The Milwaukee Admirals were defeated by Central Division rival Chicago Wolves on Tuesday morning. The final score was 5-3.
The scoreboard takes away from the valiant effort that the Admirals put forth in Tuesday’s contest. The Admirals certainly set the tone for this game with a fast start that put the Chicago Wolves on defense early. That pressure was usurped when Milwaukee took its first penalty of the game at 4:16. Matt Donovan was called for interference and the Admirals went on the penalty kill. Up to this point Milwaukee had killed 19 straight penalties, but Chicago leftwinger Daniel Carr was just getting started for the day. Brooks Macek (3) put his shot on Milwaukee netminder Troy Grosenick which was deflected off of his right pad to Carr who was able to beat Grosenick’s right side. Milwaukee would feel the sting of its weak powerplay not long after when Chicago was able to kill a T.J. Tynan holding penalty at 7:44 and a Matthew Weis tripping minor at 11:10. Late into the first period Dan Carr put his second goal of the game off a rebound from a Macek (4) shot near the left post.
The Admirals came into the second period ready to mount a comeback from their 2-0 deficit. Team captain Jarred Tinordi scored his first goal as an Admiral at 4:22 when he and Yakov Trenin (3) had a 2-on-1 attack. Trenin completed a textbook pass in front of Chicago goaltender Oscar Dansk. Tinordi was able to bury it to cut the Chicago lead in half. Chicago leftwinger Curtis McKenzie and Milwaukee defenseman Brian Cooper both went to the box at 4:22 for roughing and cross-checking respectively. At 5:28 Milwaukee went on the powerplay again as Erik Brannstrom was called for holding the stick of Yakov Trenin who just completed a weak shot on goal. At 6:16 Colin Blackwell (2) was able to tie the game off of a beautiful pass from between the circles by Eeli Tolvanen (7). Blackwell shot the one timer from his knee past Dansk. Tinordi then took two subsequent penalties at 8:40 (hooking) and 11:56(tripping). Milwaukee was able to kill off both of these penalties. Colin Blackwell was called from hooking at 15:59 which allowed Daniel Carr to complete his hat trick as he scored at 10:03. Carr was able to fight his way through traffic to tap the puck over the right shoulder of Grosenick. There would be two more penalties in the period. At 18:39 Chicago’s Reid Duke and Milwaukee’s Joonas Lyytinen went to the box. Lyytinen was called first for tripping and then during the faceoff Duke used his hand which was called for a delay of game penalty.
With the score being 3-2 going into the third period, the Admirals knew their time was limited to mount a comeback. Leading goal scorer Matt Donovan (7) scored the second powerplay goal of the day for Milwaukee with a slapshot from the top of the circle to beat Dansk’s left shoulder. Frederic Allard (10) and Zach Magwood (2) had the assists. At 6:33 the two teams went back to 4 on 4 hockey after Admirals Matthew Lane was called for holding and Chicago’s T.J. Tynan was called for diving/embellishment. At 7:13, Chicago’s Erik Brannstrom (3) was able to put a backhanded tap through to score Chicago’s fourth goal of the game. Daniel Carr (8) was still not done when at 10:03 he was dropped a pass from Macek (7) and was able to shoot it over Troy Grosenick who made a questionable attempt at a diving save. Needless to say, it was Carr’s easiest goal of the game. The Admirals pulled Grosenick in favor of an extra attacker with about a minute and a half left in the game. With no luck, the Admirals dropped their fourth straight match. Chicago goaltender Oskar Dansk has still not lost a game in regulation to the Milwaukee Admirals in his career.
Milwaukee managed to improve one of the biggest pitfalls the team has faced so far this season: their powerplay. The team scored two of their three goals while on the powerplay in this matchup. They were also able to improve their overall powerplay percentage to 20%. Chicago however, was also able to improve their powerplay percentage to 18%.
The Admirals penalty kill however, went a different direction. Milwaukee’s penalty kill took its first dip below 90% for the season to 88.9%. Four of the seven powerplay goals the Admirals have allowed this season have come from the Chicago Wolves. Not being able to play 5-on-5 hockey has been hurting the Admirals. The Admirals have spent 166 minute in the penalty box so far this season.
The Admirals did manage to maintain their first place spot in the Central Division, despite their loss on Tuesday. The Admirals still sit with 19 points, Chicago added 2 and are at 17. The Admirals take on another Central Division rival later this week, the Rockford IceHogs, before facing Chicago again on Sunday. Rockford could be an interesting opponent as their head coach was just hired to replace Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. Hopefully with the shakeup, the Admirals will be able to add to the victory column.
