Flipping the script on their previous night’s loss to Oklahoma City, Milwaukee rallied from a 2-0 deficit against Grand Rapids on home ice with a pair of second period goals before taking an extra point in the shootout. Freshly called up Josh Shalla was the hero, putting the Griffins away with his ninth round shootout game winner for a 3-2 final.

January 6 was a whirlwind day for Shalla, who got a promotion call early Sunday morning from Admirals coach Dean Evason to make the voyage up to Milwaukee after news that NHL and NHLPA reached a tentative new 10-year CBA agreement in the wee hours of Saturday night.

The newly minted ECHL All Star’s goal came at the end of a bizarre shootout which saw only one combined goal in the first seven shooters followed by a run of seven straight tallies. Three consecutive times Milwaukee staved off a loss on goals past Griffins netminder Petr Mrazek.

After Admirals defenseman Ryan Ellis failed to win it in perhaps his final game as an Admiral (on an inglorious miss to boot), Shalla ran to the dressing room as the hero after a beautiful move on Mrazek.

Trailing 2-0 early in the second period, Milwaukee got on the board on the power play when Admirals forward Chris Mueller found defenseman Victor Bartley driving into the slot. Similar to his opener the previous night, Bartley beat Mrazek high over the stick side.

With just five minutes left in the period Admirals defenseman Jonathon Blum made a nice play cutting to the net out from the right corner, which Mrazek fumbled, allowing a doorstep camping Kevin Henderson to cash in another big goal for the Admirals.

The former temp forward now owns nine goals (including a pair of big ones on the weekend), good for third overall on Milwaukee behind Mueller and Austin Watson.

For the second straight night, Milwaukee’s opponent controlled play in the third period (the Admirals registered just two shots) and in overtime, but Admirals goaltender Jeremy Smith stood tall to send the game into a shootout. Smith continued his recent hot stretch with 29 saves on 31 shots.

The Admirals fell into a 2-0 rut after a couple of flukish Grand Rapids goals that came early in the first and second periods respectively. In the game’s first minute Griffins forward Gustav Nyquist benefited from an errant tip rebound from Smith, who then over committed diving to cover the right side of the net as Nyquist shoveled home a backhanded shot. The goal came on just Grand Rapids’ second shot of the game.

The Griffins made it 2-0 in the second period when forward Landon Ferraro pin-balled a centering pass off of Admirals forward Patrick Cehlin’s stick behind Smith.

Milwaukee finished the home weekend with five out of a possible six points to start life after the NHL lockout, improving to 17-13-2-2 while remaining in second place in the Midwest Division at 38 points (just one point behind Lake Erie for the final playoff spot). Grand Rapids grabs a point for a 20-10-1-2 record, and still sit in the division’s top slot despite their lead being shrunk to five points over Milwaukee.

One side note, former Wisconsin Badgers defenseman Brenden Smith (20 points) was held out of the lineup by Grand Rapids/Detroit.

So Roundtable . . . 1) Another solid outing at home for Milwaukee. Are you pleased with the Admirals recent efforts at the Brad?
2) Did any Admirals stand out on this big game in front of Nashville scouts?
3) Which Admirals do you have starting the season in Nashville? Ellis and Blum seem pretty likely, anyone else?

It’s no secret.  There’s some great talent on the Oklahoma City Barons.  Jordan Eberle.  Taylor Hall.  Justin Schultz.

All three of them had key roles in the Baron’s 3-2 shootout win over the Admirals on Saturday night.

Hall and Eberle scored power play goals in the third period, with Schultz assisting on both of them.  Schultz then put the exclamation point on the night with the game winning try in the shootout in the 6th round.

The Admirals blew a 2-0 third period lead, but managed to get a point in the standings.  While Coach Evason is disappointed to not have the second point, he is happy with how the team played overall.

And Coach is happy that they didn’t giftwrap any of the goals, unlike the game on Thursday.

The Admirals hopped out to a lead 8:24 into the game with a Victor Bartley goal.  And even though Michael Latta didn’t get an assist on the score sheet, it was something that he didn’t do that set up the goal.

After two big and legal hits on Baron players, Alex Plante wanted to dance.  Latta said, (paraphrasing) you know, it’s not you, it’s me.  I think we should spend some time apart.  Plante ended up with a roughing penalty, and the Admirals ended up with the power play, thanks to Latta’s discipline.  Coach thought it was a smart play by Latta.

