If Houston’s players were disappointed about their effort in a Game 3 loss to Milwaukee, they sure took out their frustration on the Admirals in Game 4.

Despite a final score sheet reading a 3-2 overtime victory for the Aeros, Thursday night’s only AHL game had no business being that close.  Milwaukee was out shot 33-13, leaving goaltender Jeremy Smith as perhaps the only reason why the Admirals were just a sudden death goal away from taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.

“(Houston) played like a desperate team,” Milwaukee assistant coach Ian Herbers told Aaron Smith after the game.  “We bent, but had a chance to pull it out in the end.  (Unfortunately) we came out on the short end of the stick.”

Carson McMillan’s second goal of the playoffs at 3:35 over the extra session competed the series tying victory for Houston after Milwaukee came back from an early 2-0 deficit.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” Herbers said. “But we couldn’t get it going in overtime.”

It took less than two minutes into the game for Houston to open the scoring.  After Jed Ortmeyer’s innocent shot from the right corner was mishandled by Smith, Colton Gilles buried the rebound.

The play came off of a turnover by Milwaukee defenseman Scott Ford.  Tuesday night, it was the Admirals forcing all of the turnovers.  Game 4 was obviously a different story.

Eight minutes later, the Aeros version of Steve Begin, Patrick O’Sullivan, made it 2-0, scoring a power play goal after a fortunate bounce of the end boards from Chad Rau’s initial shot.

“We weren’t pleased with how were playing after the first period,” Herbers said.  “We needed to be sharper.  It easily could have been three or four to zero there.”

A resilient Admirals squad managed to claw back to the tie the game by making the most of their limited opportunities.

Andreas Thuresson showed some veteran smarts by scoring the Admirals first goal at 14:28, finding a dead spot in the high slot and taking a pass from Kelsey Wilson.  Thuresson’s snipe found nothing but net above the right shoulder of Aeros goaltender Matt Hackett.

Milwaukee made it a 2-2 game by finally scoring a power play goal, their first of the series after an 0-16 run.  Aaron Johnson picked up his first tally of the playoffs when his slap shot deflected in off Warren Peters.

But Houston never quit, dominating the limited overtime session to tie the West Division final at two games a piece.

Credit on this night goes to Aeros coach Mike Yeo, who was verbally frustrated with his club after Game 4.  Much like the seachange for Milwaukee from Game 2 to Game 3, Yeo managed the same turnaround for Houston from Game 3 to Game 4.  Strangely, there has yet to be a game in this series where both teams played great.

Hackett need just 11 saves for the win, hardly breaking a sweat.  Maxim Noreau was Houston’s best player on the night, controlling the play from his own blueline and finishing with two assists.

Smith finished with 30 saves on 33 shots to finish as the tough luck loser.  However, Milwaukee did managed to keep their incredible streak of 21 straight road games without a regulation loss still in tact.

Overall, it was a terrible night for the Nashville Predators organization.  The Predators dropped a 4-2 home decision to Vancouver to slip to a 3-1 deficit to the Canucks.

Nashville played without Steve Sullivan due to injury, and one of the heroes of the Anaheim series, Jerred Smithson, got only six and half minutes of ice time.  The Predators managed just 21 shots on Roberto Luongo, making a grand total of 34 for Nashville and Milwaukee combined.

So Roundtable: 

It was miserable night for a lot of Admirals.  Other than Smith was there was there anyone else worth noting for Milwaukee that had a decent game? 

What can we expect for tomorrow’s Game 5?  Can Milwaukee turn a near miss after a poor effort into a positive like they did last series against Texas in Games 3 and 4?

Which team will the short turnaround benefit?  How fast do you think the Admirals can shake off this dismal performance?

With Milwaukee struggling in Games 2 & 4 and Houston in 1 & 3, will the real Admirals and real Aeros finally show up in Game 5?  Will the top of the West Division duel we have all been waiting for in this series finally occur on short rest?

The third period had all the makings of a sad story of collapse.  But a questionable Houston goal was answered in short order by an Admiral goal, and Milwaukee skated out of Toyota Center with a 5-3 win over the Aeros Tuesday night.

Let’s address the elephant in the room right away.  The AHL needs to have video replay in every arena.  There’s no excuse to not have it.  But since we don’t have it, how on earth can Mark Lemelin, in perfect position, waive off a Jarod Palmer goal, and then at the next whistle, be convinced that he waived it off in error?  The goal judge never turned on their light, so is he even supposed to be consulted?  If the replays on the video board had any impact at all on the reversal, Lemelin should be terminated.  Immediately.  Every team in the league had good goals waived off due to human error.  It’s the reality of the league.  Obviously, we aren’t privy to the conference of the zebras on the ice, but I don’t know how anybody could/should have been able to get him to over-rule himself.  Nobody was in better position, and even though the replays made it look to be the right call, he is not supposed to have the benefit of replays.  The Admirals should have gotten away with that one.

