Milwaukee Admirals Game Notes
May 8, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Milwaukee Admirals News Release
OVERALL...The Admirals and Aeros play game six of the West Division Finals tonight, after the Houston grabbed a 3-2 series lead with a 3-2 OT win on Friday. Milwaukee finished the regular season with 102 points and earned the first seed, while Houston was close behind the Ads in second with 98 points. This is the ninth consecutive season the Ads have qualified for the post-season and the 31st time in 34 years that Milwaukee has hit the ice in the playoffs. Including Thursday's game the team's all-time playoff record stands at 99-128 and since joining the AHL in 2001 the Admirals have tallied a 53-42 mark with a 30-20 record at the Bradley Center.
SERIES SO FAR...The Admirals took a 3-1 win over the Aeros in game one of the series on Friday night. Milwaukee picked up goals by Steve Begin and Taylor Beck just 41 seconds apart in the first period to jump out to an early lead while Jeremy Smith made 25 saves in the win. In game two Houston goalie Matt Hackett turned aside all 21 shots thrown his way to earn his first shutout of the playoffs. Warren Peters and Colton Gillies lit the lamp for Houston. Milwaukee scored three straight goals in game 3 to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead and then answered a pair of third period goals from Houston with two of their own to earn a 5-3 victory. Friday night in game 4 the Aeros outshot the Ads 33-13, but Milwaukee was still able to push the game into overtime before Carson McMillan won it for Houston at 3:35 of OT. Andreas Thuresson and Aaron Johnson tallied for the Admirals. Then in game 5 the Ads took a 2-0 lead deep into the third, but Houston scored twice in the last five minutes of regulation and Robbie Earl won it for the Aeros at 8:35 of OT to give them the series lead.
WORKING OVERTIME...For the second straight game the Admirals and Aeros needed extra time to determine a winner. It was already the fifth game this post-season that has gone behind extra time for the Ads. Four of those five games have taken place on the road and the Ads are 2-3 in those contests. The five OT games are the most in one post-season for the Admirals since they had a team-record seven in 2003-04 on their way to the Calder Cup Championship. Since joining the AHL the Ads have compiled a 12-7 overtime record.
FACING THE FIRING SQUAD...In spite of suffering the loss in each of the past two games, Admirals netminder Jeremy Smith continues his remarkable play in the post-season. In game 5 the Dearnborn, MI native turned aside 50 shots, the second time this post-season that he has made 50 or more saves in one game. In the past two contests he has combined for 80 saves, while the Ads have managed just 28 shots on net. During the post season Smith leads the league with 365 saves to go along with a 2.07 goals against average and a .936 save percentage.
LET IT BEGIN...In 36 games with the Admirals during the regular season Steve Begin didn't have a multi-point game and had six points (3g-3a). However, in the first five games of the series with Houston, Begin has already matched those numbers, posting three goals and three assists, including a the team's first shorthanded goal of the post-season in game 5. The Trois Riverios, QE native, who missed much of the regular season due to injury, is a veteran of over 485 NHL games and won the AHL Playoff MVP award with the St. John Flames in 2001.
STATS AND STUFF...All-time in game number six the Admirals are 6-12, including a 5-4 mark since joining the AHL. Milwaukee has won their last three game sixes, including a 3-2 double OT win over Texas in the West Division Semifinals to clinch the series. Milwaukee faces a 3-2 series deficit for the 12th time in franchise history and they have come back to win a series just one time when facing that situation. That was back in 2003-04 when they topped Cincinnati in the West Division Semifinals after trailing 3-2 on their way to the Calder Cup Title. When facing elimination, the Admirals are 17-28 all-time, with an 8-7 record since joining the AHL.
FINDING HIS TOUCH...Admirals forward Andreas Thuresson tallied another goal for the team Thursday night, his second in as many games and his third of the post-season. Thuresson is fifth on the team with six points (3g-3a) in the playoffs, including a pair of mulit-point games. The Kristianstad, Sweden native finished the regular season with 14 goals and 24 assists in 76 games with the Admirals, his fourth year with the team.
POWER STRUGGLES...The Admirals power-play unit continues to struggle in the West Division Finals, scoring just one time in 22 chances. The Admirals began the playoffs with good success on the power-play, scoring four times in their first 16 opportunities through the first four games. However, that is when the spigot went dry and the team has only the one marker, by Aaron Johnson in game 4, in 28 opportunities with the man-advantage since. The Admirals ended the regular season with the seventh best power-play in the league at 19.7 %.
ITS YOUR THANG...Admirals forward Ryan Thang continued his strong play in the post-season, scoring one of the team's two goals on Friday to give him nine points in the post season (5g-4a), which is tied for second best on the team. At + 12 the Edina, MN native leads the AHL in playoff +/- and has picked up eight of his nine points in the last seven games. Thang finished his rookie campaign as the team's third leading scoring with 41 points (14g-27a) and was tops on the squad with a +17 rating.
OVER THE AIR AND ON THE WEB...For the fourth consecutive season Sportsradio 1250 WSSP will serve as the Admirals flagship station with Aaron Sims calling all of the hard-hitting end-to-end action. In addition, the team has a one-hour hockey magazine dubbed "Milwaukee Admirals Center Ice" that airs every Monday from 6-7 pm on WSSP. Fans can watch all Admirals games, home and on the road, live on the internet via NeuLion. Simply go the Admirals website at milwaukeeadmirals.com and click on the AHL Live banner.
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