The goal had some similarities to Bartley’s goal on Thursday night.  There’s Bartley, crashing the net on the left wing side, and he was able to score off of the centering feed from Chris Mueller.  Nice looking play.

Kevin Henderson scored shorthanded in the second period to make it a 2-0 lead.  After a dump in behind Baron goaltender Olivier Roy (think he’s French Canadian?), Henderson was able to steal the puck from him.  While Roy was able to win the race back to the other side of the net, Henderson came around the other side and his shot gave him his 8th goal of the season, and 6th point in his last 5 games. (They didn’t cue the video up well, but the replay is pretty good)

Then there was the third period, where the Admirals were outshot 15-1.

Those numbers were aided by two power plays for OKC…the first a double minor for high sticking assessed to Latta.  I say “assessed” because it sure looked like Mark Van Guilder was the culprit on the replay.  The Ads killed off the first 3:45, but Hall had a one-timer off of a circle-to-circle pass from Mark Arcobello to get the Barons on the board.

Taylor Beck was flagged for a tripping penalty with 2:26 remaining, and 15 seconds later the game was tied.  Jordan Eberle received the final pass ‘around the world’ on the near side this time, and his shot beat Jeremy Smith.

Say what you want about the tripping call on Beck.  He certainly didn’t need to be waiving his stick around like that at that point of the game.  And the ref certainly let some more flagrant stuff go….but that penalty isn’t the reason why they lost.  1 shot on goal in any period isn’t going to cut it.  Coach Evason credits the Baron’s for making it hard on his team late in the game.

The Admirals did outshoot the Barons 4-1 in overtime, and Latta did have a nice up-ending of Roy in the near corner that went without a penalty call.  But as I review the box score…looks like Latta was assessed a 10 minute misconduct at the end of OT.  May explain why we didn’t see him in the shootout.

Austin Watson scored for Milwaukee in the shootout in the second round.  That was it.  There were multiple attempts to beat Roy on the stick side, but he shut the door.  Magnus Paajarvi and Schultz scored for the Barons in the 1st and 6th rounds.

NOTES:

– The shootout loss DID vault the Admirals into second place in the division.  So that’s something, I suppose.

– Juuso Puustinen was promoted to the Mueller and Beck line, with Patrick Cehlin switching spots with Juuso.  Puustinen didn’t have a shot on goal.  His linemantes had 6 total (more than a third of ALL Milwaukee shots).  Cehlin had a pair of shots on his line.

– Smitty seemed to be seeing the puck very well.  Here’s the Coach.

– What is there to say?  There’s a lot of talent on that team — even with The Nuge not in uniform.  But it’s tough to win with 13 shots in regulation, and just one shot in the third period.  That’s really what sticks out to me.  It’s great to play well 5×5, and the 15-29-17 line really stepped up their game against their top line.  But it’s disappointing to see a multi-goal lead evaporate, and it’s disappointing to only get the one point.

– The 1st place Griffins come to town tomorrow afternoon, riding a three game winning streak.  They’re finishing off a 3-in-3, after a win Friday against the Barons, and shootout win tonight against the Wolves.

Questions:

– Do you feel that Eberle, Hall, and Schultz are that much head-and-shoulders talent-wise above everybody else?

– If the lockout ends soon….do you think Kevin Henderson is playing himself into the conversation for a callup if the Preds need a left winger?

– Announced attendance was 3,685.  Not a good number for a Saturday night, but do you think it’s a good number for going against a Packer game?  I was actually impressed by the size of the crowd, considering the circumstances.

(Editors note:  With Trey back in Tampa during the Marquette break, and Ryan doing whatever it is he does on the microphone, we are proud to welcome back the man, the myth, the legend, the FURY….making his first cameo of the season, it’s SUTTY!)

After constantly being reminded by Ryan that he has “several” lawyers on retainer that would “sue my pants off” for a contract violation, I have decided to dust off my media credential and report on the first game of 2013.

I am also contractually obligated to remind you that Sutty’s opening rant was brought to you by Mountain Fury.(R)

So there was a hockey game tonight.  After trailing by a goal heading into the third period, the Admirals scored the equalizer about five minutes in, and then the game winner with a buck-thirty-three left in the game.  Call it a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Wolves.

Coach Evason appreciates the resilience…but also recognizes that they shouldn’t have had to be resilient tonight.

