Both Magnus Hellberg and Jeremy Smith faced Grand Rapids at the Bradley Center this weekend, and both recorded basically the same results.

Smith got his second straight start in net Sunday afternoon after a nice showing in Rockford Saturday night.

After getting out to a 2-0 lead last night the Ads forced the IceHogs to play catchup. Against the Griffins, it was the exact opposite.

“We basically did the exact same thing Friday night that we did here today.” Evason said.

Grand Rapids got on the board just 3:01 into the game, when Andrej Nestrasil dragged the puck to the bottom of the left circle and whipped a wrister past Smitty.

Chris Mueller had a couple chances to answer. He was stoned on a nice one-on-one set up by Brad Winchester, and later tried to backhand a rebound, but the shot sailed over the net.

About ten minutes after their first goal the Griffins struck again, as Nathan Paetsch elavated a nice shot that was deflected in front out of mid-air by Jeff Hoggan.

Juuso Puustinen was on the ice for the goal, and though the replay looked good, Puusty said he and the rest of the team felt Hoggan’s stick was above the crossbar. He added they just “have to live with it.”

The Ads only got five shots on net in the first 20 minutes, while Smitty had let in two of the seven he’d faced.

The first half of the second period showcased some some good goaltending on both sides.

Recenlty recalled Jack MacLellan had a 2-on-1 but couldn’t get quite enough on his shot. Smitty made a nice glove grab, and not to be outdone, Tom McCollum responded with a nice save with his stick hand after giving up a rebound and dropping down to his right.

The Griffins tacked on another goal at 8:32 of the second period when Tomas Jurco put in a rebound off a nice save by Smith. There probably should’ve been someone to help clear it away, but nevertheless Grand Rapids increased its lead to 3-0.

Later, Patrick Cehlin wound up and fired on a 2-on-1 rush, but the puck went right to McCollum’s chest.

After missing some chances in the second period at even-strength, it would get even more frustrating on the power play in the third.

Milwaukee first got one back with the man-advantage. Victor Bartley missed a slapper wide, but then got a great feed from Mueller from the left corner to the high slot for a no-doubter one-timer.

It would unfortunately be the Ads only goal as they couldn’t ride any momentum despite two more quick power play opportunities.

Bartley had another good look on the first power play, but McCollum was able to close his five-hole just in time.

In the final seconds of the second power play, Joe Piskula couldn’t put home a nice centering attempt right in front.

“We struggle to score goals,” Evason said. “When we get down in hockey games it’s very, very hard for us to come back. Having said that we liked the look of our power play tonight,   It could’ve gotten us back in the hockey game, but it’s obviously an area we need to work on.”

Then the Ads started hurting their comeback hopes, mounting up penalties in the final five minutes.

Joonas Jarvinen went for slashing at 14:46 and when Milwaukee had almost killed it off, Henderson went for tripping.

After Henderson’s penalty, Hoggan scored his second goal of the game to ice it. Gustav Nyquist fed him from behind the net, and Hoggan was able to wrist the puck past Smitty.

The Ads goalie headed for the bench with about two minutes left, but a minute later, Jan Mursak nonchalantly took it down ice and tapped it into the empty net to make it 5-1.

Notes:

Michael Liambas missed last night’ and today’s games. Evason said it had something to do with the sucker punch he suffered in Lake Erie four games back.

Evason said Fordo is skating, but still no timetable on either he, or Beck’s return.

Questions:

Though neither played particularly well, which goalie played better against Grand Rapids this weekend? Who’s the starter going forward?

Evason talk about his team’s even-strength futility.

“We have to score on our PP. We’re not going to score five-on-five. It’s not us. We’re going to have to be opportunistic, get some garbage goals five-on-five and have our power play carry us down the stretch.”

With the way the power play has been going, what does that tell you about his confidence in the offense?

The Admirals outshot Grand Rapids 35-22, but they didn’t seem to have the finishing touch. It felt like after the Bartley goal they might have a comeback in them, but it quickly dissipated. Why was that in your opinion?

Jeremy Smith got his first start in four games, and he made the most of it playing with noticeable swagger.

