Jeremy Smith played a solid 59 minutes in net for the Admirals, but had to be helped off the ice with 13.4 seconds to go.

Magnus Hellberg filled in, and the Ads withstood a big third period from the IceHogs to get back on the winning track with a 3-2 victory.

Milwaukee’s offense was the story of the first two periods as the Ads held a 3-1 lead and a 34-19 shot advantage heading into the second intermission.

Ryan Ellis gave the Admirals the 1-0 lead right at the end the first period scoring with a tenth of a second left on the clock. Michael Latta whipped a quick pass to Ellis whose shot from the right circle beat Rockford goalie Carter Hutton.

The Ads carried momentum into the second period, scoring just 11 seconds after the break. Latta took the puck into the Rockford zone and freed it up for Mark Van Guilder. MVG hit Kevin Henderson at the left dot and his shot cleared Hutton’s right shoulder.

The Admirals grabbed a 3-0 lead at the 12:31 mark with a power play goal from Latta. Hutton made a few big time saves in front, before Latta was able to poke the puck past him for his eighth goal of the season.

The IceHogs finally got one past Smith about five minutes later, however, as Brandon Svendsen picked up his third goal of the year. Smitty had to move hard from left to right to take away a shot opportunity from Adam Clendening, and unfortunately that left Svendsen wide open in the slot.

The game was far from over at the second break, as Rockford had won an AHL-best nine games after trailing in the first two periods entering the matchup.

The IceHogs displayed some of that knack to come from behind outshooting the Admirals 18-10 in the final period.

At 9:14 Martin St. Pierre cut it to a one-goal deficit with his 22nd of the season, but for the final ten minutes Smitty stood tall to keep the Ads ahead.

Kenndal McArdle was all alone with nine minutes to play, but Smith was able to poke check his shot away. He then gobbled up a Jeremy Morin slapper with 8:01 to play in a nice sequence.

With just under 45 seconds left and Hutton on the bench, Smitty gloved a Brad Mills shot.

Later, the puck was tipped in front of Smith and a mad scramble ensued. Smitty made the save, but was piled on top of after Rostislav Olesz shoved an Ads defender into him.

After laying face-down for a few minutes, Smitty had his right leg worked on by trainer Doug Agnew and had to be assisted as he went to the bench.

Hellberg didn’t face a shot in the final 13 seconds, as Mike Moore blocked Rockford’s only attempt and the Ads were able to clear it away.

Notes:

Milwaukee finished with 44 shots on net with Latta’s seven and Juuso Puustinen’s five leading the way.

Smitty stopped 35 of 37 shots in one of his more impressive outings of the season. He’ll see a doctor tomorrow and will most likely be out. No idea on the weight of his injury yet. We’ll keep you updated on his status as we learn more.

Brad Winchester assisted on the Latta goal after re-signing with the Ads today. The power play goal was the only one of the game, as both teams went a combined one-for-nine with the extra attacker.

Questions:

Are you concerned that the Ads let Rockford get off 18 shots in the final 20 minutes? Why do you feel they had a hard time keeping the IceHogs down after mostly dominating the first two periods.

On the other end, what do you think has helped the Ads up their shot opportunities recently. They didn’t appear to be missing Nashville call-up Craig Smith tonight, and the offense looked really good throughout the game.

How big is the potential Smitty loss? Coach Dean Evason has mentioned how great it’s been of late to have both of his goaltenders play at a high level.

After 13 points in seven games, Wednesday night was a head-scratcher for Milwaukee as Lake Erie frustrated the Ads for the fourth time this season.

Sami Aittokallio stopped all 33 shots he faced leading the Monsters to a 1-0 win at the Bradley Center. As good as he was (and he was really, really good) the Ads had a lot of opportunities that they just couldn’t capitalize on.

Milwaukee outshot Lake Erie 33-19 and Magnus Hellberg stood on his head for a few great saves, but it simply wasn’t enough.

A Paul Carey redirection off a slapper from Luke Walker gave the Monsters the only goal they needed 7:10 into the contest. From then on the story of the game was missed chances from the Ads and stellar saves from Aittokallio.