The Chicago Wolves were the first to light the lame mid way through the first period. Jeremy Smith gloved a shot from mid-ice and had some indecision on whether he should play it or not. He chose to drop the puck and try to play it but got caught up on the near side of the net. Brett Sterling (insert groan here) took the puck and sent it to the top of the slot where Andrew Gordon was waiting to fire a shot that beat Smitty far side. Just one of those plays where Smitty should hang on to it when he is unsure. Easy for me to say though.

The Admirals answered back just under two minutes later off a Houdini style redirect by Victor Bartley. Taylor Beck fired a shot towards the net from the right wing.  Bartley, while crashing towards the net, got his stick up and redirected the puck out of the air past Matt Climie. It never ceases to amaze me how players are so accurate with a puck out of the air, and this was no exception.  Good marks for V-Bart, and good marks for Beck just putting the puck on net.  Good things happen.

The Admirals were able to pick up right where they left off in the second period on a Kevin Henderson seeing-eye goal. At 3:54 into the stanza, the Wolves were attacking the Admirals net. The puck came loose on the near side where Smith looked out of place. Andrew Ebbett put a shot on the empty net but Brett Sterling (insert boo here) had his stick in the way. The Admirals’ Mark Van Guilder corralled the loose puck and dished it two feet to Kevin Henderson who started up the boards. Henderson kept the puck away on the from the lone defender and pushed past him to send a soft shot thought the five hole of Climie from about three feet out. This is one that will probably haunt Climie’s dreams.

The Wolves were able to answer right back just as the Ads did in the first period…only difference was that the Wolves had the man advantage. With Jack MacLellan serving a too-much-man penalty, Chris Tanev sent the puck to Jordan Schroeder who was at the top of the far circle. He dribbled it a bit and loosed a wrister that beat Smitty top glove side. From my angle and on the replays this looked like a clear shot from the point, there wasn’t much traffic in front.  I am sure Smitty would have loved to have been able to hit the reset button on this shot and goal.

Allow me to preface this next part by telling you that I am really trying hard not to say “you had to see it”, so i will try to explain what happened as best as I can.

With :08 left in the second period the Wolves were able to take the lead on a Darren Haydar goal. Andrew Ebbett had the puck in the far circle and drew the attention of several Ads players. Before the Ads could close on Ebbett he sent a puck acorss ice to Haydar who was waiting all alone in the near circle. The pass from Ebbett forced Haydar to reach for the puck causing him spin in place. Once he came back around to face the net, he fired the puck  hitting  a diving Admirals’ Scott Valentine in the arm causing the puck to flutter into the net over a sprawled out Smith for the goal. While Haydar had the wide open shot it took him a little bit to fire it on net. It looked like the delay in the shot caught Smith guessing and diving forward for a non existent save. Valentine got an arm on it but it wasn’t enough to keep it from the back of the net where an upright Smith would have easily blocked it. In fairness, this one is not Smitty’s fault, there is no reason Haydar should be that open on the backside.

Oh?  We’ve got the video?  So I didn’t need to spend 100 words describing it?  Oh, I see how it is.

At 4:56 into the 3rd period Mark Van Guilder netted tying goal for the Ads after a great individual play by Henderson.  Henderson drove the net from the nearside boards. He overpowered the Wolves defenders and got a shot on net from very close. The puck trickled away from Climie right to the stick of MVG who put it past the recovering goaltender. Henderson is playing like a manimal.  The end!

With 1:33 left in the third the Ads seal the deal on an Austin Watson goal. Milwaukee had the Wolves reeling in their own zone. Taylor Beck fired a shot on net from the near side circle that hit Climie in the chest. As the goaltender was trying to catch the puck off of his own chest, Patrick Cehlin batted the puck away from him. The loose puck caromed to a crashing Watson who backhanded the loose puck past Climie for the game winner.

NOTES:

That Henderson-MVG-Latta line was pretty great tonight, wasn’t it?  Coach thinks so too.

They ended up giving Bartley an assist on Henderson’s goal…so him, Henderson, and MVG all had a goal and an assist.  Patrick Cehlin had a pair of helpers, doubling his point output from the last 16 games.  Taylor Beck had a pair of helpers to continue his strong play.

Smith was good when he needed to be, especially in the third period.  The goals he gave up weren’t great, but he was a shutdown goalie in the third.  And that was huge.

Questions:

– I don’t know…it’s been awhile since I’ve done this.  Just overall thoughts on the game?  Are you surprised that Kevin Henderson was the best player on the ice for both teams tonight?