The Admirals rebounded from a disappointing 5-1 home loss Friday, beating the IceHogs 3-2.

Smitty got some help from a rare 2-0 first period lead, as the offense came out of the gates strong.

Brad Winchester got the Ads on the board 7:57 into the first period after Chris Mueller poked the puck lose in the IceHogs’ slot. Mueller found a wide open Winchester who was able to reach out and sneak it past Henrik Karlsson.

About six minutes later Daniel Bang grabbed his fifth goal of the season to put Milwaukee up 2-0. Winchester again made a great play, feeding Bang with a no-look backhanded pass, that Bang snuck under the right leg of Karlsson.

The Admirals finished the period with the lead in the shots category, outshooting Rockford 14-6. The quick start kept the pressure off Smitty, as he went on to stop 22 total IceHog shots.

Late in the second period, Patrick Cehlin continued to produce picking up his second goal in as many days after failing to score since Dec. 9th.

Cehlin beat Karlsson over his right shoulder with a nice wrister from the right circle to give the Ads their most commanding lead in over a month with a 3-0 advantage.

Milwaukee would need all of that cushion as less than a minute later Kyle Beach cut the deficit right back to two goals.

The IceHogs closed the gap even further 13:24 into the final period when Martin St. Pierre hit Jimmy Hayes at the at the left circle for a one-timer.

Smitty was able to hold on and earn the win, getting the Ads a crucial two points in a location that’s been tough on them in the past.

Notes:

With the win the Ads are now three points behind Lake Erie for the eighth spot in the Western conference.

The Ads went 0 for 5 on the power play, but were able to hold off all five of Rockford’s power play attempts.

Winchester and Bang each led the team with four shots on net, and each picked up big goals  to get the Admirals a rare cushion.

Questions:

The Ads were able to rally around Jeremy Smith, giving him a nice early cushion to work with, and he responded with a solid showing in net.

Do you think the recent competition with Hellberg and time on the bench was what Smitty needed to elevate his game?

Would you give Smitty the Sunday start?

February was a magical month for Magnus. Hellberg took home goalie of the month honors Friday after posting a 6-1 record in seven February starts.

After Friday night’s game, let’s hope the month of March doesn’t have an opposite effect.

Hellberg had one of his worst games of the season, letting in four goals before getting pulled for Jeremy Smith just after the halfway point. Midwest Division-leading Grand Rapids came in and took it to Milwaukee, running away with the 5-1 win.

The Ads returned to the Bradley Center with some new faces in the lineup, and some noted absences.

Joe Piskula took to the ice in an Ads jersey for the first time. Josh Shalla was up from Cincinnati, MVG was back from brief injury, Taylor Beck was out, Scott Ford is still out and  Scott Valentine was a healthy scratch.

Despite the scoreboard, the Admirals came out stronger than they had in previous contests, winning the first period shots battle 9-8. Coach Dean Evason even ventured to say he felt his team “out-chanced” the Griffins.

The first goal Hellberg allowed was probably the worst of the night.

After failing to score on their first two power play attempts, the Ads went on the kill when Mike Moore was called for holding a Griffon’s stick.

On the power play, Brett Skinner hit a wide-open Francis Pare just above the left dot and Pare beat a badly positioned Hellberg at the 7:31 mark for the 1-0 lead.

The Admirals answered about a minute and a half later when Patrick Cehlin scored his first goal since December 9th.

Joonas Jarvinen fired a blast from near the blue line and Cehlin was able to tip it home in front to tie things up.

Then the missed opportunities that would become a trend began. Chris Mueller used a nifty steal to set up a one-on-one break, but Petr Mrazek closed his five-hole quickly to stop the attempt.

With about five minutes left in the period, Shalla came off the bench and parked himself in front of the net and was nearly able to put one in. He had an empty net in front, but was stuffed by a defender.

The Cehlin-Reid-Shalla line had a productive first period, and later, with the game out of reach, Evason shifted Shalla up to play with Juuso Puustinen and Mueller.

Gustav Nyquist scored the first of his two goals just nine seconds into the second period, scoring from the slot with a nice shot over Hellberg’s left shoulder.

