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Milwaukee Musings: Ads Crush Moose, Stopped By Eagles

Posted on by Eric D

After an outpouring of offense in Manitoba on Wednesday, Milwaukee couldn’t contain the visiting Colorado Eagles and finished the week with a 1-1-1 record. The Admirals still trail second-place Manitoba in the standings and have a 0.547 points percentage.

With 23 games remaining, Milwaukee will need to piece together a long winning streak or two if they want to catch the Moose while avoiding fourth-place Rockford.

2021-22 Nashville Predators AHL/ECHL Stats

Quick Hits

  • Over the weekend, defender Matt Tennyson was recalled to Nashville and then returned to Milwaukee
  • The Admirals have two top-ten scorers in the AHL this season: Rocco Grimaldi (46) and Cole Schneider (45)
  • Grimaldi is fifth in the league in goals (24) and Schneider is tied for tenth in the league (20)
  • Against Colorado, Kole Sherwood returned to the lineup from injury for the first time since January 5/

Milwaukee Admirals (6) @ Manitoba Moose (2)

With Matt Luff in Nashville, Milwaukee took on rival Manitoba last Wednesday with an 11-forward, 7-defender lineup and Connor Ingram in the net (no surprise there). The Moose came out strong, controlling play through much of the first period, and opened the scoring on a weak backhand that Ingram let past himself. Jimmy Huntington responded later in the period with his first as an Admiral.

Period two was full of even more Manitoba scoring chances and plenty of penalties from both sides. But Milwaukee converted on two power plays to take a 3-1 lead, including the impressive wrist shot from Cody Glass shown above.

In the final frame, Cole Smith slammed the door on any chance of a Moose comeback with what has easily been the Admirals’ goal of the year (and made the Sportscenter Top-10 in the process):

Rocco Grimaldi and Zach Solow added two more goals, and Milwaukee escaped with a 6-2 win, thanks to a 28-save performance from Connor Ingram and a great shooting percentage, despite Manitoba controlling most of the play. For instance, Milwaukee’s Smith-Novak-Schneider line finished with a 25.0%, 33.3%, and a 27.3% Corsi at even strength, respectively.

Milwaukee Admirals (1) vs. Colorado Eagles (4)

Heading back home for a weekend tilt, Milwaukee welcomed Kole Sherwood back to the lineup for the first time in nearly two months while Connor Ingram got yet another start. Milwaukee got off to another slow start and allowed the game’s first goal once again, but Egor Afansyev responded with his eighth of the season (and Sherwood picked up a secondary assist):

Sherwood’s brother, Kiefer, beat Ingram with a power-play goal on a cross-ice play in period two, and Milwaukee ultimately gave up two more goals in a fairly uneventful period three to fall 4-1.

Milwaukee Admirals (3) vs. Colorado Eagles (4)

On Sunday, the Admirals went at it again with Connor Ingram getting his 16th straight start. Despite the 0.810 save percentage on the scoresheet, Ingram showed flashes of his brilliance and methodical and precise crease coverage to keep the Admirals in the game—particularly on several chances early in period two.

Kole Sherwood scored his second as an Admiral, and Tommy Novak scored the game-tying goal early in the third period. COVID-19 really killed Novak’s momentum in Nashville, and it’s clear he’s working hard to get back to the NHL; in 20 AHL games this year, he has two goals and 13 points but just four primary points at even strength.

Milwaukee took the lead about ten minutes later thanks to some dense traffic in front of the net from Tommy Apap, Cole Schneider, and Mitch McLain, but the Eagles tied things up with just 38 seconds to go in regulation.

Ingram was then beat glove-side by a long-range wrist shot, handing the Admirals their second-straight loss.

The Week Ahead

  • Friday, March 4 vs. Texas Stars
  • Sunday, March 6 vs. Grand Rapids Griffins/

All statistics are courtesy of eliteprospects.com, theAHL.com, or manually tracked.

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