The Milwaukee Admirals were stationary yesterday. With points percentage being what dictates things in the AHL these days they have the Iowa Wild to thank for pushing them into first place of the Central Division and second place of the Western Conference standings. The Wild took down the Rockford IceHogs 3-1 yesterday evening. To boot, the Wild also shot down a certain Chicago Wolves team 2-1 the day prior. It feels as if it’s darn near the first back-to-back wins for Iowa since they were named the Chops. Kidding aside, cheers for all that you do down there Iowa.

~The Streak Is Over~

Before plunging into tonight’s game there is another bit of news worth touching on from yesterday. The Grand Rapids Griffins’ fifteen game winning streak is officially over. The Griffins lost 3-2 on the road to the Lake Erie Monsters to finally see their franchise record winning streak snapped. When their winning streak began the Griffins were 2-8-0-1 on the season with a 0.136 points percentage. Now, sixteen games later, they are up to a 0.648 points percentage.

The Griffins run is officially tied for the third longest winning streak in the AHL since 1992: 2011-12, Norfolk Admirals (28 games)… 2004-05, Philadelphia Phantoms (17 games)… 2015-16, Grand Rapids Griffins (15 games)… 2007-08, Syracuse Crunch (15 games)… 1995-96, Albany River Rats (15 games).

~Amtrak Rivals~

As I spoke about briefly when we last faced the Wolves – things just haven’t been going that well for them and it’s all happening with core players of the team in camp. They enter tonight’s game with a record of 14-11-1-2 (31 points). Their 0.554 points percentage has them in sixth place of the Central Division and eighth in the Western Conference standings.

The Wolves month of December to this point has been a mixed bag: 4-5-0-1 record. Before dropping their last game to the woeful/surging Wild the Amtrak Rivals, like the Admirals at the moment, were on a three-game winning streak of their own. They beat the Texas Stars 4-3 in a shootout, the IceHogs 4-3 in overtime, and then the Manitoba Moose 4-1. All those games were at home and it wasn’t until that Iowa game where the homestand came to a crashing end.

The same ol’ three musketeers are leading the Wolves in scoring as has been the case most of this season: André Benoît, 23 points (3 goals, 20 assists)… Ty Rattie, 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists)… and Pat Cannone, 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists).

On the roster move front, the St. Louis Blues flipped defenseman Petteri Lindbohm down to the Wolves while recalling defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Jordan Caron back on 12/20/15. Caron had scored a pair of goals in three-games against the Admirals this season.

In net, things are a little rocky for last season’s standout Jordan Binnington. This season he has a 6-4-2-2 record, 2.64 goals against average, and a 0.904 save percentage. He has lost the last two-games he’s started against the Admirals after winning eight consecutive games in the Amtrak Rivalry.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Would you prefer to see Marek Mazanec carry over his performance from Saturday’s game into tonight or should the Admirals put Juuse Saros in net and decide after the game how they want to work tomorrow’s tilt with the Griffins? How concerned are you with the Admirals defense so banged up at the moment?

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First and foremost, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas yesterday with plenty of Milwaukee Admirals themed presents being handed out left and right. Today is Boxing Day and what better way to celebrate than with a hockey game that might well feature such an activity?

When we last left off the Admirals beat down the Rockford IceHogs on the road 6-2. That came on the heels of the Admirals losing by that same margin in Milwaukee to the IceHogs just over a week ago. Sandwiched between those games was the 7-5 roller coaster win by the Admirals over the Manitoba Moose.

If we go back to the previous meeting between the Admirals and IceHogs in Milwaukee I was left with the simple recapping of the following:

I was almost not even going to tap back into last night’s game. Why? Because I feel as if the scoreline says enough. It was bad. It was very much the not good. And more bad things that I could write about.

The positive to last night’s game comes in the form of today. There is a game today and a mission to be had. The Manitoba Moose have seemingly had the Admirals number this season and especially in Milwaukee. If the Admirals lose badly last night and win today? Whatever. It’s the ups and downs of a hockey season. The Admirals can shoot for payback Monday night in Rockford. If the Admirals lose again today? That’s when the real concerns start to creep in. That’s when the ugly head of doubt shows up and reminds the Admirals that they could be in-store for two-more hefty defeats at the hands of the IceHogs in the next two-games to go on a four-game skid. They can’t afford to do that. Not one bit.

