Chatterbox February 21, 2016

Chatterbox, Vol. 111

I always try to take some time before leaping into the written portion of the Chatterbox because I want to properly digest the game I just watched. Following some late night coffee I do believe I’ve come to a far better place than the moment the final horn sounded to signal a 4-1 loss for the Milwaukee Admirals to the Manitoba Moose.

The Admirals are in a bit of a lull. There is no getting away from that. When you take away a pair of empty netters the offense has scored five goals in four-games. The power-play hasn’t scored in five-games and is currently on a drought of sixteen straight chances without a power-play goal.

That’s all bad. No question. But, when you avoid looking purely at the AHL standings, it makes sense for a team like the Moose to get the result last night. The Admirals are trending down a touch. The Moose are trending up a touch. That’s just the ebb and flow of a hockey season. The team that the Admirals are battling with in the divisional standings right now, the Rockford IceHogs, were beaten twice by the Moose leading up to last night’s game. They’re on a roll. Even those lowly teams can pack a punch and the Moose are reminding the top two teams in the division just that as they’re now on a four-game winning streak and a six-game point streak.

What the Admirals might need more than anything is exactly what goes down today. Another game and, at that, one that happens less than twenty-four hours after last night’s loss. There isn’t anything to really be said of last night’s game. So why bother? The focus shifts to today and does so so fast that the mindset of the Admirals should be more instinctive and less deer caught in the headlights.

Was last night’s game a stinker? Yes. But it is the Admirals second straight loss following a run of 6-1-0-0. Things aren’t too bad and, honestly, games like last night should still be saved in the memory bank for things to improve upon as this season grinds into the playoff push. There is always room to be better. If the Moose can do that, as they have lately, so can the Admirals.

~Chatterbox~

After the game I caught up with Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason as well as forwards Max Görtz and Gabriel Bourque. This is what they had to say following last night’s defeat.

Comments on the comments? Do you feel this is just a lull for the Milwaukee Admirals offense or is something being exposed that all teams are suddenly leaping on to slow them down?

Be sure to keep updated with Admirals Roundtable through social media platform of your choice: follow along Twitter, like us on Facebook, get photo updates on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Game Recaps February 20, 2016February 21, 2016

Offense Stays Cold; Ads lose 4-1

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-1 against the Manitoba Moose Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

There is no other way to possibly say it. This game was ugly. It was very ugly. The Admirals scored the opening goal of the night but, perhaps setting the tone, were leveled up by the Moose nineteen seconds later. The Moose would take control of a sloppy game in the third period to win their fourth straight game and extend their points streak to six games.

Vladislav Kamenev marked his return to the lineup by helping the Admirals setup a first period goal. Moose goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was forced to play a puck that was heading for an icing until he spotted the Russian would negate the call. Following some passes around the boards in their own zone Max Görtz picked up a clearance attempt to allow the Admirals to engage on offense. The play would end with Kevin Fiala picking out Görtz in front of the net where he would dodge Hellebuyck’s paddle, and finish in style for his eleventh goal of the season.

It only took the Moose nineteen seconds to answer back. A quick rush off the face-off saw Brenden Kichton step up from the right point and fire a wrister that appeared to fool Marek Mazanec to the glove-side. The goal was Kichton’s sixth of the season.

The game’s next goal wouldn’t come until thirty-two seconds into the third period when a shot from Julian Melchiori was smacked out of the air by Matt Halischuk. Mazanec’s response was immediate. He believed that the goal shouldn’t have counted citing a high stick from Halischuk to reach Melchiori’s shot from the point. In the end there wasn’t even a review. That goal counted and it was Halischuk’s sixth of the season.

Then the ugly of this game took an extra black eye for the Admirals. Patrick Mullen was last man back working the point in attack for the Admirals when he lost the puck and his footing to send Halischuk off to the races on a breakaway. The former Admirals forward waited for Stefan Elliott and John Albert to get into the rush. The two Moose forwards then proceeded to pass back and forth before Albert shot into an empty net for his tenth goal of the season.

