The Admirals won 3-2 against the Toronto Marlies Tuesday night. All three goals by the Ads came on the power-play: Salomaki, Salomaki again, and Sissons. The Ads started fast. The Marlies finished ugly – with eighteen penalty minutes in the third period alone. Despite a goal scored with the extra attacker on – the Marlies shot themselves in the foot in the third and the Ads were able to pick up their first win in three games.

The opening goal tonight came from the Admirals on the power-play. Taylor Beck had a good chance in on goal but his stick exploded. He skated to the bench, got a new twig, skated back into the action, and set into motion the power-play goal. Beck’s wing-to-wing pass found Bryan Rodney creeping in on the right wing. Rodney’s shot nailed the pads of Marlies goaltender Garret Sparks and the puck went directly to Miikka Salomaki for a tap in. That is Salomaki’s ninth goal of the season.

Milwaukee dominated the opening period. It took the Marlies more than ten minutes to force Marek Mazanec to make a save. In total, the Ads outshot the Marlies 14-3 in the opening twenty-minutes. That meant the Ads team leader for shots in the period, Salomaki, was on level terms with the entire Marlies team. Even with a power-play to their credit rarely did the Marlies sustain any offensive pressure.

After a successful penalty kill the Marlies equalized through a rebound goal by Wade MacLeod. Major credit goes to the initial shot from Greg McKegg who waited, waited, and waited for a shot to the net. When he fired Mazanec made the pad save but the puck kicked out to MacLeod who finished the rest. It was his fifth goal of the season.

The second period was much more even between the two. Shots were 15-12 in the Admirals favor. The bulk of those shots from the Marlies were low shots on Mazanec’s pads in an effort to generate rebounds for players crashing the net. It worked once. They kept pushing the entire period looking to make Mazanec’s legs move.

Midway through the second period saw a very ugly boarding penalty by Brad Ross on Scott Ford. The puck was in the right wing pocket as the Marlies were forechecking. Ross had full view of Ford’s name and number – and Ford was a few feet clear of the end boards. Ross put a shoulder to the nameplate and drove Ford face first into the glass. Ford remained down briefly and then got up swinging. He landed one solid punch before things settled down. The call on the ice was a boarding minor. Nothing against Ford for the punch. Blood was drawn from the hit. The only possible reason I can see why that wasn’t a boarding major and a game misconduct was the reaction by Ford once he got up. Should that merit the lack of a match penalty for that type of hit? In my book – absolutely not. It looked ugly at full speed as it happened. It looked even worse on the replays – which were shown before a call was made on the ice.

In the third period some more nastiness came from the Marlies. Right in front of their player bench Mike Liambas was smashed from the back by Andrew MacWilliam. Liambas looked like he was dangerously close to catching his chin on the top of the boards. He went right after scrum following the hit. Nothing more than words from that post-boarding reaction. Also, that hit was also just a minor penalty.
The ensuing power-play for the Ads resulted in their third goal on the man-advantage. A net front scramble for a loose puck finally ended with Colton Sissons getting the crucial touch to chip it by Sparks. That goal extends Sissons team lead in goals to fifteen.

Toronto’s undoing in this game was really their own in the third period. The visiting penalty box’s door darn near needed WD-40 – and may well get treated before Friday’s game. In total the Marlies took four penalties for eighteen minutes worth of PIM’s and hell for Marlies head coach Steve Spott to endure. There were two five-on-three chances that exceeded one-minute in length. And it felt as if, once a penalty was killed or finished off by an Ads power-play goal, another penalty was drawn. The Marlies were beyond agitated in this game. Drawing misconducts on the ice and from the bench.

Through all the awfulness of the third period the Marlies did manage to score a goal with the extra attacker on the ice. They worked low around Mazanec’s cage and Sam Carrick’s pass, post-to-post, was slammed home by McKegg.

Pressure continued for the final 1:31 of the game. Luckily for the Admirals that just wasn’t enough time to level the game. The Marlies, and all their frustration, got the better of them in the last period. By every sense of the word: the Marlies earned the loss tonight.