– What do you think is going to be the difference between announced attendance on Saturday and ACTUAL attendance on Saturday?

Milwaukee’s three-game win streak came to a bitter end against the rival IceHogs in Rockford. The Ads couldn’t get past Carter Hutton who stopped 30 of 31 shots.

In the first period the Ads failed to take advantage of three power plays, but in return stopped both of Rockford’s chances with the man-advantage.

Milwaukee outshot the IceHogs in the first period 10-8 and starter Magnus Hellberg was off to a good start. Jeremy Smith had been fantastic in back-to-back starts, but understandably coach Dean Evason gave him some relief in the third leg of the 3-in-3.

The second period was a different story as Rockford pummeled the offensive zone with 22 shots, (a season high for an Ads opponent) while the Ads got only nine. 5:03 into the period Brandon Bollig gave the IceHogs a one-goal lead.

Bollig took a feed from Kyle Beach and fired a low shot from the top of the right circle past Hellberg.

Milwaukee had a chance to tie it up about four minutes later when Chris Mueller was tripped by Adam Clendening on a short-handed breakaway. Mueller was stopped on the ensuing penalty shot attempt.

The Ads finished killing the penalty but moments later the Hogs took a 2-0 lead when Ben Smith scored his 13th goal of the season. This one came from the right circle again and got between Hellberg and the right post.

Mueller was able to cut the deficit to one on a 5-on-3 power play, scoring the Admiral’s fifth power play goal in their last 16 games. Ryan Ellis had a shot rebound off Hutton but Mueller was able to slide the puck past him.

That would be all for the Admirals as Rockford got their cushion back with 1:11 left in the second. With Patrick Cehlin in the box for hooking, Martin St. Pierre scored his 14th goal of the season to make it a 3-1 Rockford advantage.

The Ads would outshoot the IceHogs 13-10 in the third period, but Hutton continued to shine in net. The next goal scored by either team was an empty-netter that sealed the win for Rockford with 41 seconds left by Marcus Kruger.

Losses to Rockford always hurt, but in the end, for the second time this season Milwaukee got four points from a 3-in-3, losing the road game. Both times, interestingly enough, that loss came with Magnus Hellberg in net.

The decision to start Hellberg was the safer one, as you’re not quite sure what kind of wear-and-tear a goalie might experience after three starts in three days. We are left to wonder what Smitty could’ve done in that situation, but had he started, struggled and looked exhausted we might’ve been wondering the same thing about Hellberg.

The Admirals had plenty of opportunities to come back against the IceHogs, too. Along with Mueller’s failure on the penalty shot, Milwaukee was just one for five on the power play. And that goal came on a 5-on-3.

Hutton was a big reason for that inefficiency, but he’s shown so far that while he’s been great at making the first save, his rebound control can be off at times. The Ads have gotten to him when they have this season by getting a lot of traffic in front. When they do that they can keep up with Rockford, but when they don’t it usually results in a loss.

The Admirals get a lot of rest now as they’re off til Thursday. The division scrum will continue into the New Year when the Wolves visit the Bradley Center January 3rd.

Questions:

So as always with hindsight being 20/20, do you think Evason made the right/smart choice starting Hellberg over Smith?

What should be Milwaukee’s New Year’s resolution?

As good as Jeremy Smith was in Thursday night’s 2-1 win over Peoria, he was even better a day later in a 4-1 victory.

Smitty was lights out in net again stopping 29 of 30 shots and earning first-star honors. He played well enough to earn a shutout, but a late goal came from the Admirals getting a little lax on defense with a big third period cushion.

Milwaukee wanted to get out to a nice start after Thursday’s slow first period. Fittingly enough the same guy who capped the comeback the night before, kept things rolling for the Ads early.

Kevin Henderson blasted a shot on Peoria’s Mike McKenna and the rebound took an odd bounce along the boards all the way out to Ryan Ellis. Ellis’ snap decision to fire it on net was quick enough to beat McKenna and give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead with 6:50 left in the first.

Just about 20 seconds later, Cam Reid skated toward the left corner of the Peoria zone, but timed a perfect spin and fired a beautiful pass to Austin Watson. Watson was able to put it right past McKenna.

On the ensuing faceoff things got heated. The Rivermen, in what coach Dean Evason saw as a desperate effort to gain back momentum, wanted to fight. Ben Ryan responded first, but was a tad outmatched by a more experienced fighter in Stefan Della Rovere.

In his first scuffle, Ryan saw opportunity to stand up for his team.