With 1:03 remaining in regulation the Admirals burned their timeout hoping to rally with the extra attacker on and the net emptied. This all ended in tears when Scott Kosmachuk buried his twelfth goal of the season into that empty net to give the Admirals their second consecutive regulation loss.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals last played they reassigned forward Joe Pendenza to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Tonight’s Line Combinations: Bourque-Hodgson-Åberg, Fiala-Kamenev-Görtz, Reinhart-Sissons-Gaudreau, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Elliott, Alm-Aronson, Murphy-Mullen. Tonight’s scratches were both healthy: Kristian Näkyvä and Matt White. The Admirals power-play has failed from sixteen consecutive chances.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What is happening to the offense? What is wrong with the Admirals power-play?

Scouting February 20, 2016

Moose: Scouting the Enemy

The Milwaukee Admirals have had two days to rest up following their 4-1 loss on the road to the Grand Rapids Griffins. During that time they’ve managed to get sole possession of first place in the Central Division. How did they do that? With a little help from tonight’s guest at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

~Moose Plural Should Be Meese~

The Manitoba Moose enter tonight’s game with a record of 15-27-4-5 (39 points). Their 0.382 points percentage sees them currently sitting in seventh place of the Central Division and fourteenth in the Western Conference standings.

At the moment the Moose are actually on a bit of a good run. They are on a five-game point streak in which they’ve gone 3-0-1-1 with a three-game winning streak. Of note, that win streak includes a 3-2 regulation victory on the road last night against the Rockford IceHogs. That defeat helped see the Admirals take full claim to the Central Division throne. Not to mention, the run that the Moose have gone on has helped them jump the Iowa Wild in the standings to get out of the cellar as the team with the worst record in the AHL this season.

During this five-game stretch the Moose have: scored 21 goals, their power-play has gone an impressive 26.7% (4/15), their penalty kill has gone 95.7% (22/23), and they’ve been heavily outshot 185-147. That’s an average of allowing 37 shots on goal per game over this five-game point streak.

What leaps out to me is their special teams. They’ve made the most of their opportunities with an extra man and that penalty kill of their’s has been quite impressive. The Moose had killed 22 penalties consecutively until finally conceding a power-play goal from Cameron Schilling with 22-seconds remaining in regulation. If the Admirals power-play is hoping to snap out of a bad run of four straight games without a power-play goal, going twelve power-plays without a goal, they will be pushed to earn it. Speaking of which…

~Curse These Meese!~

The Admirals over the past few seasons have had some battles against teams with some of the lower standings in the AHL. I’m not sure why that is but, this season, both bottom-dwellers of the Central Division have had a fair go against them – especially Manitoba.

This season the Moose are 3-1-0-1 against the Admirals. They won the first two-games they played in Milwaukee this season but did drop a 7-5 goal fest upon their last visit. It really wasn’t until that last game between these two where the Moose actually cracked. They have absorbed so much of the damage the Admirals had been dishing out. The Admirals have averaged 34.8 shots on goal in five-games against the Moose. The Admirals have only averaged 27.4 shots on goal over their last five-games leading up to tonight. Perhaps some R&R time for two-days and this Moose team are just what the Admirals need to get the offense back and roaring, eh? The Admirals have only scored 4 goals as a team, not counting the empty netters, in their last three-games. That needs to change otherwise the pressure of results fall squarely on the shoulders of Marek Mazanec and Juuse Saros night after night. As good as they’ve been they could use some help up front.

~Who What Now?~

The leading scorer for the Moose is first-year pro Chase De Leo who has produced 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) in 51 games this season. In the head-to-head with the Admirals this season De Leo is the leading scorer for the Moose with 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist) in 5 games. That includes scoring a hat trick these two sides met up in late-December. The Admirals top scorer in this match-up is Kevin Fiala with 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists) in 5 games.

The Moose currently pack a proper one-two punch in net as Connor Hellebuyck rejoins Eric Comrie and his pals at the AHL level after having played for the Winnipeg Jets since late-November. Since returning, Hellebuyck has split the work load by playing two of four games in net and has won both games in impressive fashion by stopping 69/73 shots on goal for a 0.945 save percentage and a 2.01 goals against average. This isn’t to say Comrie hasn’t been the lesser of the two goaltenders and shouldn’t be counted out for the start tonight. But, it is worth noting that Comrie played last night for the Moose to earn his eleventh win of the season as he stopped 37/39 against the IceHogs. I could see the Moose keeping with Comrie as a hot hand off of that performance or going with the fresher of the two options – Hellebuyck.

What are your expectations for tonight’s game? Do you think the two-day break will give the Milwaukee Admirals a bit of a boost after some slowly paced games for the offense?