Fortunately for the Admirals, it didn’t matter.

After they awarded Palmer the goal to make the score 4-3, and after they put some time back on the clock, it took the Admirals 27 seconds to answer back.  Mike Bartlett put in a juicy rebound of a Steve Begin shot.

Jared Spurgeon opened the scoring with a power play goal, sneaking in the back door on the far side.  From the replay, it looked like it was Begin’s missed assignment.  But it was a great pass from Robbie Earl, and a nice finish that beat Jeremy Smith.

The Admirals would tie it at the end of the period, thanks to some nice passing as a power play was ending.  On one last rush, Aaron Johnson had a cross-ice pass to Ryan Thang on the far side.  He put the puck on net, and it was deflected by Van Guilder past Matt Hackett.  The goal came a second after the power play expired.

In the second period, the Admirals scored a pair more.  Ryan Thang converted a rebound of a Scott Ford shot into an open net.  And then about five minutes later, Andreas Thuresson reappeared, and cashed in after some great plays from Grant Lewis and Begin.  Lewis had a strong play bringing the puck down low towards the net.  The puck came to Begin behind the net, and his slick pass found Thuresson all alone in the slot.

Then there were four goals over a 2:17 span in the middle of the 3rd period.

Marco Scandella scored a power play goal from the bottom of the near circle that looked like it could have been waived off too.  Tough to tell from the one replay Toyota Center showed.  But okay, ref was there, it’s a good goal.  We move on.

Steve Begin answered 1:19 later finishing a 3-on-2 rush.  Thuresson, to Bartlett, to Begin in front of the crease.

Palmer somehow got behind everybody and his shot did beat Smith.  And that play led to Lemelin-Gate 2011.

NOTES:

First, the lines.

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

We’d like to give an extra special ‘welcome back to the playoffs’ to that 4th line, which I thought played very well as an energy line tonight.  High marks for all four lines, actually.  While the 1st line didn’t yield any goals, they had some nice moments too.

Biggest difference between game 2 and game 3?  Chaos in front of Hackett.  As in, there was none on Sunday, and the Admirals were able to drive to the net and be a bit more distracting tonight.

Both Smith and Hackett channeled their inner-Pekka Rinne, making some insane saves at times.  Both teams missed some open nets too.  There were rebounds aplenty on both ends, but the Admirals were the superior team tonight when it came to getting help from the defensemen clearing pucks out of danger.

Scott Ford was whistled for interference in the 2nd period.  But the clock kept running after the play stopped for about another 25 seconds.  Dean “The Dream” Zanoni would NEVER let that happen!

You can check out some thoughts from Andrew at The Third Intermission here.  There are some quotes from the Houston coach (who isn’t interested in giving the Admirals credit for the game).  Andrew points out that it was the same forward line out there when the Admirals answered back both times in the 3rd period.  It’s a good read, and I recommend that you give it a gander.

Admirals recap is here.  Aeros recap is here.  Box score is here.

“Compete.”

That’s the answer Coach Lane Lambert gave after the game, when asked about what kind of an adjustment he’d like to see from his team when the series resumes in Houston Tuesday.

The Admirals laid a bit of an egg at the Bradley Center Sunday evening, held scoreless by the Houston Aeros, evening the series at one game apiece.  2-0 was the final score.

Rather than cherry pick some Coach quotes, we’ll give you the full unedited raw audio.  You can’t get this stuff on pay per view, ya’ll.

The Aeros were first to strike while Michael Latta and Grant Lewis were getting cozy in the sin bin, giving the Aeros the 5 on 3 advantage.  At 11:47 it was Warren Peters that beat Jeremy Smith off a juicy rebound to give the Aeros the lead.  The play started with the Aeros sending the puck around the point from station to station when they found Casey Wellman down low. Wellman tried a stuff attempt from point blank, resulting in the puck to coming out to the slot, and ending in a very easy goal for Peters.

The second goal for the Aeros was an odd man rush in the 3rd period created by a sloppy turnover just inside the offensive blue line.  With 3 Aeros players on the break out against two defensemen, the Aeros made one pass to the near side circle, where Colton Gillies fired a shot that beat Smith top right.  Ryan and I were trying to figure out what the Admirals’ forwards were doing.  The only thing we could figure was that they were checking out the out-of-town scoreboard on the corner matrix boards, maybe checking out the Caps vs Bolts game. The turnover at the blue line is what caused the rush, but the forwards didn’t seem all that interested in getting back to help.