Ramblings: In tonight’s game, the Admirals fired a season-high forty-six shots on goal. Kevin Henderson was a healthy scratch and the team dressed seven defensemen. Bryan Rodney returned after a four-game spell of being a scratch. Taylor Beck, who tallied for two assists, moved past Neil Meadmore on Ads all-time (IHL and AHL) list with 109 pts – tied for fifty-fourth with Dan Eastman. By conceding two goals again tonight – Marek Mazanec continued his run of conceding no less than two goals in every single AHL start.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Did the Marlies ‘lose’ this game more than the Admirals ‘won’ it? If you were in attendance, because I doubt the footage turns up online, what did you make of the boarding calls to Ford and Liambas? Let’s talk Filip Forsberg on a night when he doesn’t score goals: what do you see from him lately?

The Admirals lost 5-4 in a shootout against the Oklahoma City Barons Sunday afternoon. The Ads trailed 4-2 late in the third period but a goal from Mark Van Guilder and an incredible goal from Simon Moser with 2.6 seconds remaining secured a point by sending the game into overtime. Unfortunately, the Ads weren’t able to top the Barons when it came to the shootout.

After coughing up two goals in last night’s first period – it was evident that the Ads wanted to attack hard to start this game. For their efforts they cracked Barons goalie Richard Bachman a heck of a lot faster than they did last night. Taylor Beck provided a cool backhanded pass across ice to Filip Forsberg who buried his sixth goal of the season. It’s only Forsberg’s second even-strength goal scored in North America – both of which have come with the Admirals.

A trend that couldn’t be corrected from last night was the Ads power-play who, like last night, failed to capitalize from a lengthy five-on-three chance. Last night it was a minute and eighteen seconds worth. Today it was fifty-one seconds worth. Both came and went without any damage done. When you get opportunities like that – they need to be buried.

Just before the final minute of the first period the Barons equalized by finishing off a three-on-two rush. Tyler Pitlick received a pass from the left faceoff circle from Jack Combs and was able to beat Marek Mazanec for his fourth goal of the season.

The lone tally of the second period came off of a rebound effort for Barons winger Jack Combs. David Musil’s hard shot from the point was mishandled with the glove by Mazanec and the puck spilled out to Combs – who finished with a backhander. The goal by Combs was his first of the season.

In the third period Marek Mazanec did something he has never done before in the AHL: he allowed goal number three. In all six starts prior to this he had allowed exactly two goals. The third goal was scored by Matthew Ford on a low wrist shot to the stick-side – his tenth of the season.

As mentioned, a real struggle all weekend long has been the Admirals power-play. They earned another five-on-three chance in the third period. It wasn’t capitalized on – but the backend to that penalty was for the Ads first power-play goal in twelve chances on the weekend. The goal was fired in from the left circle by Vinny Saponari for his fifth goal of the season.

At the time I felt this was going to be the backbreaker. Right after the Ads score on the power-play Scott Ford took a cross-checking penalty that set up an instant response for the Barons. The shot from Taylor Fedun ricocheted off of Mark Van Guilder’s leg and past Mazanec for a power-play goal – and Fedun’s sixth of the season. It was a 4-2 Barons lead with 5:12 remaining in the game.

Then some karma for Van Guilder. Having had the puck bounce off of him and in at one end – he scored down at the other end. The set up came from a good pass by Saponari that gave MVG a quality chance on Bachman. He delivered with his seventh goal of the season.

Like last night, this came down to the wire in the extra attacker situation once Mazanec emptied his net. Unlike last night, the Ads came through… with 2.6 seconds left on the clock! Huge credit on this play goes to Van Guilder winning a faceoff with 4.2 seconds remaining. The puck went back to Moser who scored five-hole for his eighth goal of the season – and queued up overtime.

The Admirals might be disappointed that, after racing back late to earn a point, they didn’t bury the Barons in the OT period. The chances were there to be taken. Beck, Moser, Watson, and Roussel all had quality scoring chances that might have finished this one off. Instead we went to the shootout.

The Barons chose to shoot first and Combs scored five-hole. Tousignant stepped up and his backhanded five-hole chance wasn’t doing. Then Ryan Hamilton scored by ringing his attempt off the post and off the back of Mazanec and in. Pressure on. Beck skated up and ripped a low wrister past the glove of Bachman. Lander was stopped by a Mazanec blocker save. Forsberg skated in and skated himself right down to the ice – falling and missing his chance. Roman Horak’s shot hit off Mazanec’s right pad. Saponari was denied with a blocker save from Bachman. Tyler Pitlick had the opportunity to clinch the win if he scored – but was stopped by a stick save from Mazanec. Moser, who tied the game with 2.6 seconds remaining, needed to score – and did score, forehander to the stick-side, to force sudden death in the shootout. C.J. Stretch beat Mazanec to the low stick-side. Miikka Salomaki needed to keep the game going by scoring – but his backhanded effort missed the net.