News February 18, 2016

Pendenza Headed to Cincinnati

This move was only a matter of time once the Nashville Predators assigned forward Gabriel Bourque down on Long-Term Injury Loan. Joe Pendenza has been reassigned from the Milwaukee Admirals to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

At the moment the Admirals roster is 100% healthy. When Bourque was added ahead of last night’s game in Grand Rapids the team had two healthy scratches at the forward position. Vladislav Kamenev was one. And Pendenza was the other which marked his fourth straight game being listed as a healthy scratch for the Admirals.

This season Pendenza has played the majority of his time at the AHL level for the Admirals where he has scored 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 27 games. At the ECHL level with the Cyclones he has produced 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists) in 15 games.

Bourque’s loan from the Predators should run through this weekend for the Admirals as the condition of his loan state that his stay can’t exceed up to either six-days or three-games. The third game would come on Sunday. Should the Admirals feel the need to recall Pendenza following Bourque’s loan he has the potential to have played up to three-games for the Cyclones and could possibly be back as soon as Wednesday night’s Admirals game at home against the Rockford IceHogs.

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, see our photos on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Feature February 18, 2016

Fifteen with Trevor Murphy

I believe after last night’s 4-1 defeat for the Milwaukee Admirals a bit of a laugh is needed. Who better to provide that laugh than the man that Kevin Fiala said is his pick for the funniest player on the Admirals roster, Trevor Murphy.

For those unfamiliar, Murphy was signed to a three-year entry level contract by the Nashville Predators in mid-September as an undrafted talent having played four-seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) as a member of both the Windsor Spitfires and Peterborough Petes. At just 20-years of age he is the youngest defenseman of the Admirals 2015-16 season roster and has contributed 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists) in 33 games. So far, his rookie season highlight came on a night when he was tasked with helping the Admirals out by playing as a forward and scoring 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) against the San Diego Gulls. That or his first professional fighting major that saw him bloody up Colin Smith in a decisive win. I’d take it he would pick the scoring game over the fisticuffs but let’s kick back and listen to him tell as much. Keyword Today: Clown College.

~Fifteen~

Editor’s Note: Apologies for the audio being pretty combative to the interview. This was done on an autograph day for the team so there was a lot of sticks being signed and tables being jostled around.

Cheers to Trevor Murphy for taking the time to do this interview and having a laugh. Reminder, my check list of players you’ve suggested is pretty bare so please comment down below with more suggestions!

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, see our photos on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Game Recaps February 17, 2016February 17, 2016

Anthony Mantha Nets Hat Trick; Ads Lose 4-1

The Milwaukee Admirals lost 4-1 on the road against the Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night at the Van Andel Arena.

In the final game of the season at Grand Rapids the Griffins did what they’ve done all season in this match-up: win in regulation. The Admirals looked slow throughout this contest and a pair of early goals for the Griffins didn’t do them any favors. In the end, Anthony Mantha fired three rockets to earn his first professional hat trick. He also had an assist to make it a four-point night for himself as the Admirals three-game winning streak comes to a halt.

This game started off poor for the Admirals quickly when a good read by Anthony Mantha in the neutral zone sent him off behind the Admirals defense on a breakaway where he would be hooked up by Trevor Murphy to earn a penalty shot. Mantha stepped up, dangled forehand to backhand, and beat Marek Mazanec to the blocker side to score with ease and snap the Admirals combined shutout streak at 149:23 of ice time.

It took the Griffins only three-minutes to score yet again and make it a 2-0 first period lead inside of six-minutes of play. Nathan Paetsch hit a shot from the middle of the blueline that knuckleballed its way past Mazanec from distance with a big assist to the net-front screen set by Louis-Marc Aubry. Mazanec was moving the wrong way attempting to see around Aubry as the puck arrived and the result was Paetsch’s fourth scored this season.

In the second period Mantha added his second goal of the night to make it 3-0. Mark Zengerle passed across from the left wing to Mantha camped out above the right wing face-off circle. Mantha absolutely hammered the puck with a slap shot that went just beneath the crossbar and in to further the Griffins lead.

Only moments later it appeared that the Griffins beat Mazanec once again but the officials quickly waved off the play. Zengerle was attempting to play a loose and hopping puck with his stick but it was his leg that got all of the blunt force to knock the puck in from the right wing near post. After a quick review the official announcement was made that it was indeed a no goal. The presumed reasoning, of course, being that it was due to a distinct kicking motion on the part of Zengerle.