The Admirals finished 0-6 on the power play, and were whistled for a couple of minor penalties down the stretch to further thwart any kind of flow or momentum.

Notes and Questions:

We would give you the lines but they were shuffled more than a paying dealer at Potowatomi.

How about the ‘ATO line’ of Watson, Conacher, and Latta?

Ellis:  Buying or selling after two games? Or, too early to tell?

How would you grade Smiths performance from 1-10?  With 1 being the backup goalie for the Islanders and 10 being ‘The Pekka’…

We did enjoy watching him scamper back on to the ice after starting a shift on the bench.  Don’t think I had ever seen a line change bringing the goalie back on.

What was the most frustrating part of this game for you?  Were the Ads that bad or were Hackett and Company that good today?  Did this look anything like the team that took care of the Texas Stars?

A quick start, some puck luck, and the offensive re-appearance of Steve Begin were all keys in the Admirals 3-1 victory over the Houston Aeros in Game 1 of their playoff series Friday night.

Quick start:  The Admirals were up 2-0 before the game was 11 minutes old.

Puck luck:  The Aeros heard the sound “ping” after their shots on multiple occasions.

Begin:  Scored his first goal since November 28^th against San Antonio, on that 10 game road trip way back when.

Begin recorded the first goal of the game at the 9:49 mark, starting the play with a big hit in the defensive zone, and then had all the time in the world after receiving a pass in the high slot while there was a delayed penalty.  Begin’s shot hit the top left corner of the net, and gave the Admirals the lead.

Taylor Beck scored 41 seconds later on a play that looked like a trick shot you might see at an All-star game.  From the top of the near circle, he flipped/floated the puck over Nate Prosser, went around Prosser, and met the puck in front of the crease when it came back down.  His backhander beat Matt Hackett.

On a power play later in the 1^st period, the Aeros hit iron a couple of times, the loudest ping coming on a shot from Marco Scandella.

The second period was scoreless, but the team received a scare when Casey Wellman’s skate collided with Jeremy Smith’s helmet on a play.  Wellman was being worked over by Kelsey Wilson, lost his balance, and that’s how it happened.  Not a dirty play….just hockey play.  And boy, were we thankful Smitty was okay.

The Admirals were outshot 12-5 in the 3^rd period, but their first one went in.  Ryan Thang had a shot on a play that resembled his OT winner in the Texas series.  He came in along the right wing, and a shot from the faceoff circle just flat out beat the goaltender.  No screen, no deflection.  Begin created the turnover in the neutral zone that sprung Thang on the rush.

Here’s the recap from The Third Intermission.  Interesting discussion going on about roster management.

Let’s talk about Ryan Ellis’ debut.  You could tell there were a few moments where he looked like he needed to adjust to the timing of things up here.  But there were other times where he looked like he belonged, and hadn’t just been playing a full season in Windsor.  Ellis also got his first professional point, assisting on Beck’s 1^st period goal.

Here’s the coach on Ellis’ night.

What kind of marks would you give his performance?

Game of inches sometimes.  Game would have looked a whole lot different if even one of those shots that hit iron went in.

Do you buy the whole “rust” thing, or do you find it a convenient excuse for a slow start?  This isn’t meant to be an attack on Houston, but rather a philosophical question.  When the Admirals have had slow starts after long layoffs, we’re heard the “R” word used.  What do you think?

Great to see Begin on the scoresheet again.  Gives us a chance to put a microphone in front of his face and let him wax poetic for awhile.

Did you even know that Watson and Latta dressed tonight?

Care to comment on the Mueller-Noreau pay-per-view heavyweight bout at the end of the second period?

Who would you give the hard-hat award to tonight?  Who played a great game, but didn’t get credit for it in the box score?  Call it for either team.

And what do the Admirals need to do to be better on Sunday?

(We’ll throw in a bunch of audio in a separate post tomorrow….let’s just let it sink in for now, okay?)

I think you would be hard pressed to find two teams that are any more evenly matched than the Milwaukee Admirals and the Texas Stars. Game 6 went to extra innings and this was the 3^rd time it  happened this series. Both goaltenders were solid, special teams were, well, special and this was another epic game. But alas, much like Highlander, there can be only one… Winner, that is….  Tonight, that winner was….. We’ll find out right after these messages…..  Okay, I am sure you read the headline. It was the Admirals that went supernova on the Stars when Mark Van Guilder scored at the 10:42 mark of the second overtime on Monday evening at the Bradley Center.