Dean Evason talked about the Ads struggles to light the lamp, and the speed of Lake Erie’s defense.

Before Carey’s goal, Michael Latta had a couple of good chances to give Milwaukee the early lead. He took a pass right in front and tried to hack home the one-timer and then the rebound, but Aittokallio stood tall.

Later Michael Liambas had a bad pass sail out of the offensive zone and Lake Erie would score on that possession.

At the 15:55 mark came the first of five power play opportunities that the Ads couldn’t use to their advantage. After Walker went to the box for interference, Aittokallio made a great glove save to keep Milwaukee off the board.

After that penalty expired, Mattias Ekholm was called for elbowing and it took a fantastic save from Hellberg as the period ended to keep Milwaukee down just one goal.

It looked like the Monsters would make it a 2-0 deficit early into the second period, but upon review a potential goal was waved off. Though no penalty was called, replays showed that Vincent Arseneau clearly shoved Daniel Bang into Magnus Hellberg, taking him out of position for the ensuing shot.

After getting help out by the replay, they got another PP chance with Andrew Agozzino in the box for hooking. The Ads couldn’t score, however, and the period ended with the puck clanging around the posts at least twice before the final buzzer sounded.

The Ads continued to have good entries into the offensive zone in the third period, but they yielded no results on the scoreboard.

Agozzino went to the box again for interference at the 4:22 mark, but the most impressive play of the PP came from Ryan Ellis on defense.

Ellis, who played his first game since being sent back down to Milwaukee Monday, stayed with Mike Connolly on a one-on-one breakaway and shut down the shorthanded scoring chance.

On a later power play, Ellis fired a hard slapper that Aittokallio turned away. Later in the possession, Aittokallio was able to cover the puck just before Joshua Shalla could get to it, after it bounced off the boards and ended up at the left side of the net.

Bang had one of the best chances of the night with about seven minutes to play. He had the puck come to him all alone on a rush, but Aittokallio came up huge to make the save with his right leg.

A Brad Winchester penalty for elbowing was killed off with just one minute remaining, and with Hellberg on the bench, the Ads couldn’t get the puck in the net. An icing call with 19.7 ticks left all but sealed the deal, as the Ads couldn’t get it out of their zone.

Notes:

Smith looked good again, leading the Ads with six shots. Latta put five on net while Winchester and Mark Van Guilder each had four.

Winchester played the final game of his 25-game PTO contract, and a decision will be made soon about his future. He had little to say about it.

Evason said he’s selfishly hoping Winchester will stay an Admiral.

The coach said his team came out a “little flat” in defense of its seven-game point streak, and didn’t know if it had anything to do with how the streak had recently played out.

Questions:

What was Milwaukee’s problem with Lake Erie this season, and what did you notice this game that ended the point streak?

What did you think of Ryan Ellis’ return? Will it keep the Ads’ playoff hopes burning even brighter?

Do you think we’ll see Winchester in an Ads jersey again? How do you think his possible departure would impact the team?

(Video highlights at the end of the post)

The Craig Smith points parade continued in Rosemont on Sunday afternoon with a goal and an assist, as the Admirals clinched the Amtrak Rivalry title with a 4-1 victory over the Wolves.

Smith’s goal turned out to be the game winner, and he was on the ice for all four Admiral goals.

Brad Winchester opened the scoring with his third in as many nights (all with primary assists from Craig Smith), as Smith picked off an errant pass from Kevin Connauton, and fed a wide open Winchester for the first goal.

Smith then finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play with the man advantage at 1:28 of the second period.

Connauton got some redemption as he made it a one-goal game at 13:41 of the second with a shot from the point that made its way through a screen.

Later in the period, with Jeremie Blain serving a double minor for high sticking Patrick Cehlin, Austin Watson deflected another Mattias Ekholm shot for another power play goal. It was the second time we’ve seen that routine this weekend.

Michael Latta got the empty netter in the final minute.