So don’t stay stuck in the mud where last night’s game fell to pieces. Focus on what is directly in front of you. The Admirals need a bounce back performance. History has shown that this season, in games where they lost while allowing six or more goals, that they can and have come back strong: two wins from two opportunities. Today is chance number three to bounce back after allowing six or more goals in a losing effort. Time to bounce back.

While it wasn’t necessarily the cleanest bounce back? The Admirals stuck together as a group and won a track meet against the Moose. Losing to them yet again on home ice would have been a tougher pill to swallow than the previous loss to the IceHogs. Plus, it would have setup back-to-back defeats with two road games in Rockford. The Admirals took care of the Moose at home, tightened their game up much better, and then handed the IceHogs a 6-2 whooping on home ice of their own.

I’m sure the IceHogs mentality could be similar to that of the Admirals when they were rocked as they were. After all, I feel the last game could pretty much be summed up in one-play. The IceHogs are trailing 3-0 late in the second period, they catch a great break down the right wing with Daniel Paille whistling a shot past Marek Mazanec and off the crossbar, the puck ricocheted ahead to push the Admirals forward, and then Taylor Aronson scored a slap shot from the right point on the ensuing counter attack. That’s a nasty bit of bad luck and, for all the pressure the IceHogs poured on in the third period, the game was pushed way out of reach already. Their objective, even if they sat and stewed over it during the Christmas break, is to forget Monday’s game and get back to the same style of hockey that had the Admirals sputtering in place previously.

This objective for the IceHogs of course comes with news that players will be unavailable. The aforementioned Paille was loaned to Team Canada for use in the 2015 Spengler Cup. They will also be without Ryan Hartman after the league deemed fit to suspend him for three-games for his illegal check to the head of Trevor Murphy. You can watch the incident here. After the game, Hartman had the following to say of the hit:

“It’s tough putting your team down five-minutes to start the game. It’s not how you want to start the game. That’s my fault and I’ve got to take responsibility for that.” ~Ryan Hartman

My breakdown of the Hartman-Murphy incident is pretty short and sweet. Murphy had his back turned as he played a puck up the boards. Hartman saw him the entire way in with Murphy’s #8 visible plain a day. Hartman aimed his hit high. He finished his check to the head. And well, congratulations Hartman, you earned the game misconduct and three-game suspension you were apparently looking for.

Knowing that the AHL served justice on the matter makes me feel like that incident should be in the back mirror for tonight. If Hartman were in the lineup it might be a different story. Perhaps that game on January 3rd in Rockford will see raised aggression levels taken towards Hartman but I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Admirals simply stuck to their game and looked for the win instead of an eye for an eye. Tonight? The Admirals want to push for a three-game winning streak. The IceHogs want to rebound.

~Bits and Bobs~

The IceHogs enter tonight’s game with a record of 18-7-2-2 (40 points). Their 0.690 points percentage currently sees them on top of the Central Division. An Admirals win in regulation would change the divisional standing tonight. The IceHogs have dropped their last two-games (0-1-1-0) while the Admirals have won two-straight games in regulation while outscoring their opponent 13-7.

A key player to watch out for in tonight’s game will be IceHogs forward Jeremy Morin. Not only is Morin leading the team in scoring, 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists), but he has scored a goal in four consecutive games. That means he has lit up the Admirals twice after starting the season series out by not recording a point of offense in three straight games.

While goaltending these last two games has been a mixed bag it’s worth looking at the IceHogs’ workhorse in net, Michael Leighton, and his numbers in December. He has made six starts and one relief appearance while recording a solid 0.914 save percentage yet a not so solid 3.22 goals against average. What that means is that this man has been facing a ton of shots on goal and the IceHogs defense isn’t doing enough to take the heat off of him. For comparison’s sake, Mazanec has made one less start in December but has faced a whopping 100 shots on goal less than Leighton. Even if Mazanec made two starts to compensate the difference you’d be hard pressed to see the Admirals allow that gap in two-games.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Would it be in the Admirals best interest to play really defensive knowing the IceHogs should be coming out of the blocks hard tonight?