The win is good enough to clinch the series and send the Admirals to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, where they will face the Houston Aeros. The series will start this Friday at the Bradley Center and you better get your tickets, yo.

But let me tell you about this great game six, and how the Admirals  were able to advance to the second round.

The Admirals struck first at 4:20 into the initial period, with Mike Bartlett getting his first goal of the series. Andreas Thuresson tried to drive the puck to the net from the short side. The puck was stopped as Thuresson and Kelsey Wilson both tried to hack it in. Wilson got a piece of the puck and it caromed to Bartlett crashing the short side and fired it home for the 1-0 lead.

The Stars were able to even the score at 4:41 into the second stanza with Taylor Beck in the sin bin for a holding the stick penalty.  Dan Spang skated through the slot and fired a shot from between the circles. The shot was turned aside by Jeremy Smith but the rebound came back out towards the far side. Scott Ford attempted to clear the puck to the boards but was robbed by Colton Sceviour, who put the shot in the net to tie the game.

The Admirals started the 3^rd period off with a bang.  Just 1:22 in, Thuresson (finally) lit the lamp to give the Ads a 2-1 lead. Wilson was down low and sent a pass to Bartlett along the far side. After Bartlett gathered, he sent the puck to the high slot where Thuresson fired a wrister that beat Bachman. The Admirals had great movement with the puck and Wilson had a nice screen going in front to make the play a little harder for the net minder.

The Texas Stars would not be out done as Travis Morin tied up the game with a nifty goal. Raymond Sawada, Admirals nuisance extraordinaire, was behind the net when he found Ondrej Roman in the near-side circle. Roman sent a pass to Morin in the slot drawing his back to the net. Morin then spun around sending a no-look backhand shot that found the top right corner of the cage. This was a definite ‘hats off to ya’ kind of play that can only be credited to a great shot.

So we went to the first overtime period, where the Stars outshot the Admirals 13-2.  And the Stars dominated the period even more than that stat suggests.  The Admirals even had some PK time, but were able to keep it out of the net.

The ice was a little more even in the second OT period.  And all it took was one sequence in the offensive zone to net the game winner.  Ryan Thang was tripped up at the blue line trying to enter the zone. He got up and stole the puck back from the defender and carried the zone. Thang then put a shot on Bachman from the near circle along the boards. The rebound came right back from the direction it was shot, and Van Guilder gathered it and sent the puck to the back of the net, and sent the Stars packing.

What an exciting series.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS:

If the Admirals had lost this game….would it have been pretty demoralizing?  Like, no chance to win game 7?

Kelsey Wilson had a goal disallowed near the end of the 2^nd period, as he hiked the puck in the net.  Bummer that the call went against us, but the ref was right there, and we think it was the right call.

Special teams – the Stars 1-8 (and they scored on an abbreviated power play), and the Admirals were 0-3.  Think some of them were kind of ticky-tack for a playoff game of this magnitude, and weren’t exactly called both ways.  But pretty much every team can say that after any game.  So we won’t harp on that.

The penalty kill is only as good as your goalie, and the Admirals penalty kill was pretty darn good.  Speaking of goalies, Bachman played pretty lights out too.  Give us your best adjective to describe the goaltending in this game.

Josi and Laakso were good.  They were very good.  They’ve been quietly awesome this series.

Wilson was great in front of the net.  Glad to have him back.

Thuresson – it’s great that you scored.  You’re still on notice.

We made not have sold out the arena, but the fans that showed up were fantastic.  You could feel the playoff energy in the stands.  And thanks to everyone who made it through night with me on twitter.  I was in a dark place, and you gave me light.  Smiley-face, winky, clown.

So.  Friday and Sunday here.  Tuesday, Thursday, Friday down there.  And then Sunday (Mother’s Day) and Tuesday here.  Put it on your calendars, and bring Mom to the games.

We’re hoping to cash in our fake Internet money that Roundy’s totally owes us, so we can get down to Houston.  We’ll let you know how that goes….

Earlier in the week, it was the Stars that sent a game to OT with a last minute goal, and eventually winning it in the extra period.

Tonight, it was the Admirals with that storyline.  Gabriel Bourque tied it with 4.4 seconds left in the third period, and Ryan Thang fired a laser into the top left corner of the net with 3:31 left in the overtime period.

“That was a good hockey game by both teams, really,” Coach Lambert said after the game.  “Obviously, both teams could have won the game and we managed to turn the tables on them a little bit with some late game heroics and get that one back.  The ‘wow’ for me wasn’t so much the result, it was more the game itself.  That was one of the best hockey games I’ve seen in a long long time.”

