While the Nashville Predators were busy winning their second straight shootout win again the Minnesota Wild, the Milwaukee Admirals were fighting for their playoff lives against the Texas Stars. And boy did they fight…
The Admirals have struggled against this Texas Stars team all season but desperately needed the two points in order to push towards earning a playoff berth. Milwaukee decisively earned those two points in a 6-2 victory on Tuesday night.
Texas took the lead in the first period on a powerplay after a Garret Ross hooking penalty at 7:26. Michael Mersch beat Admirals goaltender Troy Grosenick for his 17th goal of the season. Early in the second period Texas extended their lead to two when Denis Gurianov scored only 36 seconds into the period. That was the end of the night for Texas.
At 7:14 in the second Anthony Richard (19) beat Texas’ Landon Bow on the powerplay after a Nicholas Caamano slashing minor. Before the Stars were even able to touch the puck Richard fired a shot over Bow’s left shoulder from the circle.
Garret Ross scored his fourth goal of the season at 9:34 when he deflected a shot by Phil Di Giuseppe (5) that slipped passed Bow in order to tie the game. About a minute and a half later at 10:51 Vince Pedrie (2) blasted a slapshot to score from near the blue line.
At 15:50 Laurent Dauphin had a beautiful wrap around shot as he came from behind the net and was able to score his 9th goal of the season. The Dauphin goal came while Texas was on a powerplay. To wrap up the second period, team captain Jarred Tinordi scored his third goal in just as many games (and 7th of the season) as his shot from the top of the circle was bobbled by Bow before trickling into the net.
At 7:46 Joe Pendenza had a breakaway while on a penalty kill and received a pass by Justin Kirkland to score his third goal of the season. This was Milwaukee’s second short handed goal of the game. Grosenick turned away 23 of 25 shots and earned a greatly needed win.
Game Notes:
The Admirals needed this win. They will need to continue to work hard and play like they did on Tuesday in order to earn their playoff spot. This win moved them into a three-way tie for 4th place. They will need to establish that 4th place spot for themselves. If Texas beats Grand Rapids Wednesday evening, they will move into 4th place.
The team play in this win looked better than it has in a long time for Milwaukee. It really seemed like something clicked in that game. It was also Milwaukee’s first game at home in nearly three weeks.
The last time Milwaukee had two shorthanded goals was on December 21, 2015 against Rockford. The last time that they did it at home was in 2007 and both of those were scored by Cal O’Reilly.
The last time the Admirals scored five goals in a single period was January 30, 2016. Those goals were scored by Pontus Aberg, Viktor Arvidsson, Kevin Fiala, Cody Hodgson, and Joe Pendenza. (Courtesy: Aaron Sims)
The Admirals have a few tough matchups coming up. On Friday they face off against the Chicago Wolves. On Saturday they’ll play 1st place Grand Rapids.
