Miikka Salomaki scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Admirals to a 4-1 win over the Manitoba Moose Monday at BellMTS Place.
The win snapped Milwaukee’s two-game losing skid and extended the Admirals lead in the Central Division over second-place Iowa to seven points (77-70). Milwaukee’s record is 35-11-4-3.
After a scoreless first period, the teams combined to score four goals in a span of 5:37 of the second frame. The Admirals got the first one when Miikka Salomaki forced a turnover on the left wing boards, pushed the puck toward the slot, then swatted the puck with a backhanded shot through the legs of Moose goalie Eric Comrie at 2:54. The unassisted goal was Salomaki’s fifth of the season.
The Admirals took a 2-0 lead when the trio of Michael McCarron, Frederick Gaudreau and Yakov Trenin worked together to get the tally. McCarron chased Moose defenseman Leon Gawanke behind Manitoba’s net and bumped him off the puck. Gaudreau quickly passed the puck to Trenin in the right circle and Trenin snapped a shot into the net at 5:19 for his 16th goal of the season.
Milwaukee upped the score to 3-0 at 6:46 of the second period. Salomaki forced a turnover at center and fed Eeli Tolvanen. Tolvanen moved to the left circle and wristed a shot into the net for his 15th goal of the season.
Manitoba found its way onto the scoreboard at 8:31 of the second period when Nelson Nogier’s low shot from the right point found its way past Ads goalie Connor Ingram to make it 3-1 in Milwaukee’s favor.
Rem Pitlick scored an empty-net goal at 17:48 of the third period to close the scoring. It was Pitlick’s 17th goal of the year.
Ingram finished with 22 saves. He improved his record to 17-5-5.
The Admirals return home to host the Iowa Wild at UWM Panther Arena Wed., Feb. 19.