The Griffons made it 3-1 at 5:14 when Luke Glendening deflected in a shot from just under the blue line by Jan Mursak.

Daniel Bang had a great chance to get one back with 12:06 remaining, pulling off a move similar to his goal in Toronto. Bang stole the puck at neutral ice and set himself up on a one-on-one but was stoned by Mrazek.

Mursak would up Grand Rapids’ lead to three goals, taking the puck in from neutral ice, walking past Victor Bartley and beating Hellberg with a backhander right in front just past the midway point. That prompted the switch to Smitty.

At 16:36 Piskula sent Andrej Nestrasil sprawling into the boards, prompting a reaction from Glendening, who dropped the gloves.

The battle would do little to spark Milwaukee’s momentum, as they were outshot 14-9 in the final period en route to the loss.

Nyquist tacked on his second goal at 7:31, beating Smith from the right dot on a 2-on-1 rush.

The Ads dropped to five points behind Lake Erie for the eighth spot, and the team’s recent streak of two-out-of-three hockey came to an end.

Notes:

Evason said that Fordo and Beck have not yet skated since their respective injuries so there is no current timetable for their returns.

He said the Valentine scratch was meant to inspire competition with the recent additions of Piskula and Ford.

Speaking of the duo, Evason talked about the depth it adds to Milwaukee’s defense.

Piskula chimed in on returning to his home state of Wisconsin.

Hellberg said his honors were nice to receive, but he maintained “you’re only as good as your last game.” He was hesitant to single out any one goal, but admitted his performance wasn’t where he wanted it to be.

Questions:

Do you agree with Coach’s statement that the Ads had more chances than Grand Rapids? Do you feel that the score reflected the overall team effort?

What the Hellberg was up with Magnus tonight? He didn’t sound phased by post-honors syndrome, but he was definitely off his game from the start.

We got a look at how the team could respond on an off night from their goaltender and it wasn’t pretty. Evason again talked about the offense being “opportunistic” and facing a late, multi-goal lead is a tall order for a Milwaukee squad currently in a prolonged offensive rut.

Do you think the rest of this weekend could be the turning point for the season? Who do you think gets the start tomorrow night in Rockford?

What did you think of Piskula’s homecoming? He made some nice clears, but at least one bad turnover when he let the puck trickle to neutral ice, forcing a regroup late in the second period.

Milwaukee’s four-game road trip began and ended with losses in Lake Erie, as the Monsters brought the Admirals’ two-game win streak to a halt Tuesday.

Magnus Hellberg got his third straight start in net, and suffered his first loss in six games despite stopping 31 shots.

Hellberg wasn’t helped much by the rest of the team as all three goals came with the man-advantage. The Ads allowed eight power play opportunities, while failing to score on five power plays of their own.

At the other end of the ice, Calvin Pickard continued to stymie Milwaukee’s attack stopping 27 shots. In three games against Milwaukee this season, Pickard has stopped 91 of 94 shots.

David van der Gulik was a Milwaukee killer again, scoring two goals including the game-winner.

Cam Reid picked up the first penalty of his AHL career 7:35 into the game, going to the box for slashing. Up to that point, Reider had played 30 games without a penalty, an Admirals team record. Unfortunately his first trip to Johnson’s office was a costly one.

27 seconds into the ensuing power play, van der Gulik put the Monsters on the board, slapping in a rebound off a Karl Stollery shot.

At 17:50, Chris Mueller had the answer for the Admirals, forcing a turnover and eventually  firing a shot from the slot to beat Pickard on the break.

Despite his team giving up five power play chances in the first 20 minutes and being outshot 13-5, Hellberg kept the Ads in the game early with just the one goal heading into the first intermission.

The Ads stole some momentum back in the second period, outshooting Lake Erie 14-8, but Pickard wouldn’t yield the go-ahead goal.

Mike Sgarbossa, who assisted on the first van der Gulik goal, was tossed from the game after committing a dirty slashing penalty at 12:22. It was established that his penalty came with the deliberate intent to injure.

In the third period, van der Gulik picked up his second power play goal at the 5:26 mark, after an interference call on Mike Moore.

