Milwaukee was outshot 60 to 16 tonight. Their first shot on goal was not counted. Their last shot that I remember was Grant Mismash hitting the crossbar with a little less than 4 minutes remaining. That wasn't counted either.
In period 1, the shots were 10-0 at one point. Coach Taylor sounded angry enough to perhaps call an 8 AM practice. The Moose passed well all game, especially in period 3, when the scored a goal to tie the game at 3-3. My wife astutely pointed out that five of the six regulation goals were scored at the north end. It has seemed that way a lot this season. We sit near the south goal.
Connor Ingram was the #1 star. They never would have gotten a point tonight without his tremendous efforts.
Both Coles scored in period 2. Schneider scored on a tip in. Smith snagged the puck in the slot, skated away from the goal and wheeled and fired into the right upper corner from the top of the slot. Each were assisted by Del Gaizo and Luff. Afanasyev scored on a rebound with assists to Glass (8) and Farrance (3)
Tonight was Matt Bradley's first game for MKE. He played fine. You couldn't tell that he was new.
Ref Ratings: Newcomers Justin Kea and Tatu Kunto were both fine through two periods. Give them each an 7.
Then the third period came. A Moose player had the puck 6 inches from his skate in the Neutral Zone. Richard poked at the puck with the toe of his blade and touched the skate just before the Moose went down. Two minutes for tripping. Richard yelled at the ref for 15 to 20 seconds. He started with "come on" and worked his way up. After what wasn't called on Manitoba in that period, it was pretty ticky-tack. About 45 seconds later, Matt Donovan was called for Interference to make it the usual 5-on-3. (The other guy wrapped up Donovan, yet he was not called for anything)
My wife stated that "the refs are trying to help the Moose catch up". The Moose scored their third PPG of the game.
In the OT, Glass was called for hooking. Earlier, Glass had been in front of the goal while the puck was in the corner and he was knocked down onto his back. Neither ref made a call. (There were only 6 skaters for the 2 refs to watch) The Admirals played the rest of the OT short handed. Smith nearly scored a shorty, but the Moose scored with 1 second remaining in the penalty. They deserved to win the game, but not that way.
New Ref Ratings were 1 each, giving them an average of 4. A five is average on my 10 scale.
Linesmen Thomas Lyle and Mike Daltrey each get an eight. No bad calls, no problems dropping the puck. They only got in the way of the puck a few times each.
Goon of the Game: Former Admiral Jimmy Oligny had 9 PIMs in period 1.