The Admirals staved off elimination with a gutty 3-1 win over the Iowa Wild in game 3 of the Central Division Semifinals on Thursday night at Panther Arena. The Ads now trail the Wild two games to one in the best-of-five series with game four set for Friday night at 7 pm at Panther Arena.
The win for Milwaukee also snapped a 13-game playoff losing streak dating back nearly six years. The last time the Ads had won a playoff game was a 2-0 victory over Texas on April 27, 2013 in the first round.
Tickets for game four, which range in price from $8 to $30, are on sale now either online at www.milwaukeeadmirals.com or by calling the Admirals office at (414)-227-0550.
After losing the first two games in Iowa the Admirals needed a quick start and they got it thanks to a Colin Blackwell tally just 30 seconds into the game. The play began when Yakov Trenin forced a turnover in the neutral zone, springing the Admirals on a 3-on-2. From there Cole Schneider fired a shot from the top of the left circle that trickled through the pads of Iowa goalie Andrew Hammond and Blackwell was on the doorstep to knock it in for an early lead.
Milwaukee would add to their lead when Mathieu Olivier was able to find a loose puck in the crease and jam it by Hammond for a 2-0 lead. Yakov Trenin and Vince Pedrie earned the assists on the play.
Iowa would tie the game with a power-play marker by Kyle Rau with 6:37 to play in the contest. Former Admiral Cal O’Reilly was stationed on the half-wall and his seeing-eye pass made it through to Rau on the post to cut the Ads leads in half.
However, the Admirals responded with a goal just over a minute later courtesy of Anthony Richard. With the puck in front of the Iowa bench, Tyler Gaudet was able to poke it free into the Milwaukee zone, which created a 2-on-1 for Richard and Trenin. Trenin carried the puck in deep to freeze Hammond before chipping over to Richard, who roofed it for his first career playoff goal.
The Wild would have another power-play opportunity with less than three minutes to play in the game, but the Ads successfully killed it off as they sealed the victory.
Troy Grosenick was strong again in net for Milwaukee, stopping 21 shots for his 10th career post-season victory and first as an Admiral.
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Photo: Milwaukee Admirals