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The Rockford IceHogs are going to be a very familiar team to us all in a week’s time. I feel like we can pretty much say the same of the Manitoba Moose, as well. Including tonight’s game, the Admirals and Moose have matched up in four of the Admirals last nine-games. Luckily, the next time they’ll clash won’t be until February 20th so there will be a bit of a breather on the season series.

~Mooooooooooooooose~

The Moose enter tonight’s game with a record of 8-14-1-2 (19 points). Their 0.380 points percentage currently sees them in seventh place of the Central Division just ahead of the Iowa Wild (0.250 points percentage). They’re second to last in the Western Conference standings by, gasp shock awe, the same margin.

Since losing getting obliterated 9-0 against the Toronto Marlies it appears as if the Moose have found their best form of the season. They have a four-game points streak going 3-0-0-1 which includes a win and shootout loss against the Admirals in Manitoba last weekend.

Their response to the shootout loss against the Admirals was achieving a game where they scored more than 3 goals in a contest for the first time all-season. They won 5-1 over the San Antonio Rampage and came out the next night and beat the Rampage again by the final score of 3-2.

In those two games after playing the Admirals: their power-play was 57.1% (4/7), penalty kill 81.8% (9/11), they outshot their opponent 62-55, scored 5 goals in the third period alone, and in his first two-games with the team since being reassigned from the Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry had a team high 8 shots.

~Team Leaders~

Leading the offensive charge for the Moose is defenseman Brenden Kichton who has recorded 15 points (3 goals, 12 assists). He is followed closely by: J.C. Lipon, 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists)… and Chase De Leo, 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists).

I said it last time we faced the Moose that Eric Comrie has been the workhorse in net since Connor Hellebuyck was recalled by the Jets in late-November. So, let me put it in even bigger perspective. Comrie has played 598:39 of total ice time out of a possible 665 minutes in the last 11 games played for the Moose. That’s a whopping 89.9%. More perspective: Marek Mazanec has made the most starts for the Admirals in the last 11 games and has logged 352:25 minutes from a possible 670 total minutes (52.6%). Sometimes not over-working your goaltender is a good thing. Just a thought.

Expectations for tonight’s game? How important is it for the Admirals to win tonight knowing the tough road ahead for the rest of this month?

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It’s been awhile since the Milwaukee Admirals and Rockford IceHogs have clashed. In fact, I would almost say that I’ve missed it. Will I be feeling the same way four-games from now when these two will have played three times? Let’s buckle up and find out together, shall we?

~Oink Oink~

The IceHogs enter tonight’s game with a 17-6-1-2 (37 points) record. Their 0.712 points percentage has them on top of the Central Division and second in the Western Conference behind the Ontario Reign’s 0.762 points percentage.

When these two last met it was the end of November and the Admirals won on home ice 2-1. Marek Mazanec was brilliant in net, stopping 27/28 shots on goal, and the Admirals penalty kill went a perfect 6/6 on the night. Vladislav Kamenev scored on a breakaway, Dennis Rasmussen scored off a net front redirect, and Pontus Åberg scored the game-winner in the third period after collecting his own rebound from a blocked shot.

Since that game? The IceHogs have gone 5-1-0-0 in a six-game span which included a five-game winning streak that was snapped by the Grand Rapids Griffins’ freight train Saturday night. Their offense has been scoring 3.8 goals per game since last playing the Admirals. Their power-play has gone 28.6% (6/21) and penalty kill 79.9% (15/19). Additionally, the University of Wisconsin alumni/relie Jake Dowell has been incredible for the IceHogs in the last six-games: 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists). This recent surge has him tied for the IceHogs’ team lead in scoring with Ryan Hartman at 17 points.

~Returning Names~

Earlier in the season the IceHogs had a pair of kiddos that were exploding out of the gate and earned some NHL time as a result. Marko Dano and Tanner Kero are both back with the IceHogs at the AHL level. Interestingly though, both have since been unable to score a point of offense since returning from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Dano had 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists) in his first nine AHL games of the season, went up to Chicago for all of November, and has been part of the last two-games for Rockford. Kero was even hotter in the scoring department at the time of his call up having scored 7 points (6 goals, 1 assist) in seven-games. He was brought up to the NHL in late-October and returned to the AHL these last three-games in December for the IceHogs. The two have averaged a combined 6 shots on goal in the last two-games.