—-

Notes:

– The win bumped the Admirals up to 7th place in the Western Conference, and they now have points in seven straight games.  (6-0-1-0 in that span)

– Special teams were special again.  Admirals were 2 for 6 on the power play, and killed off all  four Wolves chances.

– The Admirals outshot the Wolves 38-20, but that large differential is deceiving.  The Wolves had a lot of shots attempted and some phenomenal chances…but they had a tough time getting them through to Jeremy Smith.   Lots of them were blocked or simply missed the net. Still, to see that kind of a number for the Admirals in the third game of a 3-in-3 is outstanding.  Over the weekend, they put 115 shots on net.  Sustainable?  We’ll see.

– High marks for Jeremy Smith, who had his first action since March 8th, also a win against the Wolves.

– They’ve been doing this Amtrak Rivalry thing since 2009, and this is the first time the Admirals have won it.  And they did it with three games against the Wolves still to go.

– Still waiting for the Badger Trifecta…. with a scoring play including Smith, Winchester, and Piskula. We’ve come close a few times this weekend…

– Coach Evason had said that they were going to reevaluate Craig Smith’s situation after the games this weekend. That may be the last we see of him. Or maybe we’ll see him back at the Bradley Center on Wednesday night against the Lake Erie Monsters. Preds play Monday and Thursday this week.

– Latta and Mike Liambas both were involved in fights in the first period.  Liambas fared a little better than Latta did…but check out the very thorough game highlights below…the fights went on a very long time.

(Photo credit:  Scott Paulus)

For the second game in as many nights, the Toronto Marlies forced extra time after trailing at the start of the third period.  This time, they finished the job, as Greg Scott made a sick move around Juuso Puustinen, and fired a perfect shot top shelf to give the Marlies a 3-2 overtime win over the Admirals.

The Admirals outshot the Marlies 41-26 on the night, and had the better of the scoring chances.  But a few lost battles and mental errors were the difference in the game.

With the overtime loss, the Admirals remain in 8th place in the conference with 69 points, tied with Chicago and Oklahoma City.  And Rockford.  And Abbotsford.

The Admirals did get off to a quick start.  Brad Winchester had the empty-netter with 1:34 left in the third yesterday. And he netted the first one tonight 1:23 into the game. A shot from the point by Joonas Jarvinen made it through to Marlie starting goaltender Jussi Rynnas, and Winchester was there to put in the rebound to give the Admirals the early lead.

A sloppy Admiral turnover in the defensive zone led to the tying goal.  Mike Liambas couldn’t find the puck in his skates.  But Jamie Devane did.   He then fed a pass to Sam Carrick, who fired a nice shot in the corner of the net.

On the next shift, Liambas was on tilt, and then started looking for a dance partner. He found one…the aforementioned and much taller Jamie Devane. 5’9 vs 6’4. Not only did Liambas not really have that great of a showing, he got an extra two minutes for roughing out of it. Couple that with a goaltender interference penalty that Josh Shalla was assessed just before that sequence, and it turned into a full two minutes of 5×3 time for the Marlies.

The Admirals killed off all the full two minutes. They were in the passing and shooting lanes, and Austin Watson even had a shorthanded scoring chance…and hustled back nicely to get back into position.

In the second period, Liambas got some redemption, by drawing an elbowing penalty from Korbinian Holzer. On the ensuing power play, Anthony Bitetto scored his first career AHL goal. A shot from the point through a nice screen by Watson, Shalla, and defenseman Dylan Yeo. I don’t think Rynnas ever saw it.

Later in the period, Rynnas was injured after a collision with Austin Watson. But it wasn’t a Lucic-Miller type collision. Watson was guided off balance and into the side of the net by a Marlie defender, and there was a little bit of contact made with Rynnas as he was hugging the post. Drew Mac-In-Tyre returned to the Bradley Center ice for the rest of the game, and eventually, picked up the win.

In the third period, the Magnus Hellberg from October made a brief appearance, as he let in a softie goal from Jerry D’Amigo.

You can tell by listening to him….he feels pretty bad about that one.

Other than that play, it was another solid outing from Magnus.  His rebound control was very good, and with the exception of that second goal, his glove was very good all night too.