Cameron Gaunce fired a shot from the point and van der Gulik was able to tip it past Hellberg to give the Monsters the 2-1 lead.

With the Admirals trying to tie it up again late, Scott Valentine picked up a slashing penalty at 16:14 and an unsportsmanlike conduct call was tacked onto that.

The result was another power play goal to all but put the game out of reach for Milwaukee.

Bill Thomas made it a two-goal deficit with 2:14 to play, grabbing a rebound and beating Hellberg short side for his 19th goal of the season.

The loss set Milwaukee back in the playoff race, as it’s now three points behind Chicago for the eight spot in the West.

Notes:

Brian McGrattan was called back up to Nashville before the game and placed on waivers. Mark Van Guilder missed again with injury, and we’ll keep you updated on his status.

Michael Latta and Kevin Henderson each fired five shots to lead the team, but neither could find the back of the net against Pickard.

The Admirals were unable to score on a five-minute power play following Sgarbossa debacle. Both teams combined for a whopping 48 penalty minutes in a very unevenly played contest.

Questions:

The team finally wasn’t able to rally behind Hellberg. It’s hard to argue that he played well despite giving up three goals, but again the big goalie did make 31 saves and all three against him came a man down.

Did he look “bad” to you, or was this one more on the rest of the team?

Unlike the wins in Hamilton and Toronto, the Admirals played a lot more undisciplined Tuesday. It’s very difficult to win a game when you give up eight power plays. That being said, the Monsters were far from model citizens, but the Admirals couldn’t capitalize.

In short, I’d argue the Ads didn’t lose because they gave up a lot of power plays, rather they lost because the Monsters were simply better at utilizing the man-advantage.

Why do you think that is? Power plays are obviously supposed to provide an advantage, but on a consistent basis the Admirals have had better luck at even strength than against a shorthanded defense.

Another day, another stunning performance in net by Magnus Hellberg. The big goalie picked up his second shutout this month and won his sixth in a row as Milwaukee won again in the great white north 2-0.

Hamilton outshot the Ads in the first period 11-7, but Hellberg started strong, keeping the game scoreless.

Hellberg helped the Ads withstand two first-period power play opportunities from Hamilton, and the penalty kill would shine as a unit throughout the game.

Sticks were flying in second period as Kevin Henderson went to the box for high sticking at 8:19, while Louis Leblanc, Joonas Jarvinen and Gabriel Dumont would all pick up slashing calls.

The Ads would fail to score on a power play chance of their own, but they broke through at even strength three minutes after the midway point.

Juuso Puustinen got the Ads on the board with his ninth of the year. Puusty scooped up a rebound off a Henderson shot from the right circle, picking it out of the skates of defender Nathan Beaulieu.

The shot was a pretty one as the puck snuck in just under the crossbar, beating 2012 Calder Cup Champion Dustin Tokarski. With the goal Puusty became just the 29th player in the Admirals’ AHL history to score 25 goals in a Milwaukee jersey.

That would be the only goal on the board until the final eight seconds when Chris Mueller sent home an empty-netter for his team-leading 17th goal of the season.

Hellberg finished the night with 25 saves, which is a decently low total considering Hamilton had four power play chances and two minutes of four-on-four play.

After the 11 shots in the first, Hellberg faced just seven each in the second and third. The defense helped him out and kept the shots manageable, and when you do that it obviously makes it easier on your netminder.

Notes:

Brian McGrattan got a lot more involved with four shots on net to lead the team in that category.

Mark Van Guilder missed the game and reportedly needs to see the doctor. That’s all we know at this point and we’ll continue to keep you posted.

The win at Copps Colliseum was Milwaukee’s first since December 15, 2009 breaking a streak of three winless trips to Hamilton.

The team continued to play well with Hellberg in net. He kept the hot hand in his second start in two days. His February GAA is now at 1.10 and his save percentage is at .958.

Questions:

The Ads won their second in three games. That’s becoming the standard, even if it’s so far been a fairly small sample size. With 56 points, the Ads are now three points behind Lake Erie for that eighth spot. They’ll get a chance to narrow that gap Tuesday against the Monsters.