~Goaltending Duo~

Both Michael Leighton and Mark Visentin have been doing very well in December. The bulk of the work loan has been shouldered by the veteran Leighton: 4 starts, 3 wins, 3.22 goals against average, and 0.918 save percentage. Visentin has fared well with a light work schedule. He has made 2 starts in December and won both while stopping 42/45 shots.

It’s been funny that, for how much work Leighton does for the IceHogs, he typically hasn’t been the go-to guy against the Admirals this season. Visentin has started and lost the last three-straight games played during this match-up. While that sounds bad as far as the wins column goes he has been great: 1.90 goals against average and a 0.936 save percentage. The only downside for him really is he’s bettered by how phenomenal Mazanec has been down at the other end of the rink: 1.27 goals against average and a 0.957 save percentage.

I would love nothing more than to see more of Mazanec against Visentin. I’d have to imagine, for these two to be playing three of the next four games against each other, that the match-ups in net will change here and there. Make no mistake about Mazanec’s numbers against the IceHogs this season though. He’s played his best hockey against them.

The Admirals will be without Kamenev tonight and beyond as he’s participating with Russia for the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships in Finland. If Cody Bass is unfit to play tonight it would likely mean Joe Pendenza playing as a fourth line center. Does that thinned out forward group concern you when it comes to these upcoming big games against the IceHogs?

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Two of the Milwaukee Admirals stiffest opponents this season have been the Grand Rapids Griffins and the Manitoba Moose. The Admirals caught the Griffins on two sides of their current eleven-game winning streak so I think it’s safe to give credit to a hot team. The Moose haven’t been a hot team against really anyone other than the Admirals this season but that mystery was finally solved on Sunday. That sets a bit of a stage for tonight’s game with the Chicago Wolves because, like the Admirals, it’s been a topsy-turvy time for both Amtrak Rivals.

~The Woeful Wolves~

The Wolves enter tonight’s game with a record of 11-9-1-2 (25 points). Their 0.543 points percentage sees them sitting in fifth place in the Central Division and eighth in the Western Conference.

If you feel that the roster turn-over has impacted the Admirals performances badly I encourage you to view the following. During the Wolves last thirteen-games they have gone 3-8-1-1 (8 points). In that span the only significant roster changes that took place was a one-week cup of coffee for Jeremy Welsh with the St. Louis Blues and a defensive swap that saw Petteri Lindbohm go up and Joel Edmundson go down. That’s it. This recent struggle is occurring completely with the full-squad in camp for the Chicago Wolves.

~Goaltending Tandem~

The ups and downs are of course going to be reflected in net for the Wolves. Their pairing of Jordan Binnington and Pheonix Copley has been grinding along with the presumed top dog Binnington not shining as of late.

Binnington’s numbers since November: 8 starts, 3-4-0-1 record, 2.79 goals against average, 0.904 save percentage, and 1 shutout.

Copley’s numbers since November: 9 starts, 4-4-1-0 record, 2.38 goals against average, 0.918 save percentage, and 1 shutout.

In particular I find Binnington’s stretch the most interesting purely based on how dominant he was against the Admirals last season: 7 starts, 7-0-0-0 record, 1.94 goals against average, and a 0.930 save percentage. That trickled into his first start against the Admirals this season but he has since taken two straight defeats (one in regulation and one in a shootout). Now that some hard pressure is being put down on him, with the competition of Copley nudging him out of the net for more playing time, it seems he’s wilting somewhat. I would expect his track record against the Admirals puts him in the net tonight. If not? That’s a bigger sign by the Wolves that their confidence level right now is shaken and they’re looking for the more stable option in Copley at this moment in time.