Those two shots by Bourque and Thang spoiled a magnificent performance by Stars goaltender Richard Bachman, who stopped 36 of 38 Milwaukee shots, with many of them quality scoring chances.

Jeremy Smith was no slouch either, as he stopped 40 of 41 shots on the night — a career high in saves.  The only one that got by him was a power play goal midway through the first period.   A shot went off of Philip Larsen, off Roman Josi, and bounced right to Raymond Sawada in front of the net.  He finished the play, and has been arguably the best skater for the Stars this season.

Here’s Coach on Smitty.

“I thought he played good, I thought he made a number of terrific saves to keep the score at 1-0, and allow us an opportunity to come back, and that’s what he did — he gave us a chance to come back.”

Gabriel Bourque scored his fifth of the playoffs with just 4.4 seconds left in the game.  Positioned in front of the crease, he received an end zone feed from Chris Mueller, kicked it to his forehand, and then lifted it over Bachman.

“He did that in game one too, on the goal he scored late in the second period,” Coach reminded us.  “He’s got quick hands quick feet and good skills, and he showed that on that last goal.”

On their way to the locker rooms (the teams don’t have an exit from their benches….the Stars leave through the corner, and the visitors from directly behind the net on that end), Kelsey Wilson and Brenden Dillon collected fighting majors, and there was mutual pushing and shoving along the boards, as both teams were on the ice.  Captains of both teams were in there pulling their guys away from the scrum, but it was only Wilson and Dillon that collected penalties.

In the OT period, the teams alternated stretches of some pretty good momentum, but about midway through the period, the ice seemed to be tilted towards Bachman.

Ryan Thang led a 3-on-2 rush, and the defender gave him the open lane to shoot.  So he did.  It was a slapper from the top of the near face-off circle, and it beat Bachman over his right shoulder.

“I’ve been trying to look for passes most of the series, and tonight I showed up to the rink (saying) I’m going to be a shooter,” Thang said after the game.  “Bachman is obviously a great goalie and he’s been seeing a lot of shots, stopping a lot of shots and making some great saves.  Tonight I was pulling the trigger even if guys were in the lane, hoping to get some through.  Obviously, Van Guilder made a great play, it was a 3-on-2 rush.  The D kind of stayed with Van Guilder and it cleared up the lane for me.  Coach has been stressing all week that if you’ve got a lane, you got to shoot the puck.  I was fortune to get one past Bachman — it doesn’t happen very often.”

NOTES AND Q’S

LINES:

Wilson – Bartlett – Thuresson
Conacher – Van Guilder – Thang
Bourque – Mueller – Beck
Flynn – Latta – Begin

Santorelli, Hunter, and Ryan were scratched.

The Stars were 1-4 on the power play, the Admirals were 0-4.

Wilson looked pretty good, and certainly agitated the Stars over the course of the game.

Thuresson got his first shots on goal for the series.  But his highlight of the game was checking Mathieu Tousignant over and into the Admirals bench.  Earlier in the game, Tousignant put a huge check/charge on/into Scott Ford that went uncalled, so it was nice justice.

Bourque said after the game that it was the most important goal he’s ever scored.

Smitty has been playing great.  If Dex gets healthy, is he automatically the #1 guy again, or do you dance with the guy that brought you here?

Is Bourque punching his ticket to Nashville for next season?

How loud did it get at Goolsby’s when Bourque scored?

So the Admirals will return home with a 3 games to 2 lead in the series.  What do the Admirals need to do to finish off this Stars team on Monday?

Admiral fans, in case you missed the end of the third period in Game 5, Milwaukee trailed 1-0 against Texas until the final seconds.  Gabriel Bourque scored his fifth goal of the series with five seconds remaining in regulation, with Chris Mueller and Steve Begin assisting on the tying goal.

The two teams are currently battling in overtime after near bench brawl that ended up in a fight between Kelsey Wilson and Brenden Dillon at the end of regulation.

Can the Admirals finish off the incredible comeback?  So far Texas has won all three extra-hockey games in the season series.

UPDATE:  Ryan Thang scores the winner, and I think it might be worth checking to see if Aaron Sims can still breath!  Ryan will be along with a full story on the game.  HUGE win for Milwaukee in another incredible hockey game!

Gabriel Bourque and Chris Mueller have provided the vast majority of Admirals offense in this series.  And Wednesday night in Texas, some other players stepped up to the plate.

