Admirals Return from All-Star Break Friday
Published on February 2, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release
Milwaukee, WI-Following this weekend's All-Star game festivities, the Milwaukee Admirals (42 Games Played, 22-18-1-1-46 points, 4th place Midwest Division, 9th place Western Conference, 18th place AHL) will play their first game back from the break Friday night at home against Midwest Division rival Peoria (45 GP, 22-20-2-1-47 points, 3rd place Midwest Division, 8th place Western Conference, 17th place AHL), before travelling to the Lone Star state for a game at Houston (44 GP, 21-11-3-9-54 points, 2nd place West Division, 4th place Western Conference, 9th place AHL) Sunday afternoon, followed by Tuesday and Wednesday contests at Texas (43 GP, 20-20-1-2-43 points, 5th place West Division, 13th place Western Conference, 27th place AHL) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Friday's home tilt against the Rivermen will mark the teams' ninth of 12 meetings this season. Milwaukee won the first five contests all in regulation, but Peoria has taken the next three, including a 6-3 decision at home on the morning of Jan. 24 (the most recent matchup). When the teams last skated at Bradley Center, the Rivermen posted a 1-0 victory on New Year's Day. Peoria forward Adam Cracknell scored the game's only goal at 11:41 of the second period on a power play, while Rivermen goaltender Ben Bishop stopped all 18 Admirals shots. Milwaukee netminder Atte Engren (Rauma, Finland) stopped 28 of 29 shots to take the loss.
Sunday's matinee contest at Houston will mark the first meeting between the Admirals and Aeros since the two squads faced off in last spring's West Division finals. Houston won that series in seven games before advancing to the Calder Cup finals, where the Aeros fell in six games to AHL-champion Binghamton. Over the past five years Milwaukee has dominated the regular season matchups between the two teams, owning a 19-6-1-2 record against Houston. Milwaukee won four of six meetings a year ago against an Aeros squad that finished with 98 points, good enough for second place in the West Division (trailing only the Admirals).
Milwaukee's back to back weekday games against Texas will mark Milwaukee's only trip to Austin during the 2011-2012 campaign, and will wrap up the teams' four game season series. The Admirals and Stars split the first two matchups, both at the Bradley Center, with Texas winning the first battle 5-3 on Oct. 19, while Milwaukee took the second 2-1 on Jan. 14. Admirals forward Joel Champagne (LaSalle, Quebec) scored the game winning goal at 9:47 of the first period, while goaltender Jeremy Smith (Dearborn, Michigan) stopped 25 of 26 Texas shots. Forward Mike Hedden scored the Stars' only goal, while former NHL Calder trophy winner Andrew Raycroft took the loss making 24 saves in net for Texas.
Key Statistics:
MILWAUKEE's home record: (4th best AHL) 22 GP, 14-7-1-0-29 points; road record: (29th best AHL) 20 GP, 8-11-0-1-17 points.
Peoria's road record: (16th) 22 GP, 12-9-1-0-24 points.
Houston's home record: (24th) 22 GP, 7-6-3-6-23 points.
Texas's home record: (25th) 19 GP, 10-7-1-1-22 points.
Active Leading Scorers Per Team as of February 2:
MILWAUKEE: Chris Mueller (19 goals & 11 assists, 30 points); Kyle Wilson (9 goals & 19 assists, 28 points); Juuso Puustinen (14 goals & 12 assists, 26 points).
Peoria: T. J. Hensick (16 goals & 37 assists, 53 points); Brett Sterling (17 goals & 21 assists, 38 points); Derek Nesbitt (15 goals & 17 assists, 32 points).
Houston: Jon DiSalvatore (14 goals & 19 assists, 33 points); Justin Fontaine (10 goals & 17 assists, 27 points); Jeff Taffe (7 goals & 20 assists, 27 points).
Texas: Travis Morin (5 goals & 33 assists, 38 points); Matt Fraser (21 goals & 14 assists, 35 points); Colton Sceviour (8 goals & 20 assists, 28 points).
Power play:
MILWAUKEE: (7th best AHL) 34 goals scored in 166 chances, 20.5% success rate, 3 shorthanded goals allowed.
Peoria: (4th) 41 goals scored in 191 chances, 21.5% success rate, 4 shorthanded goals allowed.
Houston: (12th) 37 goals scored in 200 chances, 18.5% success rate, 6 shorthanded goals allowed.
Texas: (5th) 43 goals scored in 203 chances, 21.2%, 5 shorthanded goals allowed.
Penalty killing:
MILWAUKEE: (29th best AHL) 43 goals allowed in 185 times shorthanded, 76.8% success rate, 1 shorthanded goal scored (Mark Van Guilder).
Peoria: (8th) 34 goals allowed in 202 times shorthanded, 83.2% success rate, 2 shorthanded goals scored.
Houston: (25th) 38 goals allowed in 174 times shorthanded, 78.2% success rate, 4 shorthanded goals scored.
Texas: (10th) 28 goals allowed in 165 times shorthanded, 83.0% success rate, 9 shorthanded goals scored.
National Hockey League Affiliates:
MILWAUKEE: Nashville Predators
Peoria: St. Louis Blues
Houston: Minnesota Wild
Texas: Dallas Stars
American Hockey League Stories from February 2, 2012
- Aeros Top Stars 3-1 - Houston Aeros
- Rampage Blanked by Barons, 3-0 - San Antonio Rampage
- Aeros Slip Past Stars 3-1 - Texas Stars
- Leggio's 33-Save Shutout Helps Amerks Blank Abbots - Rochester Americans
- Richmond Acquired in Exchange for Carman - Cleveland Monsters
- Matt Ford Acquired for Kevin Marshall - Adirondack Phantoms
- Rampage Pink in the Rink Night Sold Out - San Antonio Rampage
- Pearce and Thomas Assigned to Toledo - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Capitals Acquire Kevin Marshall from Philadelphia and Mike Carman from Colorado - Hershey Bears
- Capitals Assign Cody Eakin to Hershey - Hershey Bears
- Crunch Announce Details of Kelloggs & Nestle TOPS Friendly Markets Purchase Incentive Program - Syracuse Crunch
- Brookbank Returns to Rockford, Signs a PTO - Rockford IceHogs
- Following All-Star Break, Norfolk Sets Sail for Three Games in Three Nights on Road - Norfolk Admirals
- Admirals Return from All-Star Break Friday - Milwaukee Admirals
- Amerks Alumni to Take Part in Mend-A-Broken Heart Pub Crawl - Rochester Americans
- San Jose Sharks Recall AHL All-Star Goaltender Tyson Sexsmith from Worcester - Worcester Sharks
- AHL Weekly - AHL
- Josh Brittain Reassigned to Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
- B-Sens Reassign Forward Corey Cowick to Elmira - Binghamton Senators
- Griffins Play Three Home Games in Three Nights Next Weekend - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Presbyterian Hospital Pink in the Rink Set for February 25 - Charlotte Checkers
- Whale Release Aaron Voros from PTO - Connecticut Whale
- Gameday Preview - Texas at Houston - Texas Stars
- Binghamton Senators Right Wing Andre Petersson Named Reebok/AHL Rookie of the Month - Binghamton Senators
- Schnell and Chupp up from Wheeling, Rust and Wild Signed to AHL Contracts - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Poulin Named Reebok/AHL Goaltender of the Month - Bridgeport Islanders
- Cizikas Named Reebok/AHL Player of the Month - Bridgeport Islanders
- Cizikas, Petersson, Poulin Named AHL Monthly Award Winners for January - AHL
- Heat at Americans Game Preview - Abbotsford Heat
- Phantoms Weekly - Adirondack Phantoms
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