So, you can look at this game in the silver lining’s sense that they probably shouldn’t even have earned a point in this game. Otherwise you can just as easily look at these two games in Oklahoma City, see the shots piled up and missed chances on the power-play, and get cranky that much better results should have been had on this road trip. Three games. Two points. Short memory for now – the Ads play at home against the Toronto Marlies on Tuesday night.

Pesky Fact: Tonight’s game was a new season high for shots in a game by the Admirals with forty-five shots on goal. Colton Sissons and Scott Valentine lead the team with six shots each.

Thoughts on today’s game? Happy with escaping with the one point or disappointed? What will it take for the Ads to find success on the road? What do you make of Mazanec’s form in his two games back from Nashville? The Ads have now conceded thirty-two goals in eight January games… what’s the problem?

The Admirals lost 2-1 against the Oklahoma City Barons Saturday night. In his return to the Ads, Marek Mazanec lost his first AHL game in six starts by conceding two first period goals. It was his counterpart in the Barons net, Richard Bachman, who really stole the show tonight: stopping 32/33 Admirals shots. The lone goal for the Ads was scored by Mike Liambas late in the second period.

Not much was doing in the opening period until the final four minutes. Will Acton was able to beat the glove of Mazanec on the shortside to score the opener at 16:26 of the period. It was Acton’s fifth goal of the season.

After a Mike Liambas call for goaltender interference the Barons scored on the power-play. Brad Hunt banged home a slap shot from the point to make it 2-0 Barons. The two goals were scored a mere thirty-one seconds apart.

In the second period we had the game’s first fight. It was Mathieu Tousignant against Kale Kessy. Both fights tonight didn’t last very long. This one actually sounded like Kessy nearly knocked himself out. After swinging wildly he lost his balance and Tousignant landed on top of him. I’m not sure if a single punch was even landed.

With the clock ticking down on the second period Mike Liambas deflected home his second goal of the season. Colton Sissons shot to the net pinged off of net front traffic with a final touch from Liambas to make it a one-goal game.

The third period saw the last fight of the night. After a big hit by Scott Valentine on Travis Ewanyk – the two grappled. It was another scenario where the Ads this season delivered a clean hit and were forced into a fight with no instigator penalty assessed on the play. Valentine, similar to Kessy in the first fight, lost an edge and possibly never even landed a single punch.

The Ads finished the game on a power-play with Mazanec to the bench for an extra attacker. The Barons missed an empty net chance. The Ads burned their timeout with 33.8 remaining. Nothing came of it. And the Barons held off the late great chance for the Ads to push the game into overtime.

Hats off to Barons goaltender Richard Bachman in this game. The Ads produced the shots tonight: First Period, 13. Second Period, 11. Third Period, 9. Outshooting the Barons 33-25 in the game. It took twenty-one shots before a Liambas deflection goal fooled Bachman. He was sharp from start to finish.

As far as Mazanec in the AHL goes: this was his first loss and the fourth time this season that he allowed two first period goals. He did so against the Griffins on the road on 10/18/13. He also did it twice against the Texas Stars at home on 10/26/13 and 10/30/13. He won all of those contests but lacked the offense to bail him out against the Barons tonight. In every start this season he has allowed two goals. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Ramblings:

Tonight Charles-Olivier Roussel suited up for his fiftieth career AHL game – all played with the Milwaukee Admirals. Bryan Rodney was scratched for his third-consecutive game since allowing two turnovers that turned into two goals for the Wolves on 1/11/14.

The Admirals lost 5-4 in a shootout against the San Antonio Rampage Thursday night. This game was all over the place: Ads trailed 2-0 early, came back to tie things up at 2-2, took the lead at 4-3, and then lost in the shootout with starter Magnus Hellberg getting injured late in OT forcing the Ads debut of Hannu Toivonen in net. Silver lining: by earning a point on the road tonight the Ads are now tied for second in the division with the Chicago Wolves.

The Ads started the game by earning an early power-play chance only eighteen-seconds into the game. Sadly, they just were not able to capitalize off of it and the Rampage came off of the kill flying. 4:06 after the Ads power-play expired the home-side earned a chance of their own from a Mike Liambas boarding call. The result was a deflected goal from Joey Crabb for San Antonio’s first power-play goal against Milwaukee in ten chances over three games.