~The Question Mark Offense~

What’s funny about these last thirteen-games for the Wolves is that there offense isn’t necessarily bad but they either score in bunches or hardly at all. In that span the Wolves have averaged 2.4 goals per game. In the Admirals last thirteen games they’ve averaged 2.7 goals per game (eliminate that extra marker for wins from the shootout, folks). So, they’re close but games when the Wolves win 8-2 are balanced out with efforts like they’re last game when they lose 2-1. Again, the word for the Wolves really seems to be inconsistency.

The Wolves have ten players with double digit points of offense on their active roster heading into tonight’s game. They’re currently led in that department by defenseman André Benoît who has 20 points (3 goals, 17 assists) in 23 games this season. As far as goal scoring goes, both Ty Rattie and Danny Kristo have tallied a team best 8 goals playing out on the wing for the Wolves.

Expectations for tonight? Does the last game between these two, where the Admirals stretched roster still got the shootout victory, have you feeling confident in tonight’s result?

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Call it unlucky. Call it making your own luck. Either way, the Manitoba Moose and their awful record seem to get the better of the Milwaukee Admirals. The Moose have a 5-14-1-1 (12 points) record this season. Of those wins, they’ve gone two for two against the Admirals in Milwaukee this season.

10/29/15
Moose 3 – Admirals 2
Recap – Video Highlights

12/2/15
Moose 3 – Admirals 2
Recap – Video Highlights

It’s bizarre to think that once again the Admirals are struggling against a lower level opponent. Last season’s thorn in the side was the Iowa Wild with their league worst record of 23-49-2-2 (50 points) but 5-3-0-0 record against the Admirals. It already feels like this year’s version of the Wild are the Moose. So, who is playing up to the competition level: the Admirals or the Moose?

To get an understanding of how well the Moose have played against the Admirals this season I broke down their Shooting Percentage (Goals Forced / Shots on Goals) team-by-team. This is how the Moose have performed against all their opponents this season:

Charlotte: 12.8% (5 goals, 39 shots on goal, 2 games)
Milwaukee: 10.7% (6 goals, 56 shots on goal, 2 games)
Bakersfield: 6.6% (4 goals, 61 shots on goal, 2 games)
Toronto: 6.1% (6 goals, 98 shots on goal, 2 games)
Chicago: 6.1% (9 goals, 148 shots on goal, 5 games)
Lake Erie: 4.1% (4 goals, 97 shots on goal, 4 games)
Ontario: 2.7% (1 goal, 37 shots on goal, 2 games)

The Moose still have the lowest scoring offense in the AHL. The next closest to their 35 goals forced as a team this season are the Wild with 49 goals forced. For as cold as they’ve been their finishing rate against the Admirals has been lethal. As you can see, only their two-in-two weekend series against the Charlotte Checkers yielded better results than the two games in Milwaukee did.

In a nutshell, the Admirals defense needs to be so much better in front of their goaltending duo of Juuse Saros and Marek Mazanec. To be allowing a higher clip of a goal from every ten shots on target against a team so frozen in the goal scoring department is unacceptable. The Admirals need to tighten up on defense, avoid blunders in the neutral zone, keep turnovers to a minimum, and not force their goaltenders to bail them out of odd-man rushes caused by mistakes in transition.

As you might suspect out of all that lack of offense talk for the Manitoba Moose – there obviously isn’t too much going on in the individual scoring department. The Admirals have seven players on their roster with double digit points of offense so far this season: Viktor Arvidsson, Frédérick Gaudreau, Vladislav Kamenev, Max Reinhart, Taylor Aronson, Trevor Murphy, and Adam Payerl. The Moose only have three players with double digit points of offense: J.C. Lipon, 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists)… Brenden Kichton, 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists)… and first-year pro Chase De Leo, 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists).

It’s worth noting that former member of the Admirals Matt Halischuk has been pesky in this head-to-head match up so far this season. It’s only been a pair of games but Halischuk’s only goals scored this season have come against the Admirals. On both occasions he scored the opening goal of the game from a first period tally. From his opening period goals the Moose have held a 2-0 first period lead in both games against the Admirals. Perhaps clamping down on the one-time Predators prospect would help the Admirals out this weekend.