Taylor Beck scored his first professional goal, and Mark Van Guilder scored the game-winner, as the Admirals held on to defeat the Texas Stars 3-2.

“Obviously we needed secondary scoring — that’s why we made some changes,” Coach Lambert said after the game.  Coach made changes on all four forward lines for tonight’s lineup.  “The Mueller Bourque Thang line is doing all the scoring for us.  We can’t win without secondary scoring.  Tonight we got it.”

Although it was Bourque who opened the scoring.  On a power play, Chris Mueller fed a cross-ice pass to Roman Josi, pinching to the far face-off dot.  Josi fired a quick pass to Bourque who had the open shot in the low slot, and beat Richard Bachman at 14:03 of the first period.

Scott Glennie tied the game at 6:25 of the second period, on a play in which I’ll equally credit Glennie and blame Jeremy Smith and Aaron Johnson.  Glennie put his first shot on net from the top of the near face-off dot.  Pretty easy save for Smith, but he kicked it right back out where it came from.  Glennie followed his shot, and Aaron Johnson was unable to tie him up or lift his stick.

About six minutes later, the Admirals regained the lead with Beck’s first professional goal.  (after the game, we’re still unsure whether someone grabbed the puck….we think Mueller may have picked it up).  On a power play, Grant Lewis had a good shot/pass from the near face-off circle that went off of someone’s skates in front of the crease….looked like it may have been Bourque’s, but they didn’t give him the assist.  The puck deflected to a wide open Beck at the bottom of the far face-off circle.

3:13 into the third, Van Guilder scored the eventual game winner.  Ryan Thang fed a pass towards Cory Conacher in the slot.  Conacher couldn’t quite control it, but neither could the defender that was tangling with him.  While they both unsuccessfully tried to play the puck, Van Guilder snuck in there and put a shot on net while he was being tripped.

The Stars got one back on a five-on-three power play that was just silly.  Aaron Johnson earned his cross-checking penalty, but Van Guilder was whistled for holding as the Stars broke out on a play from behind their net.  One of the tickiest-tackiest calls I’ve ever seen.  Greg Rallo got the the goal from the far face-off dot, on a play that Coach says they should have stopped.

“That five-on-three that they had, it’s a play that we’ve completely prepared for.  And we missed the assignment on it.  We’ve got to be better on that five-on-three.  I mean, we knew it was coming to Rallo.  He’s scored three OT winners from that spot this year.”

Down the stretch, the Admirals were able to hang on, and Mark Van Guilder comments on the mindset the team had on the cie during the waning minutes of the game.

“I think for some reason it felt differently today.  It felt like we were just playing better.  Yesterday it seemed like we were just holding on….  We saw it as more of a challenge this time, like we’re not going to let it happen again.”

NOTES AND QUESTIONS:

Lines:

Bourque – Mueller – Beck
Thang – Van Guilder – Conacher
Hunter – Bartlett – Thuresson
Santorelli – Latta – Begin

Ryan Flynn and Ben Ryan were scratched.  And I don’t think they were particularly missed.  Here’s Coach on the line changes…

“Beck got his first profesisonal goal, had a few other chances as well, so he looked good in the game.  We felt like he could probably come in and play with our top line.  He was a high point producer in junior and a high pick.  He came in and did a real good job tonight.  And we were able to balance our lines out a little bit more.  We put Conacher’s speed in the game as well, and i thought his battle level was real good. ”

What do you think of those line combos?  Potential?  Think we’ll see them again on Friday?

Smith had some issues playing the puck again tonight, and found himself fortunate the a shot didn’t go off his skates and in the net as he was scampering back to the crease.  Still, he made 30 and 32 saves on the night.  As touched on earlier, rebounds were still an issue, but for the most part, the defenders and backcheckers were able to scoot pucks out of trouble.

Herbie took a puck to the head on the bench.  He’ll be okay.  But officially, we’ll call it an upper-body injury. (har har har)

If we don’t see Mark Lemelin again for awhile, that would be okay with me.

It’s interesting to watch the Stars, because it sometimes seems that they can turn on their aggression and start to dominate play whenever they damn well feel like it.

Took them two and a half minutes to clean up their chuck a puck.  Our crew usually gets it done in less than 45 seconds.

Very strong game from Laakso and Josi.  Roman had a potentially game saving pass block on a 2-on-1 rush late in the game.  Lewis is getting caught up ice more and more often, but his physical play has been welcome.

Thuresson was horrible in the first period, but seemed to play with some more urgency the rest of the way.  Still, he is SHOTLESS in the series so far.  Shoot the puck Cal Andreas.

