AHL Milwaukee Admirals

Admirals Begin Crucial Roadtrip in Charlotte

Published on April 3, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release


Milwaukee, WI.-The Milwaukee Admirals (68 Games Played, 34-28-2-4-74 points, 5th place Midwest Division, 12th place Western Conference, 20th place AHL) will take to the road this week embarking on the team's final and longest road trip of the season. The trip begins Tuesday night with a pair of games in Charlotte (68 GP, 35-24-3-6-79 points, 2nd place West Division, 5th place Western Conference, 11th place AHL) concluding on Thursday, followed by contests at San Antonio (70 GP, 37-28-3-2-79 points, 3rd place West Division, 6th place Western Conference, 12th place AHL) and Houston 70 GP, 32-23-5-10-79 points, 4th place West Division, 7th place Western Conference, 13th place AHL) over the weekend. Milwaukee will complete its Texas swing with another game at San Antonio on Tuesday night.

The Admirals' pair of weekday games against the Checkers represent Milwaukee's final trip to Charlotte this season, and the sixth and seventh meetings of the season between the Midwest Division rivals. The Admirals own just one victory in the season series to date, picking up a 3-1 win in the first ever matchup between the two squads on Nov. 4. Charlotte scored victories in the last four contests, including a 2-1 overtime decision in the teams' most recent encounter on Feb. 10 at the Bradley Center. In its only two prior games at Time Warner Cable Arena, Milwaukee lost back-to-back games to the Checkers by scores of 3-2 and 5-1 respectively, on Nov. 26 and 27. The two defeats represented Kirk Muller's final two games as coach of the Admirals. Muller became the new head coach of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 28. Milwaukee will return home to conclude its eight game season series with Charlotte on April 15 in its final game of the 2011-2012 regular season.

Saturday night Milwaukee travels to San Antonio for the first time this season. In the two prior meetings against the Rampage, both at the Bradley Center, Milwaukee picked a pair of victories, including a 3-1 decision in the teams' most recent encounter on Feb. 26. Milwaukee forward Ryan Flynn (Lino Lakes, Minnesota) scored the game winning goal at 8:43 of the third period, while goaltender Jeremy Smith (Dearborn, Michigan) made Flynn's tally stand with 31 saves. San Antonio goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris stopped 25 pucks in the loss. The win improved Milwaukee's record to 21-7-2-2 over the past five years versus the Rampage. The two teams will conclude their four game season series three nights later at a return engagement at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, wrapping up the Admirals season schedule against the West Division.

On Sunday afternoon the Admirals will try to complete a four-game series sweep against the reigning Western Conference playoff champion Aeros, which ousted Milwaukee from the second round of the AHL playoffs last season. Last Wednesday the Admirals scored a dramatic 3-2 come from behind overtime victory against Houston, improving their record to 3-0-0-0 against Houston this season. After Milwaukee forward Brodie Dupont (Russell, Manitoba) scored the equalizer at 5:22 of the third period, fellow Admirals forward Kyle Wilson (Oakville, Ontario) finished off the Aeros on a power play goal with four seconds remaining in overtime. Smith made 31 saves to earn the victory, while Houston goaltender Matt Hackett stopped 22 of 25 shots to take the loss. In their only prior game at the Toyota Center, Milwaukee registered a 2-1 win over the Aeros, helping the Admirals post a 22-6-1-2 record against Houston over the past five seasons.

Key Statistics:

MILWAUKEE's road record: (28th best AHL) 31 Games Played, 13-16-0-2-28 points.

Charlotte's home record: (15th best AHL) 34 GP, 18-12-1-3-40 points.

San Antonio's home record: (27th) 33 GP, 17-15-0-1-35 points.

Houston's home record: (18th) 33 GP, 14-8-4-7-39 points.

Active Leading Scorers as of April 3:

MILWAUKEE: Chris Mueller (28 goals & 25 assists, 53 points); Kyle Wilson (19 goals & 28 assists, 47 points); Taylor Beck (13 goals & 24 assists, 37 points).

Charlotte: Chris Terry (15 goals & 42 assists, 57 points); Bobby Sanguinetti (9 goals & 33 assists, 42 points); Zach Boychuk (19 goals & 21 assists, 40 points).

San Antonio: Jon Matsumoto (21 goals & 36 assists, 57 points); Bill Thomas (25 goals & 22 assists, 47 points); Bracken Kearns (19 goals & 28 assists, 47 points).

Houston: Jon DiSalvatore (26 goals & 31 assists, 57 points); Justin Fontaine (15 goals & 35 assists, 50 points); Jeff Taffe (17 goals & 32 assists, 49 points).

Power play:

MILWAUKEE: (9th best AHL) 51 goals scored in 265 chances, 19.2% success rate, 5 shorthanded goals allowed.

Charlotte: (4th) 61 goals scored in 306 chances, 19.9% success rate, 7 shorthanded goals allowed.

San Antonio: (24th) 37 goals scored in 242 chances, 15.3% success rate, 8 shorthanded goals allowed.

Houston: (13th) 54 goals scored in 306 chances, 17.6% success rate, 9 shorthanded goals allowed.

Penalty killing:

MILWAUKEE: (20th best AHL) 54 goals allowed in 293 times shorthanded, 81.6% success rate, 5 shorthanded goals scored.

Charlotte: (2nd) 37 goals allowed in 256 times shorthanded, 85.5 % success rate, 6 shorthanded goals scored.

San Antonio: (23rd) 52 goals allowed in 271 times shorthanded, 80.8% success rate, 4 shorthanded goals scored.

Houston: (28th) 55 goals allowed in 273 times shorthanded, 79.9% success rate, 6 shorthanded goals scored.

National Hockey League Affiliates:

MILWAUKEE: Nashville Predators

Charlotte: Carolina Hurricanes

San Antonio: Florida Panthers

Houston: Minnesota Wild

Check out the Milwaukee Admirals Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2012


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