The third period provided a brief lapse of hope for the Admirals. As a delayed penalty was in the works a Cody Hodgson shot ripped wide of the net but fell in-line with the run of Taylor Aronson. The Ads defenseman had jumped up from the blueline, carried on to corral the puck, and deliver a wrap-around off on the left wing side of the net that beat Jared Coreau to the punch. The goal was Aronson’s fourth of the season.

The hats would rain down for Mantha after a power-play goal capped off a huge night for the Griffins winger. On a clearing attempt Mantha was able to glove a puck down, drop, step into the slot, and fire a shot past Mazanec to complete his hat trick. Mantha’s third goal of the night went down as his fifteenth of the season.

Mazanec might not have had the greatest help on the evening but, regardless, he takes the loss. He stopped 25/29 shots on goal to take his first regulation loss in net since 1/8/16 which also came, where else, in Grand Rapids.

Ramblings: Prior to tonight’s game the Nashville Predators announced that Gabriel Bourque would be assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals on a Long-Term Injury Loan. The terms of Bourque’s loan state that he cannot exceed up to either six-days time or three-games. This should mean Bourque will be with the Admirals through this weekend’s games with his inclusion in tonight’s contest. Tonight’s line combinations were: Reinhart-Sissons-Åberg, White-Hodgson-Görtz, Fiala-Gaudreau-Bourque, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Elliott, Murphy-Mullen, Alm-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were all considered healthy scratches: Joe Pendenza, Vladislav Kamenev, and Kristian Näkyvä.

Thoughts on tonight’s game? What is it about the Grand Rapids Griffins that they do so well against the Milwaukee Admirals? Is it just a match-up issue or are the Admirals exploiting some sort of weakness against the Griffins that others can take stock of?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, see our photos on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

News February 17, 2016February 19, 2016

Gabriel Bourque Assigned to Ads on Long-Term Injury Loan

(Photo Credit: Greg Hamil // Rockford IceHogs)

The Nashville Predators announced that Gabriel Bourque will be assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals on a Long-Term Injury Loan. The terms of Bourque’s loan state that he cannot exceed up to either six-days time or three-games. He is expected to take part in tonight’s contest against the Grand Rapids Griffins which would likely mean the upcoming three-game slate for the Admirals, including this weekend’s home games, will fulfill his loan.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, Tenn. (February 17, 2016) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Wednesday that the club has assigned forward Gabriel Bourque to Milwaukee (AHL) on a Long-Term Injury Loan. Bourque is expected to suit up for the Admirals tonight when they travel east to play the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Bourque, 25 (9/23/90), has missed the Predators last 35 games after leaving the team’s Nov. 27 game at Philadelphia with an upper-body injury. In 22 NHL games in 2015-16, the Rimouski, Quebec, native has four points (1g-3a). Nashville’s ninth choice, 132nd overall (fifth round), in the 2009 Entry Draft, Bourque last played for the Admirals in 2012-13, registering 12 points (7g-5a) in 15 games from October-January. He has 64 points (27g-37a) in 118 career AHL games.

The Nashville Predators continue their three-game home stand tomorrow night when they take on the Boston Bruins at 7 p.m. (TV: FOX Sports Tennessee; Radio 102.5 The Game). Students are encouraged to take advantage of the Subway Student Rush Night! Students have the option to purchase one Lower Bowl ticket for $39 or one Upper Bowl ticket for $19 for Thursday night games and receive a coupon for a free 6-inch sub (with the purchase of a 6-inch sub and drink) at any Middle Tennessee Subway restaurant. This offer is only available with a valid student I.D. and while supplies last.

Bourque, a fifth round pick of the Predators in the 2009 NHL Draft, started his professional playing career with the Admirals during the 2010-11 season. He has played 118 games at the AHL level and produced 64 points (27 goals, 37 assists). He will be wearing his Predators uniform number (#57) during his three-game loan with the Admirals.

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, see our photos on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Scouting February 17, 2016

Griffins: Scouting the Enemy

The Milwaukee Admirals 3-0 shutout of the Charlotte Checkers was their second consecutive shutout. The shutout streak for the Admirals, which features both Marek Mazanec and Juuse Saros, currently stands at 146:59 of ice time. Considering how hot Mazanec has been, limiting his young Finnish battery-mate’s appearances in net lately, it was an impressive game by Saros to play as calmly as he did in what was only his sixth start of the 2016 calendar year. Mazanec made that many starts in January. Saros has been playing the role of good teammate as the hot hand was being played, was given the opportunity on the front of a two-in-two to shine, and did. Brilliantly done.

