Joakim Kemell added to his postseason goal count while Phil Tomasino scored his first of the playoffs, but a third period hat trick by Max McCormick sealed the Admirals fate in a 6-4 loss in the first game of the Western Conference Finals.
The Milwaukee Admirals faced off tonight against the Coachella Valley Firebirds in game one of the AHL Western Conference Finals. Th Admirals needed five games each to defeat the Manitoba Moose and the Texas Stars to advance to the conference finals.
Coachella Valley boasts several productive offensive weapons in Max McCormick and Kole Lind who have combined for 58 goals in the regular season, and the duo have continued their goal scoring in the post season as well. Goaltender Joey Daccord ranked fifth best in save percentage and goals against allowed at the end of the regular season in net for the Firebirds.
Joakim Kemell and Luke Evangelista lead the Admirals in goals in the postseason, but the blue liners have chipped in on the scoring as Marc Del Gaizo and Jordan Gross have scored multiple goals for Milwaukee in their previous series. Yaroslav Askarov earned a 2.36 goals against average and a .909 save percentage in his first AHL postseason.
Game Recap
Penalties were the name of the game in the first period. Milwaukee was whistled for too many men on the ice at 3:54, and Coachella Valley's Tye Kartye high slot shot sailed past Askarov to give the Firebirds the lead at 4:14.
It didn't take long for Milwaukee to answer back as Joakim Kemell tipped Adam Wilsby's shot in the net just :30 later to tie the game.
Roland McKeown headed to the penalty box at 5:24 for a trip, but the Admirals penalty kill was able to keep the Firebirds from scoring on this power play chance. Milwaukee's first opportunity on the man advantage came at 9:01 as Ryker Evans headed to the box for a slash on Joakim Kemell. The power play that served Milwaukee so well in the regular season couldn't convert, and the team returned to five a side until 14:55 when Egor Afanasyev took his turn in the sin bin for a tripping infraction. Milwaukee was able to kill off those two minutes, and the teams headed into their respective locker rooms tied up after twenty minutes of play.
The early advantage in the second period belonged to Coachella Valley as they pressured Askarov, but it looked like the ice was tilting in Milwaukee's favor as they earned a power play. A questionable hit on Spencer Stastney during the delayed penalty resulted in a scuffle that sent two Firebirds and Michael McCarron to the penalty boxes. Even though the Admirals had the man advantage, it was Jimmy Schuldt who skated through two defenders to score a shorthanded goal at 5:38 giving the Firebirds the lead once again.
Milwaukee again couldn't convert on the remaining power play, and the teams returned to full strength. After an Askarov save off a Firebirds rush chance, the Admirals found themselves with a 3 on 1. Phil Tomasino slipped the puck past Daccord to even the game at 7:50, his first goal of the postseason.
Gustav Olofsson headed to the box at 14:32 for a tripping penalty on Luke Evangelista, but the Milwaukee power play was anemic yet again. The teams headed into the second intermission with a tie score of 2-2.
Michael McCarron gave the Admirals their first lead of the game at 1:52 in the third period with a shot from the slot.
It looked like Milwaukee gained momentum from McCarron's goal, but an Admiral's bad pass from behind the net resulted in Max McCormick's easy goal from the circle for the Firebirds at 7:22.
Less than a minute later, Andrew Poturalski used Kevin Gravel as a screen and scored on Askarov to give the Firebirds the lead once again. Admirals head coach Karl Taylor called a time out to regroup after the quick momentum shift, but McCormick scored his second of the period at 10:54 on a goal that appeared to be offside but no call was made.
A frustration penalty by Roland McKeown gave the Firebirds another chance on the power play, but the Admirals were able to kill off the two minutes. Down by two goals, Askarov headed to the bench at 16:47, but just a minute later McCormick scored the empty netter to earn the hat trick and give Coachella Valley a three goal lead.
Jimmy Huntington found the back of the net with less than two minutes left in the game, but the Admirals couldn't get another one and fell to the Firebirds in game one by a score of 6-4.
Game Notes
1. Askarov will want a couple of those goals back. The first goal of the game scored by Tye Kartye seemed to catch the Admiral's net minder by surprise, and letting in a shorthanded goal hurt Milwaukee. The defense in front of Askarov needs to play a cleaner game Saturday night, and Askarov will need to make those saves.
2. Transitions through the neutral zone need a little polish. Coachella Valley has a great rush game, but Milwaukee struggled to transition cleanly through the neutral zone to attack offensively. Too many sloppy passes ended potential chances, but when they executed well good things happened (that Tomasino three on one goal).
3. Really wish they could review offside. There are big feelings about video review in the AHL, but there were also big feelings about a goal that appeared to be offside but still counted.
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