On the ensuing faceoff of that fight, Michael Latta responded in defense of his teammate, taking on Chris Bruton.

Latta took offense to Rovere calling out the inexperienced Ryan and wanted to make a point.

Meanwhile, Evason was pleased with both of his player’s responses, but questioned the timing of the bouts.

Watson struck again to widen Milwaukee’s lead with 3 minutes left in the second period.

After Watson hustled to put back a rebound, Michael Latta freed the puck for Juuso Puustinen behind the net. With Watson in position to the left of the net, Puustinen fed him for a nice one-timer that squeezed between McKenna and the near post.

The Admirals appeared to go into cruise control mode in the third period and in a late sequence allowed the Rivermen to set up a one-timer of their own. There wasn’t much Smith could do to stop Cade Fairchild’s cross-ice feed to Derek Nesbitt who had an open net.

Less than 20 seconds later, however, the Ads ensured Peoria’s comeback bid would be short-lived. Kevin Henderson got the puck right in front of McKenna then turned and slid it back to Latta who fed it across to Mark Van Guilder. MVG’s shot was deflected in by Henderson with 2:02 left in the game. With the score at 4-1, the win was secured.

Notes:

Evason updated the status of Mattias Ekholm who missed most of the action Thursday and all of Friday.

Now on their longest win streak of the season, the Ads head down to Rockford Saturday to finish off their 3-in-3.

Questions:

Do you agree with Evason’s concerns on the timeliness of the first period fights, or do you hold that when those kinds of challenges arise guys simply have to step up?

Evason said there’s a chance Smitty could start again tomorrow in Rockford. In this situation would you go with the hot hand, or give him a rest and go with Magnus Hellberg? (Personally these types of questions make me glad I’m not a coach.)

As a side note, the throwback theme will continue into January. I’m headed home to Tampa for the next two weeks, so our old buddy Ryan Miller will be stepping in for a mid-season cameo.

Milwaukee overcame somewhat of a sluggish start to beat rival Peoria 2-1 Thursday night. And they looked good doing it in their beautiful Quebec Nordique-style throwback jerseys.

In their ninth consecutive try, the Ads were able to finally string two wins together after facing a 1-0 first period deficit.

Jeremy Smith had another great night stopping 31 of 30 shots and earning second-star honors. He had a couple of nice glove saves on Peoria’s Phil McRae and Andrew Murray before allowing a goal that seemed a bit controversial.

At 14:29 Smith appeared to cover the puck on a scramble in front, but Adam Cracknell was able to direct it into the net from his belly.

The Admirals looked a little slow in the first period, and coach Dean Evason said the Rivermen looked a bit fresher after the six-day Christmas break.

Evason also felt his team passed up too many early scoring opportunities.

Milwaukee’s play improved in the second as it began to get better second-chance opportunities. It used one to tie the game up 6:50 after the first break.

Taylor Beck won a faceoff in the offensive zone and freed it up for Jon Blum who fired a slapper on goalie Jake Allen. Beck got the rebound from the right side of the net and tried a wraparound that sailed on him. It went to Chris Mueller who threw it past Allen out of midair.

Smitty got a big assist from the right post with 10:16 left in the game as a long shot went past him and clanged off it. The lamp lit, but the puck didn’t cross the line as it caremed back to him where he was able to freeze it.

After about thirty minutes of tough scoreless hockey and whiffed chances, the Ads got the edge. A Ryan Ellis slapper rose up off the stick of T.J. Hensick and went past Allen with 3:38 left to go. Michael Latta got the assist after a nice cross-ice feed.

With the net empty for the final minute, Smith made a good final stand. He made a nice save with about ten seconds left and the Ads were able to clear it to center ice to seal the win.

Smitty credits his team’s play around him for his recent streak of success.

Evason was quick to sing his goaltenders praises and lauded Smith’s workman-like attitude despite a rough start to the season.

Notes:

Evason gave an update on Gabriel Bourque’s status after missing Thursday night:

The Admirals take on Peoria again tomorrow night, same time same place to try to secure their first three-game winning streak of the season.

Questions:

How much do you think Smitty’s improvement has come from competition with Magnus Hellberg (if at all)?

What does it mean to you that the Admirals were able to gut out a tough win after a long break? Do you think they perhaps have turned a corner?

Thursday’s unis were pretty sweet, and they’ll be wearing them again Friday. What’s your favorite Ads alternate/throwback of all time?