The Moose are still without Connor Hellebuyck who is currently stationed up in the NHL. He started in net for the Winnipeg Jets last night in their 2-0 shutout defeat to the Chicago Blackhawks. That probably leaves Eric Comrie as the man the Moose will turn to this weekend. He has played all but one of the Moose’s last nine-games played since Hellebuyck’s call up and played against the Admirals in previous meeting between the two teams. He stopped 30/32 shots on goal against the Admirals in that game. He followed that up with a stinker where he allowed 8 goals to the Chicago Wolves. He has since made a rebound start where he stopped 33/35 shots in a losing effort to the Toronto Marlies.

Expectations for this weekend? How do you feel Petter Granberg will perform in his first taste of game-action this season? Will the Admirals offense rebound after a rough outing in Grand Rapids?

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The last time the Milwaukee Admirals faced the Grand Rapids Griffins it was an all-around bad time. The Admirals franchise record ten-game winning streak came to a thunderous halt with a 6-0 shutout loss on home ice. Were the Admirals feeling the impact of copious amounts of Thanksgiving tryptophan? Was the roster too thinned out? Or were the Griffins simply that much better on the night? Let’s re-watch some of the game highlights and analyze.

~When Last We Met~

In the first period, the Griffins limited the Admirals to only four shots on goal while registering ten shots with two beating Marek Mazanec in net. The Griffins really took the game straight to the Admirals from the opening face-off. The won the draw, tilted the ice through their puck control, smooth and crisp passing, and their goals solid reflections of an Admirals team playing frozen stiff.

Andy Miele going coast-to-coast? Great individual effort and an even better finish but he should never have been able to carry the puck in so far where he is one-on-one with Mazanec.

Admirals on the penalty kill? It’s been so much better than the early few games of the season but the puck watching that not only let Eric Tangradi have a free shot on the back post setup but, even worse, get a follow up chance after messing up his initial effort and then scoring from it was simply unacceptable. Kristian Näkyvä was too committed to playing tight on Miele that he left his assignment to the left side of Mazanec, Tangradi, all alone. Puck pressure is a great thing. It’s part of what has been making the Admirals attacking mentality on the penalty kill so good as of late. Switching off mentally once the puck has passed off is an issue and it means there is space on the ice where there shouldn’t be. A team as sharp as Grand Rapids isn’t going to miss exploiting that.

For me, that was a major root problem of the Admirals night in general. They were caught out puck watching. Offensively, the Admirals were being shoved to the outside to fire deep perimeter shots and that allowed for an easy night in net for Jared Coreau. The Griffins were then turning defense into offense and their offense poured it on until the absolute final seconds of the game.

Was it hair-pullingly frustrating to watch Louis-Marc Aubry scoring with 0.6 seconds left in regulation? Yes. Wouldn’t you want the Admirals playing with that same sixty-minute commitment level? Yes. You have to anticipate a Griffins team that is polished enough to punish Admirals mistakes and not stop even when a white flag is up in the air. The Admirals need to be bringing that same level of competitiveness with them and even more so a game that will limit mistakes and turnovers. The Griffins will be getting their chances enough as it is. To sit back, puck watch, or play half-hearted offense that flips the ice back into the Griffins’ favor isn’t going to result in anything other than what happened in Milwaukee after Thanksgiving. The more detailed the Admirals can play the better their chances will be at bagging points out of this game.

~The Road So Far~

The Griffins enter tonight’s game with a record of 10-8-0-1 (21 points). Their 0.553 points percentage has them in fifth place of the Central Division and seventh in the Western Conference.

That doesn’t sound all that great now does it? Here’s the catch: the Griffins are currently on an eight-game winning streak.

After such a rough start to the season the Griffins are back to playing their traditional style. They’re an experienced, well-rounded, polished hockey team that has been playing solid defense during this winning streak: outscoring teams 33-12 in eight games and going 91.4% (32/35) on the penalty kill.

Interestingly enough, it isn’t entirely as if the Griffins are blowing teams clean out of the water. The scoreline total over those last eight-games will bring out the whites in your eyes but so will the fact they’ve been outshot 266-244 during this winning-streak. The last game they played they won 4-1 despite the Lake Erie Monsters outshooting them 42-17. It’s almost bizarre but when you think of the Griffins scoring chances it ends up coming down to quality over quantity.