He wishes that he could have extended the game to a shootout.

NOTES:

Lines:

15-29-17
10-16-11
20-51-71
8-43-25

Another good showing for special teams overall.  They killed off all five Toronto power plays, and went 1-4 on their own.  Still would have been nice to get that last one in overtime, though.  Here’s Coach Evason on that last power play chance.

Craig Smith played his second game with the Admirals, and Coach gave him a little more work tonight.

A win in Rosemont tomorrow afternoon would get the Admirals five out of a possible six points this weekend, without the help of Bartley, Mueller, and Beck….who, incidentally….got his first NHL goal tonight.

Questions:

– Craig Smith — Do you think he was better tonight?  There is obvious skill there, but I’d like to see the puck not get knocked off of his stick when he tries to do some stickhandling.

– Do you think the Admirals deserved a better fate?  Did they get the momentum that they deserved when the killed that 5-on-3?

– Great to see Bitetto get his first goal.  Are you surprised that we’re seeing more of him than Scott Valentine these days?

(Photo Credit:  Scott Paulus)

Brendan Burke, the play-by-play man for the Peoria Rivermen, tweeted earlier today that “We could be in for another low-scoring affair tonight in Milwaukee. The 2 teams have combined for 4.4 goals-per game (lowest for Rivermen).”

That number went down a little bit.

Tied going into the third period, the Admirals took advantage of power play in the middle of the frame, and went on to beat the Rivermen 3-1 Friday night in front of 12,047 customers at the Bradley Center.

We’re going to break this recap into three sections for three different audiences.

1.  For the locals.
2.  For the Austin Watson fan club
303.  For the Preds fans who want to check on Craig Smith

Section 1:  Keep on rollin’

Mark Van Guilder opened the scoring with his 12th of the year.  He gets credit for crashing the net, but check out Michael Latta tying up two Rivermen on his own.  A lot of Rivermen just watching the play.

After Brett Sonne scored from a tough angle in the second period, a Peoria bench minor for being too manly on the ice gave the Admirals a power play at the 9:57 mark of the third.  Austin Watson deflected a Mattias Ekholm shot to snap his 16 game goal-less streak.

Great deflection, but there were some great things that led to that play too.  Josh Shalla dove to keep possession and send it over to Ekholm.  And then Ekholm was able to reset and get a great low shot on net that Watson was in a perfect position to re-direct.  Great stuff.

Read ahead to section 303 for the empty net goal….

The Admirals special teams came to play again, as they went 1-2 on the power play, and killed off all three shorthanded chances.  They’re 15-8-0-1 on the season when their power play connects.  On this current five game winning streak, the power play is a 25%, and the PK is at 90.5 percent.  Yeah, you can point to the sample size, but that’s certainly an improvement.

And Magnus Hellberg?  Another outstanding performance.  And the defense did their part too.  They only allowed four shots in the third period.  That’s the opposite of a prevent defense.  (Though, one could argue that Peoria was in prevent offence…)

And with the win…The Admirals move to 8th place in the conference.  A long time coming.

Section 2:  Elementary, Watson

Solid game from Watson all-around, taking some important shifts down the stretch while nursing the 2-1 lead, blocking shots and making plays.  And while it had been a long goal-less drought, Coach Evason says that he’s still been a very effective player — especially lately.

https://admiralsroundtable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/coach-on-watson.mp3

And Watson himself?  While it’s nice for one to go in, he is quick to credit the hard work of his teammates.

Section 303:  Mr. Smith Goes To Wisconsin

When Matt Halischuk was sent down on his conditioning assignment, he was the best player on the ice.  By far.  He was a difference maker.  Craig Smith was not the same difference maker.  But he had a very strong play that led to the empty net goal, scored by fellow Badger Brad Winchester.

Here’s Coach Evason’s detailed evaluation, and then a video of the play.

Will he be here awhile?  Longer than the 3-in-3 this weekend?

OK Roundtable:   What did you think of the AHL debut of Craig Smith?  Are the special teams noticeably better to your eyes?  And do you want to see Hellberg again tomorrow against Toronto?