The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-2 on the road against the Rockford IceHogs at the BMO Harris Bank Center on Friday night.
The Admirals were down 2-0 early tonight but stormed back by scoring five-unanswered goals. Tonight’s story was all Anders Lindbäck as he stole the show and kept the Admirals afloat en route to this victory. The Swede stopped twenty-four shots and has now won in all five starts he has made this season.
“He’s such a good pro,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of Lindbäck. “He plays the game the right way. We talk about our forwards and defensemen playing the right way – the goalie plays the right way and it filters out to the rest of the team.”
The Milwaukee Admirals lost 6-2 against the Rockford IceHogs at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Saturday night.
This was the stiffest test of the season so far for the Admirals. They faced their first deficit of 2017-18 and hardest adversity to date. Ultimately, they suffered their first loss of the season. The Admirals and IceHogs have now both only lost once this season. In both circumstances one has beaten the other in their own building.
“We talked to the group after that there is no question it’s our first sign of adversity,” commented Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “I mean, we’ve had some suspect maybe minutes in games and periods but we didn’t have the energy level, we didn’t have the cohesiveness that we’ve had in the start and previous games. It hurt us.”
(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus. Author: Nicholas Hatch.)
The Milwaukee Admirals won 4-1 against the Hershey Bears at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena Friday night.
Anders Lindbäck was great tonight but he wasn’t tested that often by Hershey. The Admirals defense limited the Bears to sixteen shots. Timely offense from Tyler Kelleher and company helped see the Admirals continue on as the AHL’s lone unbeaten team.
“Things are clicking right now,” said Tyler Kelleher. “It’s been fun. Obviously, for any team or any league you’re in, winning is fun. I think we’re really coming together as a team and we’re just trying to keep it up.”
The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-3 on the road Sunday evening against the Rockford IceHogs at the BMO Harris Bank Center.
This game became a thriller in the closing minutes. The Admirals had a fantastic defensive effort but would see a 4-1 lead get shrunken down to 4-3 after successive goals scored by Laurent Dauphin late. The Admirals would shut the door with an empty netter scored by Tyler Kelleher that secured his second goal of the game and a third straight Admirals road win to start the 2017-18 season.
“You can’t say enough,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason of Tyler Kelleher. “He’s done all the right things early in the season. Not even offensively, you can throw the numbers out, but he’s done the right things as far as all areas of the game. He’s playing the game the right way. He’s competing. And he’s a real, real good teammate.”
Milwaukee Admirals forward Tyler Kelleher recorded the first goal of his professional playing career Sunday evening in Iowa. (Photo Credit: Iowa Wild)
The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-4 on the road against the Iowa Wild at the Wells Fargo Arena Sunday evening.
This game had a lot of everything. It was a scrap fest but the Admirals speed and skill held their heads above water. Goals from five different players to go along with more excellent work on the penalty kill allowed the Admirals to take both games on Opening Weekend in Iowa.
The Milwaukee Admirals won 5-2 on the road against the Iowa Wild at the Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday night.
Tonight’s story: Admirals penalty killing. The Wild had seven chances on the power-play tonight and the only goal that would come during all of those chances would be Emil Pettersson scoring shorthanded for the Admirals. Anders Lindbäck was big in net when he needed to be and the Admirals offense maintained a cushion until the finish.
(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus. Author: Nicholas Hatch.)
The Milwaukee Admirals lost 3-1 against the Chicago Wolves at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Saturday night.
The Admirals fell into an early deficit and couldn’t dig themselves out. A pair of costly penalties provided a chance for Brett Sterling to collect two power-play goals for the Wolves. Trevor Smith would break the shutout bid for Maxime Lagacé but the Admirals would drop the final pre-season contest.
The Milwaukee Admirals won 4-3 against the Rockford IceHogs on the road at the BMO Harris Bank Center on Thursday night.
It started pretty. It had a terrible middle. But the Admirals struck in rapid succession in the third period to snag a win in Rockford tonight. The Admirals power-play delivered three times tonight including a pair of power-play goals for Frédéric Allard.
Team Gold won 7-4 tonight’s Future Stars Game at the Bridgestone Arena. Tyler Kelleher scored two goals and an assist on the night for Team Gold and several soon-to-be Admirals also delivered quite nicely.
Tonight’s game was segmented into two twenty-five minute halves. In the first half Team Gold finished with a 5-2 lead with two goals scored by David Farrance that were set up by a pair of Admirals, Tyler Kelleher and Tyler Moy.
Kelleher’s assist for Farrance saw him race down the right wing, coast around the net, and pick out Farrance camped in front of Étienne Marcoux for a one-timed finish. Kelleher would follow that up with a slick goal for himself on his very next shift. He picked the pocket of Victor Ejdsell to generate a turnover right in front of Marcoux and then feinted the backhand, switched to forehand, and roofed his shot.
Moy’s work rate in the first half was hard to ignore. His hustle in the four-on-four ice sheet showcased his skills very well and the go-to highlight was his assist for the second goal scored by Farrance. Moy was free in the left wing pocket and worked a spin-o-rama no-look backhanded pass to the tape of Farrance for a one-timer. After the first half concluded Moy then had the best move in the shootout segment. He hit the Forsberg deke to perfection.
The second half of tonight’s contest started out with some phenomenal work in net by Tomáš Vomáčka. He was making lots of high quality saves and displaying real flexibility and lateral movement. He would concede goals to Nathan Sucese and Rem Pitlick but they were efforts that you have to tip your cap to the shooters.
Anthony Richard would work a one-two with Eeli Tolvanen to pick up a goal in the second half. Team Gold entered on a three-on-one with Richard carrying the puck down the right wing. He would drop the pass back to Tolvanen who instantly tapped it back to Richard for a one-timer low in the right wing circle.