Can the Milwaukee Admirals return the favor by snapping the Grand Rapids Griffins winning-streak with a solid road performance? What did you think happened to the Admirals during the first game this season against the Griffins? Is this current setup with PTO contracted players and Cincinnati call-ups better suited to playing a more defensive styled game to match up against the Griffins than if the Admirals had a full-slate of offensive guns at their disposal?

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I typically love reaching out to Stephen Meserve of 100 Degree Hockey when the Milwaukee Admirals play against the Texas Stars. Unfortunately, I just simply forgot to reach out ahead of time. The most we could talk was him tweeting this and me tweeting back. Next time when we’re in Texas I’ll reach out in advance.

~Texas~

The Texas Stars haven’t played since Wednesday night at home when they that an 11-goal thrill ride against the Rockford IceHogs that ended with a 6-5 (Video Highlights) overtime loss for the Stars. Do yourself a favor and watch those game highlights because I don’t think I can express how wacky that game was. There were some brilliant goals and some others that were just outrageously awful that had no right to ever be scored but still were. It also provides a nice backdrop on this afternoon’s game because that’s the game that has festered in the Stars’ minds since Wednesday night. Can’t be a good feeling.

The Stars record is surprisingly non-reflective of the team that currently leads the AHL in goals scored this season. They’re 12-8-1-1 (26 points) with a points percentage of 0.591 which sees them third in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference. They have produced 89 goals as a team this season. The next three teams closest to them in that department are: Toronto Marlies (87 goals)… Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (74 goals)… and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (72 goals).

You might assume they must be scoring plenty of goals from the power-play then, right? Wrong. The Stars actually trail the Admirals power-play entering today’s game: Stars, 17 goals forced from 97 power-play chances (17.5% – ranked thirteenth in the AHL)… Admirals, 19 goals forced from 98 power-play chances (19.4% – ninth best in the AHL).

~Who What Now?~

The Stars leading scorer also happens to be the top scoring rookie in the AHL this season, Devin Shore. Although he did log 19 games worth of AHL time last season he is still considered a rookie. I must say though his 24 points (15 goals, 9 assists) in 20 games doesn’t really scream rookie to me. He’s been tremendous this season and already has more goals than he did in his last full-collegiate playing season at the University of Maine.

Shore is then followed up by a splendiferous amount of double digit points scorers. How many? The Stars have eleven players with 10 points or more of offense – all of which will be active for today’s game. To put that in perspective the Admirals have seven players with 10 points or more and six of those players will be at the rink for the game.

In net, the Stars currently have Jack Campbell and John Muse as their goaltending options. Campbell started the year banged up but has been leaned on a fair bit since returning to the Stars roster in the second week of November. He has a 3-3-1-0 record from seven starts with a rough 4.10 goals against average and 0.871 save percentage to go with it. Muse on the other hand has a much better 5-1-0-1 record from nine appearances with a 2.71 goals against average and 0.915 save percentage.

Expectations for this afternoon’s game? Curious, how do you think the Milwaukee Admirals Sunday afternoon attendance will be with no Green Bay Packers to cheer on? Do you think it would be smart or dangerous for the Admirals to roll Juuse Saros for a two games in two days spell after so much time out of action?

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Call me crazy but I’m actually excited that the Milwaukee Admirals are finally on the road. It’s not that the Admirals have been poor at home. They’ve been fantastic. I just feel as if playing seven straight games at home, as the Admirals just did, can lead to getting a bit too comfortable with routines and could possibly trigger some sluggish hockey on the ice. Getting up and on the road keeps the body and mind moving. And I’m hoping that ends up trickling into tonight’s game as the Admirals look to rebound from a 3-2 loss to the Manitoba Moose.

~About Last Night~

The Chicago Wolves enter tonight’s game following a road defeat last night against the Grand Rapids Griffins, 3-1 (Video Highlights). The Wolves scored the opening goal midway through the first period off a Jordan Caron redirect from a André Benoît slap shot from the left point. The Wolves would take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, find themselves trailing 3-1 heading into the second intermission, and that’s all she wrote. The Griffins now have a seven-game winning streak.

