will play the Florida rookies Tuesday morning.

(Many thanks to the @rinkside twitter feed)

“It’s heartbreaking.  You work so hard all year long and put it all on the line….game 7…..words can’t describe how bad you feel.  I hate losing.  I can’t believe it’s over.”

That’s a dejected Jeremy Smith after the Admirals fell short in game 7 of their playoff series with the Houston Aeros.

After some good chances in the offensive zone, Casey Wellman led a 2-on-1 rush, and beat Smitty with an NHL caliber shot with 1:21 left in the 3^rd period, giving the Aeros the game-winning goal in a 4-2 victory Tuesday night.

Coach Lambert seconds that emotion.

“Total dejection is what I’m feeling, and the guys fought hard all series.  That’s part of playoff hockey.  There’s only one team that can win, and when you don’t, it hurts.”

The Nashville bump was there, as Matt Halischuk and Blake Geoffrion  figured into both Admiral goals, along with Gabriel Bourque.  But the late rush by Wellman took the wind out of the sails of the Admirals and everyone in the building.

With less than two minutes to go in the 3^rd period the Admirals were attacking the offensive zone. They had about three great chances with the puck bouncing all over the place, inches from lighting the lamp. The Admirals were playing up trying to get the game winner when the puck was sent out to Wellman, who was then off to the races with the 2-on-1 rush.  Roman Josi gave chase along the near boards, blocked the passing lane and got a little piece of Wellman as he fired the shot on net. Smith was out to play the shot but missed it as it rang home to the top right of the cage.

“It was a fast break, 2-on-1,” Smitty said.  “Pretty much the same thing happened two shifts before that.  I thought I had the save, and he made a good shot.  Beat me clean.  That’s my shot – I got to make that save.  You got to give credit where credit is due, so I just got to learn from it.”

Transcribing those words doesn’t begin to illustrate the glumness in Smitty’s voice.  Sounded like we just told him Christmas has been cancelled, and replaced with a second Arbor Day.

Coach Lambert says it was a mistake to allow that rush.

“We had three or four good chances before they were able the break away from us.  We got a little eager, we gave up a 2-on-1 and that just can’t happen. “

The Admirals were the first to score in game 7 and it was a pair of the newly reassigned Admirals that were in on the score. Blake Geoffrion passed the puck to Matt Halischuk down low and then attempted a wrap around. The attempt bounced off Matt Hackett’s pads and right to a crashing Gabriel Bourque, who scored top shelf at the 8:02 mark in the first.

I’ll take momentum shifts for 300 Alex. With just 12 seconds left in the first period the Aeros’ Colton Gillies stuffed home a rebound to knot the game at 1 aside.  With a shot from the point, the puck found its way through traffic and on Jeremy Smith. It was a nice save but Smith couldn’t track down the rebound from his back, and with the loose puck in the paint it easily found a home on the other side of the goal line.

Ok, now I’ll take goals I’d like to have back for 1000. With Smith coming out of the net to play a puck behind the net, he mishandled a rotten bounce.  He took a couple more desperate stabs at it but had to leave it behind for the Aeros’ Carson McMillan, who gathered the puck and was able to get a quick shot in on the empty net as Smith couldn’t get back in time. That gave the Aeros their first lead of the game.

The Admirals would answer back at the 8:26 mark while on the Mountain Fury Power Play.  Geoffrion sent a puck down low to Bourque on the near side, who then sent a pass to Halischuk in the slot. Halischuk quickly sent the puck past Hackett to bring the match all square.

And then Wellman put the nail in the coffin, followed by an empty net goal from Warren Peters, who twisted the nail in the coffin while laughing and singing “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow…..”*

*Do you need me to tell you that the last part didn’t happen?  Didn’t think so.

Good game.  Can’t blame the officials.  Great crowd, especially with the Brewers in town.  Exciting finish.  It’s what you want a game 7 to be.  Only thing I’d change would be the final score.  And the second Aeros goal.  I’d change that too.

We’ll close this with one more quote from Smitty, and then open up the post for your thoughts and comments on the game and the campaign.

“There’s no tomorrow now.  Your season is over.  There’s nothing…. You look forward to training this summer, but nobody….. Winning championships is fun.  That’s what you work so hard for.  And to be let down, and let your teammates down it’s just a terrible feeling and not one I want to have again.”

