Joakim Kemell scores twice in a four goal first period that carried the Milwaukee Admirals to a game five 5-2 win over the Texas Stars.
Joakim Kemell scores twice in a four goal first period that carried the Milwaukee Admirals to a game five 5-2 win over the Texas Stars.
The Milwaukee Admirals faced another game five "win or go home" game tonight in Texas as they battled the Texas Stars in the Central Division finals.
Both the Stars and Admirals took the early minutes of the first period to get going, and it was Milwaukee that found their next gear first as Adam Wilsby scored the opening goal at 8:12. Phil Tomasino found Wilsby in the high slot after a Stars turnover in the neutral zone, and Wilsby buried the puck past Matt Murray.
Defenseman Marc Del Gaizo chipped in Milwaukee's second goal at 11:29 with a shot through traffic from the blue line to give the Admirals 2-0 lead. That was Del Gaizo's second goal of this series. Luke Evangelista and Mark Jankowski each earned an assist.
Immediately after the Del Gaizo goal, the Admirals went on the power play after a Texas high stick. Just twenty-one seconds into the power play, Joakim Kemell scored his first of the period.
Michael McCarron headed to the penalty box at 12:40 for a tripping call. Texas generated a couple of chances on the power play, but Milwaukee was able to kill off the two minutes.
With less than a minute remaining in the first, Joakim Kemell scored his second of the opening period tipping the puck past Murray off of a Del Gaizo shot. The Admirals headed into the locker room with a solid 4-0 lead.
The second period saw a fresh face in net for the Stars as Remi Poirier took over for Murray. It didn't take long for Texas to show they weren't ready to surrender game five so quickly as Riley Damiani scored just 1:48 into the middle period. Texas continued to push after their goal, but Askarov came up with saves when needed.
The Stars had two chances on the power play as both Isaac Radcliffe and Mark Jankowski took turns in the penalty box for interference and tripping respectively. The Admirals penalty kill was able to prevent the Stars from scoring on the man advantages, and the teams headed into second intermission with Texas outshooting Milwaukee 15-5 in the second period but the Admirals leading by a score of 4-1.
The teams played four on four hockey early in the final period at 4:37 as Kemell headed to the box for holding and Ben Gleason for high sticking. Each team recorded one shot on goal, but neither could score with the extra ice. Milwaukee's Kemell was tripped up by Nick Caamano on a breakaway chance, and the Admirals went on the power play after that infraction. Just :31 later, Alexander Petrovic joined his teammate in the box and the Ads played 1:29 of five on three.
Unfortunately it was Caamano who scored shorthanded as he came out of the box. Yaroslav Askarov came out of the net to play the puck, but Caamano gathered it up and easily skated around a sprawling Askarov to make it a 4-2 game.
The Stars pulled their goalie for an extra attacker with three minutes remaining, but Egor Afanasyev scored an empty net goal to make the final score 5-2.
The Admirals will face the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the Western Conference Finals. Game one will take place Thursday night at 9:00 pm CST.
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