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 Milwaukee Admirals

Admirals Get by Griffins 5-4

November 16, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


Milwaukee, WI- Milwaukee Admirals defenseman Cody Franson scored two goals and Hugh Jessiman broke a 4-4 tie to lead the Ads to a 5-4 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins Sunday afternoon at the Bradley Center.

The Admirals got on the board within the first minute of the game for the second time this weekend when they scored just 32 second into the game. The play started when the Griffins attempted to get the puck out of the zone by bouncing it off the boards. Defenseman Cody Franson was there to shut down the clearing attempt, and with pressure from the Grand Rapids forwards he was forced to pass across the blue line to fellow D-man Mark Matheson. Matheson threw in a high wrist shot blocker side which was tipped by forward Triston Grant for the first goal of the game. It was Grant's second goal in as many games.

The second goal of the period would also be in the Admirals favor when Antti Pihlstrom put in his sixth marker of the season. Andreas Thuresson and Pihlstrom capitalized on a Grand Rapids turnover in the neutral zone and ended up with a two-on-one coming into the Griffins zone. Rather than pass, Pilhstrom saw an opening on the blocker side of netminder Jim Howard and fired it on the spot. Thuresson recorded his eighth point of the season with the assist, and now is +8 on the year.

Although the period was close to over with just a minute, the Admirals were hungry for another goal. Forward Mike Santorelli skated around the net and with nowhere to go he back-handed a pass to Cody Franson on the point who sent a rocket slapshot past a screened Howard for his third goal of the season. Stephen Werner also recorded an assist on the play.

The Griffins got on the scoreboard in the second period. Former Admiral Darren Haydar gave a crisp pass to Ville Leino on the blue line. Leino took an off-balance slapshot that went wide of the net, but forward Landon Wilson was right on the side of the goal to tap in a rebound past Ads netminder Mark Dekanich. It was Wilson's seventh goal of the season.

At 13:32 Franson would help the Ads to regain a three-goal-lead with another high-speed ripper from the blue line that lazered past a screened Howard. O'Reilly notched his first point of the night with an assist on the play, and Mike Santorelli picked up his second assist.

Before the half-way mark of the period the Griffins would make it a tie game with three goals in just 57 seconds. The first one came from a slapshot right off a face-off in the Ads zone by Garret Stafford, with an assist coming from the center-man Cory Emmerton and Ryan Oulahen. The second two goals were both trickle in rebounds scored by Ryan Oulahen and Mattias Ritola. The Admirals would then make a change in pace by sending in Drew MacIntyre to relieve Mark Dekanich.

The Ads would get the lead back for good with the help of Milwaukee newcomer Hugh Jessiman. Center Cal O'Reilly was skating around the net with the puck when he fed it to Jessiman in front of the net on the blocker side of Howard. The puck got stuck in his skates and as he fell to his knees he rolled the puck behind him, squeezing past Howard on the far side at 13:31 of the second and it put the Ads up 5-4 going into the third.

The third period would see no scoring, but the Admirals were forced to kill off a pair of crucial Grand Rapids power-play opportunities as the Griffins outshot Milwaukee 11-1.

Franson paced the Milwaukee offense with three points (2g-1a), while O'Reilly (2a), Mike Santorelli (2a), and Pihlstrom (1g-1a) each chipped in two points for the Ads.


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