Smitty, I think I speak for all of us when I say that you were marvelous this season, and unworldly in this post-season.  Hang in there, bud, and we’ll see you next year.

The Houston Aeros had won 11 straight playoff games that had gone in to overtime.

A new streak has started, courtesy of a Kelsey Wilson deflection 1:01 into the extra session, as the Admirals forced a game seven after a 5-4 win over Houston Sunday evening.

Ryan Thang’s shot from the point was deflected by Wilson as he was being worked over by Drew Bagnall in front of Aero goaltender Matt Hackett.

“He’s a real important piece for our team in terms of his character and his leadership,” Coach Lambert said.  “Since he has come back in game 5 of the Texas series, he’s played good hockey for us.”

Wilson’s goal capped a rollercoaster of a game that saw the Admirals score the first three goals, Houston score the next four, and then the Admirals score the final two.

“The game is 60 minutes, and they’re a good a hockey team,” Coach said.  “We did a good job getting ourselves a lead.  I thought we made a couple little mistakes and the puck ended up in the back of our net, and we just had to focus and regroup.”

The Admirals scored their first two goals with a little help from Aeros goaltender Matt Hackett.  Ryan Ellis scored his first pro goal with a shot from the point that went off of Hackett’s pads and trickled in next to the near post.

Gabriel Bourque scored his sixth of the playoffs with a shot from the far face-off circle that Hackett saved, but he lost where it went, and ended up kicking it into the net with his skate.

The Admirals made it a 3-nil lead with a power play goal from Roman Josi early in the 2^nd period.  From the top of the near face-off circle, Mark Van Guilder had a wide open passing line, and fed a cross-ice pass to Kelsey Wilson.  He tapped it back just a touch to Josi who was pinching, and his shot beat Hackett top-right corner.

The rest of the period belonged to the Aeros, and the turning point seemed to be a bizarre play involving Roman Josi and the goalie Hackett.  During play, Josi was pushed into Hackett, and an Aeros defender and Hackett proceeded to take some shots at Josi.  Josi got back to his skates, only to be knocked down again.  Lots of chirping back and forth between the two teams.  While skating away Josi gave a soft shot to Hackett, who then followed Josi and an official to the far corner.  And Hackett gave a pretty hard shot back to Josi.  Leaving the crease to be part of an altercation?  Some goalies would be tossed for such an action.  Instead, Hackett and Maxim Noreau got two each for roughing, and Josi got two for goaltender interference and two for roughing.  We proceeded 5-on-5.

About four and half minutes later the Aeros put the first of three dents into the scoreboard in the period.  Taking advantage of an AWFUL long line change, Jarod Palmer had a shot from the slot that beat Jeremy Smith.  It was helpful that another Aero forward set a pick to take two Admirals out of the play, but it was a great shot by Palmer.

Noreau scored less than a minute later on a shot from the point that flat out beat Smitty, while there were five Admirals just standing around watching the play.

Jon DiSalvatore scored a power play goal amidst a lot of waving sticks, and Chris Mueller being a little late coming back to pick him up.  Nice pass by O’Sullivan and nice finish by DiSalvatore.

So we went to the third period, and the question was, who was going to come out with the most urgency?  The team on the verge of clinching, or the team on the verge of their season ending.

The Aeros ended up controlling most of the play, and were able to take the lead at the 9:32 mark of the period.  After a faceoff, there was a scramble in front of Jeremy Smith.  Smitty was on his belly, and the puck was sitting in the crease just to the right of his elbow.  Patrick O’Sullivan was there to tap it in.  The fourth unanswered goal for the Aeros.

“They gained momentum obviously, and they ended up taking the lead,” Coach Lambert said.  “We had a huge push from our guys.   I thought the Aaron Johnson hit helped turn things around a little bit in the third period.  We started getting back to playing physical like we were in the first period.”

And then with 4:44 left in the period, Chris Mueller was able to stop the bleeding.  Mueller picked off a clearing attempt in the offensive zone, but couldn’t control the puck.  Ryan Thang worked to get it, and then tapped it back over to Mueller, who had relocated to the slot.  His shot beat Hackett.

They allow 20 minutes for the overtime period, but the Admirals needed just the 61 seconds.  After controlling the first shift of overtime, the Admirals scored after the line change.

“I think our guys rose to that challenge and made sure that we stayed focused,” Coach said.