And finally, he’s Coach Lambert to wrap it up for the night.

“Key to Friday’s game is to understand that we need to have a better effort than we had tonight, and come out and take momentum right from the start.”

For nearly 56 minutes, Game 3 of the Admirals opening round series against Texas was all Milwaukee–at least on the scoresheet.  A pair of goals by the Admirals top line gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead late in the hockey game.

However, Texas would rally with a pair of goals in the waning seconds of the third period, before Travis Morin scored the game winner in overtime to complete a 3-2 comeback win.

The Texas rally started with 4:09 left in the third period.  On their sixth power play of the game, the Stars efficiently moved the puck before setting up defenseman Philip Larsen in the low slot.  Larsen made no mistake cutting Milwaukee’s lead to one.  Gabriel Bourque’s holding penalty at 15:14, his lone blemish on a strong night, gave Texas a costly man advantage.

“A lot of our penalties were the result of mistakes and turnovers,” Admirals assistant coach Ian Herbers told Aaron Sims after the game.

Pushing for the equalizer, the Stars dominated the final minutes, but Admirals goaltender Jeremy Smith looked like he was going to deliver a regulation win–at least he did until the oldest player on the ice struck with 21 seconds left.  Setup just inside the blueline by Morin, who would pick up his second assist in a three-point night, Stars captain Brad Lukowich’s point shot snipe through traffic beat Smith to tie the game at 2-2.

Overtime saw continued pressure from Texas as Milwaukee struggled to get the puck out their own the end.  With 8:44 gone by in the extra session, veteran Admirals forward Andreas Thuresson turned the puck over to defenseman Maxime Fortunus.  Fortunus’ point shot was deflected by an undefended Morin for the game winning tally.

Milwaukee took a 2-0 lead with a pair of gritty goals by their top line of Ryan Thang, Chris Mueller and Bourque.  The first goal came three and minutes after the opening faceoff, after Stars goaltender Richard Bachman badly misplayed a puck behind his own net, allowing Mueller an empty net to deposit his third goal of the series.

Then skating 4-on-4, Bourque made it 2-0 in the first minute of the third period.  On a second rebound chance, Bourque picked up his third goal and seventh point of the series by beating Bachman, who was caught out of position.

“The first period we showed a lot of jump,” Herbers said.  “We did not play like a team that spent a long day traveling.”

Despite a late 2-0 lead, Milwaukee only controlled the first period of the game.  Texas dominated the second 20 minutes, outshooting Milwaukee 11-1, but the Stars missed out on four power play chances.  Texas continued to pressure throughout the third period and overtime, finally overcoming Smith’s superb goaltending.

“We got away from our game plan in the second period,” Herbers said.  “Texas really transitioned quickly and we got away from forechecking aggressively (like we did in the first period).”

Smith finished as the hard luck loser, and was just 21 seconds away from his second win of the series.  The Admirals netminder finished with 37 saves on 40 shots and deserved to be one of the game’s three stars.  After a tough night at home in Game 2, Smith nearly delivered an improbable victory.

Bachman only had to make 21 saves for his second playoff win, including just 10 after the first period.

For the third straight game the team that scored first did not go on to win the hockey game–a bizarre outlying statistic in a series where goals are at a premium.

The Admirals/Stars Game 3 completed a full eight-game playoff slate in the AHL.  In the other three Western Conference series, Houston finished off the only 4-game sweep of the first round with a 2-1 win over Peoria, Oklahoma City finally got their first ever playoff win 2-0 over Hamilton and Lake Erie took a 2-1 edge over Manitoba with a 2-1 win.  In the Eastern Conference, Connecticut and Portland are tied at 2 games a piece after the Whale’s 3-1 win, Manchester is up 3-1 after a 6-3 dusting of Binghamton, defending Calder Cup champion Hershey held on for a 3-2 win over Charlotte to take a 2-1 series edge, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton finally got on the board with a 2-1 win over Norfolk, but still trail the “other” Admirals 2-1 in the series.

To read more on the game, check out Hundred Degree Hockey’s game recap:

I have got to admit, after the completely bizarre weather today in Wisconsin, 100 degrees is starting to sound pretty good.

So Roundtable,

1) Is Wednesday’s Game 4 a must win for Milwaukee, especially after the back-breaking fashion that the Admirals lost Game 3?

2) If you were watching or listening to the game, did you ever feel safe with Milwaukee’s 2-0 or 2-1 lead, or did the game seem like it did to me, that it was only a matter of time before Texas was going to comeback?

3) What adjustments does Milwaukee need to make for Game 4?

4) Which team will the quick turnaround favor?

