Milwaukee Admirals 3 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 2

March 29, 2017

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Adam Payerl’s goal early in the third period on Wednesday proved to be the difference for the Milwaukee Admirals in a 3-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena.

Despite a commanding 35-19 advantage in shots, a depleted Griffins lineup was able to convert only one of its seven power play chances against the Admirals, whose victory tightened the top of the Central Division standings. Grand Rapids (43-19-1-4) continues to sit in first place with 91 points, owning a three-point edge over Chicago and a five-point lead on Milwaukee (40-22-3-3) while still holding a game in hand over each rival.

The Admirals drew first blood 8:51 into the opening period. From below the goal line, Tyler Kelleher threw the puck out front to Vladislav Kamenev, who slammed it beneath Jared Coreau’s right pad from close range to give Kelleher his first point as a professional.

The firsts continued during a Griffins power play at 10:09, when defenseman Filip Hronek tallied his first pro goal via a rocket from the point off a pass from Evgeny Svechnikov. Another recent addition, forward Dominik Shine, earned the second assist for his first pro point.

A referee’s no-call led to a power play tally for Milwaukee in the waning minutes of the period, igniting a vigorous protest from Grand Rapids’ bench and a chorus of boos from the Van Andel Arena partisans. After several players from each team had scrambled for a loose puck in the slot, Trevor Smith’s stick blade came up and struck Nathan Paetsch in the mouth as he was playing the puck, sending the captain – and last line of defense – to the ice and enabling Frederick Gaudreau to gather the abandoned biscuit and score uncontested against Coreau at 18:42 for a 2-1 Admirals lead.

Martin Frk got it back for the Griffins 1:37 into the second period, skating the puck out of the left corner to the high slot before ripping a shot past Marek Mazanec’s glove from the edge of the circle. Frk’s team-leading 27th goal of the campaign tied his career high set last season.

Milwaukee grabbed its third and final lead of the night at 1:39 of the final period, as Payerl’s wrist shot from atop the left circle snuck between Coreau’s blocker and the near post. The Griffins eventually pulled their netminder for an extra attacker with less than two minutes remaining, and after Gaudreau was whistled off for hooking at 19:18, Grand Rapids called its timeout and set out to capitalize on its subsequent 6-on-4 advantage in skaters. Svechnikov was stopped by Mazanec with nine seconds left, and after a faceoff the Admirals survived two more Griffins chances to hang on for the win.

Coreau made 16 saves as his four-game winning streak and seven-game point streak were snapped. Mazanec finished with 33 stops to turn the tables on the Griffins following their 3-2 victory in Milwaukee on Sunday that clinched a playoff spot for Grand Rapids.

At 7 p.m. Friday, Grand Rapids will host another team in playoff mode in the Charlotte Checkers, who sit two points behind fourth-place Cleveland in the race for the division’s final playoff spot. Tom McCollum, the Griffins’ all-time leader in games played by a goalie with 226, is expected to get the call against his former team. Since being loaned to Charlotte by the Calgary Flames on March 8, McCollum is 7-1-1 with a 1.95 goals against average and a 0.932 save percentage in nine appearances.

Notes: The Griffins played without four of their top six scorers as well as their most productive defenseman. Matt Lorito (20-33—53) and Eric Tangradi (15-26—41) missed the game due to injury, while leading scorer Ben Street (25-29-54), Tomas Nosek (15-25—40) and Robbie Russo (7-24—31) all remain on recall to the Detroit Red Wings. The quintet represented 35 percent of the team’s goal output (82 of 231) and 36 percent of its point total (219 of 616) entering tonight.

Three Stars: 1. MIL Payerl (game-winning goal); 2. MIL Kelleher (two assists); 3. GR Hronek (power play goal)