~Amtrak Rivals~

The Wolves overall record is 10-7-1-1 (22 points). They sit behind the Admirals in Central Division having played one less game and resting on a 0.579 points percentage.

In the last match-up between these two teams the Admirals earned their first win over the Wolves in nearly a calendar year. The Admirals won that contest 5-3 (Video Highlights). It was the first time that the Admirals put a loss against goaltender Jordan Binnington in the Amtrak Rivalry. He had won the previous eight starts straight until that game in which the Admirals pushed across 4 goals from 34 shots.

Since losing to the Admirals the Wolves have played seven-games and posted a record of 2-5-0-0. For a moment it appeared they took out all their frustrations with an 8-2 thrashing of the Moose but then, well, last night’s game happened. It’s unclear just what team the Admirals are going to get tonight. A struggling Wolves team or a frenzied and desperate playing hockey team. My guess is the latter.

~Who What Now?~

The Wolves are led in points by Pat Cannone and the aforementioned Benoît. Cannone had the best point streak in the AHL until Viktor Arvidsson turned up. Cannone had a ten game point streak and currently has 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) in 17 games. Benoît has 15 points (2 goals, 13 assists) in 19 games which is seventh best for scoring by a defenseman in the AHL this season. They’re led in goal scoring by Ty Rattie who has recorded 8 goals this season including 3 goals in the two-games played against the Admirals.

In net the Wolves continue doing the goaltending tandem. Pheonix Copley operated last night in the loss to the Griffins so it would make sense to see Binnington playing against a team that he’s done so well against in the past. Binnington has played in 10 games this season with a record of 6-3-0-1. He has a 2.58 goals against average and 0.906 save percentage.

What are you expecting from the Milwaukee Admirals and their stretched roster tonight? Juuse Saros last played in-game one week ago with the Nashville Predators and hasn’t played for the Admirals in twelve days: is tonight the night to get him back and going?

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The Milwaukee Admirals current record is 13-5-1-0 (27 points). They have the same amount of points and an equal points percentage (0.711) as fellow Central Division opponents the Lake Erie Monsters but are one-game better in the regulation wins department.That doesn’t just put the Admirals in the lead of the Central Division but the entire Western Conference. They sit third in the entire league behind the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (0.889) and Toronto Marlies (0.738).

As for the Manitoba Moose, they’re trending more on the lower end of the AHL spectrum as far as their record, points, points percentage, and league standing are concerned. The Moose have a 4-11-1-1 (10 points) with a 0.294 points percentage. They’re second from the bottom in the Central Division, Western Conference, and AHL all thanks to the Iowa Wild and their dreadful 0.217 points percentage.

So why are the Moose struggling so much? Why could they be heading into Milwaukee with a 3-7-0-0 record in their last ten-games? Simple. They can’t score goals.

The Moose have the lowest scoring offense in the AHL this season and the second lowest scoring team next to them is still 11 goals better off. It’s staggering. The Moose have scored a league low 29 goals from 17 games. They have been shutout in three-games this season and have yet to score more than three-goals in a game this season.

Sadly, one of those games in which they scored three-goals in a game came the first time that they played against –and beat– the Admirals. The lackluster Moose were able to get out to a two-goal lead inside of seven-minutes of the first period. The Admirals battled back to knot things up by the first intermission but the Moose hammered 20 shots on goal and picked up the game-winner in the second period while surviving an 18-4 shot disparity in the third period. It was the Moose’s first win of the season. They had lost the previous six-games straight prior to that.

The Moose currently have three players with double digit points: J.C. Lipon, 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists)… Brenden Kichton, 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists)… Chase De Leo, 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists)…

In net the Moose are heavily leaning on Eric Comrie while Connor Hellebuyck currently plays topside with the Winnipeg Jets. Sure, the record (wins and losses) isn’t going to look good in net for a team that isn’t scoring goals but credit where credit is due the goaltenders have been battling hard for the Moose. Comrie has a 2.43 goals against average and 0.927 save percentage. Those numbers are nearly identical to Hellebuyck’s this season and both have a pair of wins between them.

What are your expectations for tonight’s game? Could the Admirals fall to the Moose again? Who needs to step up offensively while so many bodies are up in Nashville?

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