The pressure stayed on and Wade Megan stepped into the attacking zone and roofed a shot to the shortside over Magnus Hellberg’s shoulder to make it 2-0 Rampage. It was Megan’s fourth goal of the season.

2:31 after the Megan goal it was the “Soft Hands, Hard Hands” line of Liambas-Tousignant-Rask pulling back a goal to make it a 2-1 game. After some solid forecheck work, including a hit from Joonas Rask in the right wing pocket, the puck came free to Liambas at the right trapezoid line and he delivered a backhanded pass in front of the net. This teed up Mathieu Tousignant for a goal against his ex-team in San Antonio for his third goal of the season.

The second period had a real momentum swing to start the frame. Joonas Jarvinen and Vinny Saponari both took hooking penalties to give the Rampage a very brief 5-3 power-play opportunity. The Ads were able to kill off both chances and charged forward for an equalizing goal so soon after the Rampage man-advantage. The play by Austin Watson was instrumental in setting this goal up. He skated in from the ring wing and delivered a very hard low wrist shot on Jacob Markstrom. The puck ricocheted off his pads and right to Kevin Henderson who took care of the rebound for his fifth goal of the season and his fiftieth career point as an Admiral.

A boarding call on Jarvinen set the backdrop on the Rampage’s second power-play goal of the game. Taylor Beck actually was denied on a shorthanded breakaway just before this play happened down at the other end. Again, momentum swings a plenty out of the transition game tonight: attack one way – attack the other way – repeat. The goal by Crabb was a bomb from the slot for his second of the game on the power-play and sixth of the season. In his career, Crabb has scored fifteen points (four goals, eleven assists) in thirty-three games against the Admirals.

To start the third period there was a goaltending change by the Rampage. Markstrom gave way to the ex-Checker Rob Madore. No word on any sort of injury to Markstrom but one has to assume that’s the lone reason a change was made.

Looking to get the jump on the cold netminder, the Ads quickly pounced to attack and earned a power-play inside the opening minute of the period. On the first shot that Madore faced the Ads scored a goal on the man-advantage from Taylor Beck. A cross ice pass from the Olympian Simon Moser set him up for his eleventh goal of the season to make it 3-3.

Moser responded with a goal of his own a few minutes later to give the Admirals their first lead of the game. The play went under review after Moser’s shot hit post and knuckled down. It would hold up to the microscope and the Ads lead 4-3. With the assist on that goal – Taylor Beck moved past Scottie Upshall for thirteenth on Ads all-time AHL scoring with 106 points.

Then perhaps the game’s backbreaker. Just forty-one seconds after earning the lead the Ads conceded a goal that tied the game back up at 4-4. There was a big scrum in front Hellberg in net and Bobby Butler was able to find the loose puck and pop it in for his twelfth goal of the season.

The game would go into overtime. Scott Valentine nearly cost the Ads by taking a swipe to the back of the head of Vincent Trocheck – earning a roughing penalty in the early stages of the OT period. The Ads were able to kill off the penalty and last through OT but not without some bad news.

After another net front scramble, Magnus Hellberg injured his right leg as he sprawled out of the net. He needed some assistance, stayed in the game momentarily, but with four-seconds remaining in the OT period gave way to Admiral debutant Hannu Toivonen. The twenty-nine year old Fin was a former first-overall draft choice by the Boston Bruins and this was his first appearance in the AHL since the 2010-11 season with the Rockford IceHogs.

The game went to a shootout. Both starting goalies, in a nutshell, injured. Back up goalies in. Away they went. There wasn’t a goal until the fourth round when Rampage’s Trocheck beat Toivonen off the crossbar and down. The Rampage did have a chance in the final round to cap it but Toivonen stopped Denny Urban and gave the Ads hope. Miikka Salomaki scored off of a forehanded shot to force sudden death in the shootout. Logan Shaw beat Toivonen to the five hole off of a forehand shot. And Moser’s forehanded effort went begging to give the Rampage a shootout victory – their second over the Ads in San Antonio this season.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? Will we be seeing Marek Mazanec back in an Admirals sweater come Saturday night? How do you feel the Ads can do without Hellberg or Darling – if both are out for an extended period of time? Will the Ads lose a forward in the near future, Forsberg or Beck?