Kelleher’s solid night would be capped off with a second goal. Where the first one had some defensive skill sprinkled into the play Kelleher’s second was all offense. He cut hard into the left wing circle and labeled a snapshot past Andrew Shortridge.
Amusingly, not a lot happened once the game went from four-on-four to three-on-three. The five minute session saw a bit more defensive quality than offense. That’s not to say that was a bad thing. In particular Joonas Lyytinen looked very good in the three-on-three. I’m surprised how calm he makes plays around the net look.
2017 Nashville Predators Rookie Development Camp is now in the books and the focus turns to the start of NHL Free Agency tomorrow. It could be a busy day tomorrow -or- it could be a slow day as everyone figures out where the market is going. My hope is to see the Predators get some of their own players new deals and retain as much of the 2016-17 group as they can. There certainly is a lot that could play out though. That’s the fun of Free Agent Frenzy.
Ramblings: Among tonight’s prospects there were seven players expected to join the Milwaukee Admirals for the 2017-18 season: Frédéric Allard, Alex Carrier, Jack Dougherty, Tyler Kelleher, Tyler Moy, Anthony Richard, and Yakov Trenin. Justin Kirkland is here this week but did not participate in tonight’s game nor the past few days of on-ice sessions at Centennial Sportsplex. Both Victor Edjsell and Joonas Lyytinen are possible to join the Admirals this season but both have contracts to play in Europe later this Fall as well. Team Gold’s coaches: Scott Ford, Wade Redden, and Austin Watson. Team White’s coaches: Stan Drulia, Scott Nichol, and Kevin Fiala.
Who impressed you the most at this week’s Rookie Development Camp? How are we feeling about the Predators’ 2017 Draft Class? And who would you like to see the Predators sign or acquire tomorrow?
The Milwaukee Admirals lost 3-2 in overtime against the Grand Rapids Griffins at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Wednesday night. The Admirals have been eliminated from the 2017 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs. The Griffins will play against the Chicago Wolves in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.
In the second game of the series to reach overtime the same result played out. The Griffins were able to sneak a puck past Marek Mazanec but this time it was Kyle Criscuolo playing the overtime hero as he scored the game-winner and series clincher from a net front redirect.
“We were extremely proud and happy of how we played all year,” said Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason after the game. “And that includes these last three hockey games. We lost in overtime in Game 1. We lost a 3-2 game in Game 2. We lost in overtime in Game 3. You can’t be disappointed in your group if you believe that they played their asses off. They were committed. They played for each other. And they just didn’t get the job done.”
This game wouldn’t get an opening goal until the second period. The Griffins were awarded power-play for tripping moments after they got away with a trip defending Mike Ribeiro. Yet, a strong penalty kill from the Admirals ended with a goal just as Justin Florek was stepping out of the box. Justin Kirkland left a puck back on the left point for Trevor Murphy who stepped up, measured a wrister, and shot high stick side on Jared Coreau to get the Admirals ahead 1-0.
With 2:06 remaining in the second period the Griffins had a near chance on a jam play to the net that required video review. It was confirmed as “no goal” but Derek Army did receive a delay of game call on the play which helped setup a Griffins power-play goal moments later. Alex Carrier attempted to get a zone clearance was held and Evgeny Svechnikov’s follow up shot was blocked down en route to the net. Tomas Nosek was first man to react on the loose puck and zipped it past Marek Mazanec to level things up at 1-1.
In the closing minutes of the third period Murphy smashed home from the left wing again. Anthony Richard emptied his gas tank to win a loose puck down the right wing and threw into the empty left wing corner. Ribeiro would arrive and leave a touch pass behind for Murphy to unleash a howitzer through Coreau for his second of the night and put the Admirals back on top 2-1.
The Griffins would equalize with 3:38 remaining in regulation. The Griffins won a face-off back to the right point where Robbie Russo tagged a shot pass into the high slot for Matt Lorito that alluded Mazanec in net to make it a 2-2 game.
Stress would heighten further as a Richard clearance attempt fluttered over the glass for delay of game with 1:43 remaining in regulation. The Griffins would burn their timeout to draw up a play but time would expire and their power-play would be cut short by the ending of the third period. The Admirals would finish the rest off to begin overtime.
As overtime hauled on the Admirals woes from the long change period seemed to tickle over. The Griffins sustained countless waves of attacks and finally were rewarded for their relentless pressure. Dan Renouf’s shot from the left point was harshly redirected right on the doorstep of goal in front of Mazanec to get the game-winner in overtime and complete the Griffins second successive opening round playoff sweep of the Admirals.
With the loss tonight the Admirals have been swept out of the opening round of the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs for a third successive appearance. They have lost eleven consecutive playoff games and see the end of their 2016-17 season in the same crushing circumstances as last season with the Griffins advancing at their expense. In the coming days here on Admirals Roundtable we will be fulfilling our end-season recap material while supporting the Nashville Predators continued run through the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played on Sunday there were no changes made for the Admirals roster but they did tinker with the line combinations for tonight’s game: Richard-Ribeiro-Gaudreau, Perfetto-Smith-Payerl, White-Kamenev-Kirkland, Florek-Army-Liambas, Pardy-Carrier, O’Brien-Granberg, Murphy-Dougherty. Tonight’s scratches were: Bass (lower-body injury), Girard (healthy), Kelleher (undisclosed injury), Moy (healthy), Pinkston (healthy), Trenin (healthy), and Visentin (healthy). Andrew O’Brien returned to the Admirals lineup after having missed the last six Admirals games with an undisclosed injury.
What were your thoughts on tonight’s game? Where could the Milwaukee Admirals have won this series or were they just a few bad breaks against the Grand Rapids Griffins away from being in a similar position in the series?
Admirals Roundtable 