The Admirals win made them the first team in the Western Conference to reach 31 wins this season. And, factoring in however the tiebreaks work in the AHL these days, the Admirals should now be on top of both the Central Division and Western Conference standings as they are in a grueling three-way tie with the Rockford IceHogs and Ontario Reign – who all have a 0.677 points percentage. The Admirals have more regulation wins. The Admirals have the head-to-head advantage over the IceHogs. The Reign play eight-less games than the rest of the AHL because they’re evil. It all makes sense to me.

~Not So Grand Griffins~

The Grand Rapids Griffins enter tonight’s game with a record of 27-19-1-1 56 points). Their 0.583 points percentage sees them sitting in fourth place in the Central Division standings and sixth place in the Western Conference standings.

Over their last ten-games the Griffins have gone 3-7-0-0 (6 points). The team has fluctuated pretty harshly in that time so it is always hard to gauge what sort of Griffins team will enter and exit. They started off this ten-game span with two straight shutout losses but are fully capable of a game such as a 9-1 thrashing of the Rockford IceHogs as the road team. Up. Down. Everywhere up but mostly down. Weird times.

What the Griffins are probably banking on is tonight’s match-up, at home against the Admirals, where they have won all three-games played while outscoring the Admirals 11-3. If the head-to-head in that building isn’t enough the Griffins also get a tired Admirals team that have traveled a long bus trip from Milwaukee to Grand Rapids after having shutout the Checkers last night. This will be the Admirals third-game in four-days and fourth-game in six-days. The Admirals are setup for a slight bit of a gas tank issue tonight if the Griffins, who last played on Sunday to finish off a three-in-three, play their cards right.

That being said, the last time these two teams met might have been one of the better performances of the season from the Admirals. They beatdown the Griffins 7-3 and finally put a solid dent to the Admiral Killer status of goaltender Jared Coreau who stopped 19/23 shots on goal before being pulled from the net in favor of Tom McCollum. Let this be a silver lining that despite the wear of recent games – the Griffins current stumbling form and Admirals last match-up might see the Ads take their first win in Grand Rapids this season.

~Who What Now?~

The Griffins leading scorer right now is Andy Miele with 35 points (9 goals, 26 assists) in 48 games. He is closely followed by the team’s top two goal scorers: Eric Tangradi with 33 points (17 goals, 16 assists) and Martin Frk with 29 points (19 goals, 10 assists).

When looking at the head-to-head numbers this season the name Louis-Marc Aubry comes up as the Griffins top scorer against the Admirals. That’s a slight eyebrow raiser when you consider his season to date has him at a modest 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) through 47 games. Yet, when he has played against the Admirals, Aubry has scored 7 points (6 goals, 1 assist) in 6 games. Quite impressive to see that 2/3 of his goals on the season have come against the Admirals.

Expectations for tonight’s game? Are you concerned that fatigue will get the better of the Admirals in this game? How important is it for the Admirals to win their first game of the season in Grand Rapids tonight?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.

Chatterbox February 17, 2016February 17, 2016

Chatterbox, Vol. 110

Let’s take a gander at the Milwaukee Admirals recent three-game homestand, shall we? They defeated the Rockford IceHogs in a comeback thrill ride that ended 4-3 in overtime. They shutout the Iowa Wild in a slow and grinding game that ended in a 2-0 final. Then, last night, they took care of business in a similarly played contest to the one previous and earned a 3-0 shutout of the Charlotte Checkers.

These games haven’t been flashy. They haven’t featured a high powered offense that is blowing people away. They’ve been playing what I consider to be playoff style hockey and really digging in deep to yield great results. These last three-games have all physically demanding, high pressure, grinding, chess-match like defensive battles that have all come up with the same result: the Admirals win.

Since the Nashville Predators swapped out Victor Bartley and Conor Allen for Stefan Elliott and Patrick Mullen the Admirals have gone 8-1-1-0 and have four shutouts. …sorry Marek Mazanec, splice-y splice-y some audio, but I do think that has made a heck of a difference.

