Iowa’s Nico Strum scored with just 70 seconds remaining in the game to break a 2-2 tie and give the Wild a 3-2 victory over the Admirals in match-up of the top two teams in the Central Division.
Cole Schneider and Rem Pitlick scored the goals for Milwaukee, who still leads the Central by five points (77-72) over the Wild.
The Admirals got on the board first when Cole Schneider picked up his 15th goal of the season with a shorthanded tally 9:01 into the contest. With an extended reach, Freddy Gaudreau was able to tip the puck out of the Ads zone where Schneider collected it and then went in on a breakaway, beating Iowa goalie Kaapo Kahkonen with a backhand to the glove side.
Rem Pitlick pushed the Ads lead to two with a rebound tally just 2:57 into the second period. Freddy Allard fired a shot from the left point that deflected off of Eeli Tolvanen and went to the right, where Pitlick was stationed on the goal line and he had a wide open net.
Iowa cut the lead in half at the 5:08 mark of the sandwich frame as his slapper from the right dot that beat Troy Grosenick to the glove side.
The Wild would tie the score when Dmitry Sokolov knock a puck out of mid-air just to the left of the Admirals cage.
The score stayed knotted at two until there was just 1:10 remaining. Iowa’s Matt Bartkowski’s shot took an odd bounce off the back boards and bounced to the front of the net where Strum chipped it in for his 12th goal of the season.
Milwaukee pulled Grosenick in favor of an extra attacker after Strum’s tally, but they couldn’t get the equalizer and lost for just the fifth time at home all season.
The Admirals continue their four-game homestand when they host the Chicago Wolves on Friday night at Panther Arena at 7 pm. The Ads will retire Darren Haydar’s number 20 during a first intermission ceremony and the first 3,500 fans will get a bobblehead of the Admiral Great.
Photo: Admirals