Predators’ prospect Anthony Richard led the way with his first career hat trick to secure a 7-3 victory over the San Antonio Rampage on Tuesday evening. Four different Admirals scored in this massive victory over the Rampage.
This was the first game of a nine game home stand for the Milwaukee Admirals, which the Admirals are looking forward to utilizing to its full extent as they try to close the gap to reclaim the top spot in the Central division.
Scoring started quickly in the first period at 3:35 when Cole Schneider scored his first goal as an Admiral and his 14th goal of the season. The goal was a backhanded tap in past San Antonio’s Jared Coreau.
A little over a minute later Anthony Richard scored his first goal of the night at 4:57 with an assist from Yakov Trenin (11) and Joe Pendenza (5). Three minutes and fifty seconds later Richard sniped a goal right over the shoulder of Coreau with assists from the exact same players as his first goal. San Antonio did manage a goal at 13:25 by Joey LaLeggia (6).
The second period was all Milwaukee with Yakov Trenin tallying his first goal of the night at 7:09 with assists from Emil Pettersson (19) and Matt Donovan (13). Top Predators prospect Eeli Tolvanen (5) scored his first goal since returning from the World Juniors Cup at 14:24 when he was dropped a pass of a rebound by Cole Schneider that he was able to wrist quickly past Coreau.
Twenty seconds later Anthony Richard would finish off his hat trick with a wrist shot from the top of the circle the beat Coreau’s left side. This goal took place while the Admirals were on the powerplay after an interference call on San Antonio’s Ryan Olsen. That was Richard’s 17th goal of the season, which makes him the team leader in goals so far this season. That goal also ended Jared Coreau’s night in favor of Devin Williams who would face the final 11 shots from the Admirals for 25:16 of the game.
Richard’s hat trick was not the end of scoring for the night. Nolan Stevens was able to tally San Antonio’s second goal of the game, beating Milwaukee netminder Troy Grosenick. Yakov Trenin was able to score his second goal of the game less than a minute after the Stevens goal. San Antonio defenseman Joey LaLeggia scored his second goal at 4:03 in the third.
Milwaukee dominated play through this matchup, which is the second dominant performance by the Admirals offense in a row. Both Tuesday’s game and Sunday’s took place after Colin Blackwell had been called up by the Nashville Predators. Blackwell had been a powerful force for Milwaukee’s offense. Milwaukee, unsurprisingly, led shots on goal 35-23 throughout the game.
Game Notes:
As previously mentioned, this is the start of a nine game home stand for the Admirals. The Admirals, however, are second to last in the Central division in terms of wins at home. Their current record at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena is 10-7-2. The only team with a worse record at home is the Rockford IceHogs (8-8-1-2). If the Admirals continue their dominant offensive play, they should be able to improve that record.
The Admirals have scored a few powerplay goals over the last few contests, which has been a nice change of pace for the team. They are currently sitting at 16.1% on the powerplay which is 5th in the Central division.
What a game for Anthony Richard! I think that Anthony Richard is somehow flying under the radar in discussions about Predators prospects. His offensive performance for the Admirals this season has been incredible. At the end of Tuesday’s game he has 17 goals this season. Excluding Cole Schneider, who is sitting at 14 goals (13 of which were with the Hartford Wolf Pack), the second highest goal scorer for the Admirals is defenseman Matt Donovan (10). Eeli Tolvanan has 5 goals with the Admirals this season, but has played in 14 fewer games than Richard.
The Admirals play again on Friday January 25th against the Iowa Wild and then have two pairings with the Manitoba Moose. The Admirals have struggled with these two teams this season, but hopefully will continue their offensive performance and close the gap to get back to first place.