Since January 15th, when the last trade to bring in Elliott went down and Mullen made his Admirals debut, the team has held their opponents to an average of 24.0 shots on goal per game. They’ve only been outshot by their opposition once and have only allowed 30 shots on goal once. Both of those instances came when they beat Rockford in OT (2/12/16). They have twice held their opponents to less than 20 shots on goal: at San Antonio (1/15/16) and at Lake Erie (1/23/16). The penalty kill of the Admirals has gone a dominant 31/33 for a 0.939 penalty kill percentage.

In short, while what’s happening in the net has been outstanding what is happening in front of the net lately is even better. Both Mazanec and his pal Juuse Saros are doing great. They have been all season. When you adjust the way the Admirals defense operates with three left-shooting defensemen and three right-shooting defensemen it makes for quicker exits on defense and the goaltenders have been benefiting from limited attacking zone time as a result. The less shots you face the lesser the chances will be that a high quality scoring chance gets produced. The less high quality scoring chances that get produced, well, just look at the Admirals last two results because that’s essentially what happens. Get some quality from the forwards, as Matt White and Max Görtz were able to link up twice and do last night, and it’s a recipe for success. Defense – to offense. The Admirals are on fire with that formula right now.

~Chatterbox~

After the game, I joined Mr. Dave Boehler (he has a blog) to interview Milwaukee Admirals head coach Dean Evason. We then chatted with Saros, White, and Görtz for their thoughts on the game. Here is what they had to say after the shutout of the Checkers all just moments before hitting up the bus and getting to Grand Rapids for tonight’s game.

Comments on the comments? How important was it for the Admirals to shift towards a clean split of three right shots and three left shots on defense? Will the Admirals be gassed for tonight’s game against the Griffins in Grand Rapids?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, see our photos on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

Game Recaps February 16, 2016February 16, 2016

Two Goalies, Two Games, Two Shutouts; Ads win 3-0

The Milwaukee Admirals recorded a 3-0 shutout against the Charlotte Checkers Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Juuse Saros picked up his second shutout of the season by stopping all twenty-six shots on goal. This comes on the heels of Marek Mazanec’s twenty-three save shutout of the Iowa Wild on Sunday to make it back-to-back shutouts. That’s the first back-to-back shutouts from the Admirals since January 9-10, 2015 when Mazanec and Magnus Hellberg did the job. Like last season, the second of those two shutouts came against the Checkers.

After what could be considered a dud of a first period for both sides the game opened up in the second period and saw the Admirals notch the opener.

Matt White caught the Checkers in a bad change which put Max Görtz behind their defense. White’s pass hit Görtz in stride and the Swede’s shot powered through Checkers goaltender Drew MacIntyre. The puck squeaked through his gear but didn’t stray too far. Fortunately Görtz followed in to push the puck behind to record his tenth goal of the season.

The Görtz-White combo linked up once again for the Admirals second goal of the second period. The Checkers goaltending has had a rough go of things coming into tonight and this goal was an example of that. White fired a wrister from behind the cage that ricocheted off of MacIntyre’s shoulder and up into the top of the net. The goal for White was his seventh of the season.

The third period saw Juuse Saros hold the fort just long enough for the Admirals to take the empty net goal and seal things off. Kevin Fiala made a crafty move to avoid a stick check before wiring a wrister into the empty cage for his tenth goal of the season.

Saros made it back-to-back shutouts for the Admirals. His game was calm and consistent throughout the night and appeared to get better later into the game. In total he stopped twenty-six shots on goal to record his second shutout of the season. The Admirals now have six shutouts between their two goaltenders on the season.

Ramblings: Since the Milwaukee Admirals played on Sunday there were no roster moves made in the organization. Tonight’s line combinations were: White-Hodgson-Åberg, Reinhart-Sissons-Gaudreau, Fiala-Kamenev-Görtz, Devane-Girard-Payerl, Oligny-Elliott, Näkyvä-Mullen, Alm-Aronson. Tonight’s scratches were both healthy: Joe Pendenza and Trevor Murphy. Tonight’s attendance was 2,780. The Admirals bus for Grand Rapids officially left at 10:30 PM following the conclusion of the game.

What was your take from tonight’s game? While the Admirals offense hasn’t exactly been at its finest these last three games what can be said of their defense?

Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, see our photos on Instagram, and listen along on SoundCloud.

News & Discussion Site For Your Milwaukee Admirals