We’ve talked about Hellberg’s stats, but what do you think has spurred the team to perform better with him in net? Again, its not like the offense has been overwhelming.

Dean Evason talked a few games ago about his offense being “opportunistic” which has been the story in the last two victories. Does that seem like a fair expectation to you, or do you feel that the team should be scoring more based on overall talent level?

Is Hellberg giving up one or two goals on average the rest of the way going to be enough for Milwaukee to eek into the playoffs? It’s tough to think he’ll keep this standard of play up every start.

What else does this team need to do to keep rolling down the stretch, starting with Tuesday in Lake Erie?

Magnus Hellberg has enjoyed a wonderful February. The big goalie won his fifth straight game this month, as Milwaukee picked up a 3-1 victory over the Marlies in Saturday matinee action.

Hellberg stopped 19 shots to improve his February GAA to 1.31 and save percentage to .950.

The Admirals got the all-important first goal early as Mark Van Guilder and Anthony Bitetto assisted on Brad Winchester’s second goal of the year 1:46 into the game.

MVG took the puck to the left circle from behind the net and fed it to Bitetto at the point. Bitetto avoided a Toronto defender and fed Winchester who’s shot from the slot beat former Admirals goalie Drew MacIntyre stick side.

The Marlies would keep the pressure on, but Hellberg stood tall to neutralize two Milwaukee mistakes late in the period.

Hellberg made a great save on 3-on-1 rush with about five minutes left. He was able to stick out his right pad and rob Ryan Hamilton to keep the Ads up.

He outdid himself less than a minute later with an incredible left glove save. Joe Colborne had a lot of time to get his shot up, but Hellberg, who was stationed at the far post, adjusted to make the great diving catch.

The Ads got their first power play attempt at 13:37 of the second, when Jesse Blacker stuck out his left leg to trip Mattias Ekholm. It was a dirty play, but Ekholm was OK.

The Admirals would fail to score with the man advantage, but the offense put forth a nice effort for the period, outshooting Toronto 16 to five. They were rewarded by Daniel Bang’s eventual game-winner at 16:28.

Following another big save by Hellberg, Bang stole the puck at the blue line and scored stick side on a one-on-one breakaway. The unassisted goal was his first since Nov. 24^th (18 games) and his fourth of the year.

Beck was held on a breakaway less than a minute later to set up another power play, but the Ads failed to extend their lead.

At 8:15 of the final period, Spencer Abbott made things interesting with a wrist shot that clanged in off the left post to bring Toronto within one.

The Marlies would only register five other shots in the period, however, all of which were swallowed up by Hellberg.

On a power play, with MacIntyre on the bench, Winchester assisted on a Taylor Beck empty-netter to seal the win with 49 seconds to go.

With their fifth win in their last seven games, the Admirals were able to put Thursday’s 7-1 embarrassment at Lake Erie behind them and get back to two-out-of-three hockey.

Notes:

Scott Ford wasn’t in the lineup this afternoon, as he’s out with an unspecified lower body injury. His return is unknown and his MRI will be Monday.

The Ads played a disciplined game Saturday allowing just two power play opportunities and snuffing out both. They outshot Toronto 28-20 overall.

With 54 points, Milwaukee is still third in the Midwest Division and three points behind Chicago for the eighth spot in the West.

Questions:

The pattern held true again for Milwaukee as Hellberg got the win in net after a loss with Smitty between the pipes. The team did start faster than usual this time, which meant a lot as the game progressed.

It’s also interesting to note that Smith faced 39 shots Thursday, while Hellberg faced half of that today. The difference is, Hellberg made two huge saves he probably shouldn’t have to keep the Ads ahead early, while Smith’s let a few softies in here and there.

Do you start Hellberg again tomorrow? Recent history has shown Magnus can stay hot when you give him the ice time.

I’ll admit, I was skeptical of the “two out of three” idea when Dean Evason first mentioned it, but so far it’s been going pretty well. Milwaukee’s displayed an impressively short memory and that’s important when you’re in a rush to make the playoffs. What’s your take?