A parade to the Admiral penalty box in the middle of the game led to two power play goals for Texas, as the Stars took Game 2 of the playoff series with a 3-1 final score.

You can check out Hundred Degree Hockey’s recap here.

“At the end of the day that’s the difference in the game,” Coach Lambert said.  “Their power play scored and ours didn’t, and their penalty kill held and ours didn’t.  Special teams are going to be a huge factor in these games, and we’ve got to find a way to win that special teams battle.

“I think the frustrating part was we took some bad penalties too.  We talk about discipline and staying out of the box against that hockey team, and they’ve got a good power play.  Eventually it’s going to catch up to you.”

Things were looking promising for the Admirals and their special teams in the first period, and they did what the Stars couldn’t do in game one – convert on the 5-on-3 power play.  With Brenden Dillon and Maxime Fortunus in the penalty box, Teemu Laakso gave the Admirals a 1-0 lead with a shot from the high slot.  Laakso and Roman Josi were passing back and forth, waiting for a shooting lane to open up, and Laakso’s shot beat Richard Bachman stick side.

The Admirals ended the game 1/7 on the power play.

With 3:11 left in the first period, the Stars scored what looked to be a game-tying goal.  A centering pass from the near boards went off of Raymond Sawada while he was being worked over by Brett Palin on their way to the crease.  The referee behind the goal line ruled it a goal, but Jeremy Smith got up right away and did some air-kicks to show everyone what he thought about the play.  The two referees discussed it at center ice, and to our surprise, waived it off.  In the NHL, the play would go to Toronto for review.  But in the AHL?  It’s up to the guys in the black and white striped shirts.  We try to be objective, and Sutty and I think the Admirals probably got away with that one.

Cory Conacher got called for tripping with 1:51 left in the first, after waiving his stick at a guy while he skated by in front of the Stars net.  That opened up the doors of the Milwaukee penalty box, as the next six penalties went against the Admirals into the 3^rd period.

“We can handle taking penalties that are warranted, but we can’t have little trips in front of their net 200 feet in front of our goal, or cross-checks behind the net,” Coach said.  “We shot ourselves in the foot with that.”

Philip Larsen took a Travis Morin pass that Jeremy Smith appeared to think was going to go across the ice.  Larsen tapped it in past Smith.  Sawada looked to be in the crease, but it was ruled a good goal.

Aaron Gagnon got credit for a goal about two and half minutes later.  Smith made an initial save, and then Gagnon and Andreas Thuresson were tied up heading to the crease.  The puck went off Gagnon and in.

In the 3^rd period, Ryan Thang was assessed a ghost holding penalty, and the combination of Travis Morin and Raymond Sawada made them pay.  From the far boards, Sawada skated with the puck behind the net.  Smith thought he was going to come out the other side, but Sawada instead offered a no-look backhand pass to Morin, who had a vacated net to shoot at.  Great decision and great play by Sawada, and boo on Smith for biting.

“The goaltender has to hold that side there, and make sure that that puck is coming out the other side before he moves,” Coach Lambert said.  “Give them credit, they made a great play and it worked.  But you can’t get caught cheating to the other side.”

After Thang’s penalty early in the third, four straight Stars were sent to the box. But the Admirals power play couldn’t convert on any of them.  Bachman made some great glove saves when the Admirals did have some good chances.  Bachman made 29 saves on the night, and should have been a star of the game. (we voted for him)

So now, it’s off to Austin for three road games.  And with the way the Admirals played on the road down the stretch, it may not be the worst thing in the world.

“We’re comfortable playing on the road, and we play well in Texas, so we’ve got that to look forward to,” Coach Lambert said. “Nobody said it was going to be an easy series.  Give them credit, they played hard.  I thought they elevated their game tonight.  We pride ourselves on details and so do they.  We made a mistake on a faceoff play that can’t happen.  You never know what little thing is going to end up hurting you and costing you a hockey game.”

NOTES:

Lines were the same as last game.

Bourque – Mueller – Thang
Thuresson – Van Guilder – Conacher
Santorelli  – Begin – Beck
Flynn – Bartlett – Ryan

So from those forward lines, how many of those players would you say were invisible tonight?

Do you like any of the goals that Smith gave up?

Waived off goal……Do you think the officials got the call right?

Mark Dekanich – no update on his progress….but he’s not making the trip.   Looked sharp, though.

Streaky penalties…..Three against the Stars, then six against the Admirals, and then four against the Stars.  Do you think the officials dictated play too much?

Anyone making the trip to Austin?

What adjustments do the Admirals need to make to be better in game 3?