NOTES & QUESTIONS

Flynn – Bartlett – Begin
Wilson – Mueller – Thang
Bourque – Van Guilder – Thuresson
Ryan – Hunter – Santorelli

Teemu Laakso did indeed return to the ice, and Grant Lewis was scratched in his stead.

Ryan Ellis’ head was the recipient of a demonstration of Newton’s 3^rd law of physics.  Andreas Thuresson had a big hit on Justin Falk along the boards.   Ellis was pinching down, tried to also hit Falk, and 6’5 Falk’s shoulder met 5’10 Ellis’ noggin. Ellis stayed on the ice for about half a minute, but skated to the bench on his own power, and after a trip to the locker room, hit the ice again later in the 3^rd period.

Speaking of Ellis, I thought he played a pretty good game.  He looked a little more comfortable in the offensive zone, and was able to bail himself and some teammates out on some rushes against Smitty.

There was lots of Aero contact with Smitty, but I think he did his fair share of hamming it up too.  Still, he did get peppered a few times.

The three stars were all messed up.  They presented Wilson, Josi, and Mueller….and the box score says Wilson, O’Sullivan and Smitty.  DiSalvatore had a great game, and had a goal and two assists.  Noreau was sharp.  Thang had four assists.  Meh.  There are worse things to pick on.

Who stood out for you tonight?

Did you think they had it in them?

Happy to see Laakso back?  Bummed that Lewis was the odd man out?

Thoughts on the power play performance?  2 for 4 for the good guys.  Anyone toasting some Mountain Fury right now?  Weren’t we supposed to do some kind of giveaways for that stuff?  I’ll have a word with Sutty….he’s our fake director of corporate sponsorship.

Admirals still outshot….33-23 tonight.  For the series, Admirals have been outshot 203-128 in the six games.  Nice save % numbers for Smitty….but that’s really the only silver lining to that.

Anything else you’d like to share about the game?

See you Tuesday.

The highs in playoff hockey are like nothing else in professional sports.

The lows in playoff hockey?  Just as dramatic.

Jeremy Smith stood on his head, the Admirals survived a first period that looked like a continuation from a previous game, and had some puck luck to get to a 2-0 lead.

And then the captain, did what captains before him have done so very many times before.

Puck over glass.  Delay of game.  Two minutes for “Yonking”.

That put the Admirals down two men with 4:55 left in the game.  Grant Lewis was already in the box for setting a pick (a penalty that should have had an Aero player accompany him to the box after a shot to Lewis’ face).

It took the Aeros 33 seconds to score.  Robbie Earl’s shot low stick side beat Smith.

Chad Rau tied the game with 1:21 left, as Matt Hackett was heading to the bench for the extra attacker.

Robbie Earl was the man in overtime as well, jamming the puck past Smith at the near post, while Casey Wellman was in the crease.  He was engaged with a defenseman, but it may have been enough to distract Smith on the game winning goal.

Houston outshot the Admirals 19-6 in the opening period, thanks in part to four Aero power plays in the frame.  Smith was outstanding, making some saves that Pekka Rinne might not have.

Ryan Thang continued his strong play, scoring his fifth of the playoffs on a fluky goal.  A Thanger shot went off of Hackett’s blocker, popped in the air, landed on Hackett’s shoulder, rolled off, hit the crossbar, then fell down to the goalline, where Thang finished the job.  Put the puck on net, stuff happens.  What a concept!

The Admirals second goal had a little bit of puck luck too, as the ice shavings in front of the bench slowed down a puck just enough on a shorthanded clear that Mike Bartlett was able to scoop it up.  While he couldn’t get a shot off, Steve Begin did, and scored with 5 seconds left in the period.

The Admirals failed to convert two power play chances in the 3rd period before their time on the 5-on-3 penalty kill.  A goal there may have been just enough to put the game out of reach.

Smitty ended the night with 50 saves on 53 shots.  Hackett had 23 saves on 25 shots.  (Shot counter isn’t doing Hackett any favors!)

Patrick O’Sullivan (12), Chad Rau (9), and Robbie Earl (6) combined had two more shots than the full Admirals roster.

So now what?  The Admirals will face their first elimination game of the playoffs Sunday evening at the Bradley Center.  If the Predators lose Saturday night in Vancouver, there may be some reinforcements coming to Milwaukee.  And boy, could we use them about now.  I think we’ve seen enough ATO guys for awhile.