The Admirals had an impressive week that has launched them into a tie with the Iowa Wild for first place in the Central Division. Milwaukee posted two wins against the San Antonio Rampage and one against Manitoba, scoring 12 goals in the process and surrendering eight.
Tonight they host Chicago before heading east to visit the Laval Rocket and Belleville Senators on Friday and Saturday.
Headlines
- On Monday, forward Daniel Carr was named the AHL Player of the Week after posting three goals and six points in three games
- On Friday, forward Yakov Trenin collected his team-leading sixth goal of the season; he’s skated in nine games in the 2019-20 season/
Stats and Standings
Things are starting to level out for Connor Ingram in net. He’s allowing just 0.622 goals below average league-wide, but maintains a stellar 0.931 save percentage.
On the blue line, Frédéric Allard and Jérémy Davies continue to cement themselves as the team’s best two-way options while Alexandre Carrier and Jarred Tinordi are methodically approaching a return to their prior-season status as Milwaukee’s least effective defensive pair.
Anthony Richard, Rem Pitlick and Eeli Tolvanen continue to struggle to find results despite outpacing the team in shooting attempts. Colin Blackwell and Yakov Trenin continue their impressive campaigns, while depth players like Olivier, Novak and Jeannot are making the most of their ice time.
Game Recaps
November 6 v. Manitoba Moose
Milwaukee’s school-day matchup on Wednesday was a high-scoring affair with goalies facing a total of 63 shots. Teams traded goals through the first and into the second with Tommy Novak recording the first of his career.
Daniel Carr blew things open for the Admirals late in the second with two goals, and Colin Blackwell added a sixth shortly into the third frame.
November 8 @ San Antonio Rampage
Jordan Kyrou opened the scoring for San Antonio in a first period that saw them roar back after early dominance by Milwaukee. In the second, the Admirals responded with two goals of their own on special teams from Yakov Trenin and Daniel Carr.
Laurent Dauphin sealed things with an empty-net goal late in period three.
November 10 @ San Antonio Rampage
Klim Kostin and Cole Schneider traded first period markers before Milwaukee took to possession dominance in a scoreless second. A timely response from Frédéric Allard just 34 seconds after Jordan Kyrou gave the Rampage a lead gave the Admirals a boost, but, ultimately, Mike Vecchione and Josh Wilkins traded goals, sending the game to an extra frame.
Daniel Carr was the sole scorer out of six attempts in the shootout to give Milwaukee a three-win week.
Players of the Week
Daniel Carr (F): It’s no surprise the AHL Player of the Week is one of ours. He’s settled into a consistent offensive role as the team’s leading scorer with 10 points in 10 games. This comes after a three-goal, six point week including the shootout winner on Sunday.
Carr’s goals-for rate at even strength relative to the team is still deeply negative (-21.52%) due to his first few games after assignment, but he’s slowly crawling back. Something to monitor: he’s shooting at a 20.83% rate right now.
Tommy Novak (F): Novak had a massive game last Wednesday, deserving enough for weekly honors. He scored his first professional goal to tie things up in the first and added three more primary assists—all at even strength.
The formerly-intriguing prospect hailing from the Minnesota high school circuit will never reach the potential envisioned before his disastrous medical setbacks in college, but he’s seen a bump in ice time lately, playing top-six minutes with veterans Cole Schneider and Daniel Carr.
Novak boasts a 15.71% relative goals-for rate at even strength and is shooting at a solid 7.14% rate.
Musings
If you watched the highlights above from Milwaukee’s game on Friday (or caught the game yourself), you likely noticed the Rampage sporting three different jerseys throughout the contest. As a jersey collector myself, I was ecstatic when I first learned of San Antonio’s Friday night promotion. To honor the legacy of local hockey, the Rampage sported each jersey the city has seen: the San Antonio Iguanas of the Central Hockey League (1994-2002), the San Antonio Dragons of the IHL (1996-1998) and the Rampage.
Friday 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/ud8qjm6lg6
— San Antonio Rampage (@sarampage) November 6, 2019
Each kit was a smashing success; more AHL teams should take note and follow suit.
Musings and Observations, courtesy of Rachel and Eric:
- Frédéric Allard’s on-ice intelligence continues to become so obvious. He’s constantly anticipating breakouts and offensive attacks three or four steps ahead of the play. Allard is slowly working himself onto the score sheet lately, but he’s been unbeatable defensively, all year.
- I was initially hesitant to suggest Troy Grosenick could replicate the success he had last season as the AHL’s best goalie. To add to that, I wasn’t sure how well rotating him and Ingram nearly each game would work. So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised: Grosenick is back at the top of the league and Ingram has settled in nicely with some stellar starts of late.
- If you thought Mathieu Olivier’s penalty problem would be more tame this season…sorry. As Rachel points out, he already has a third of his total from last season in just 15 games.
- Matt Donovan went pointless in seven games before adding three assists over the weekend against San Antonio.
- Something I’m following with Donovan: in two games of Donovan I’ve tracked, he’s exiting the zone with possession just 35% of the time./
All statistics are courtesy of theAHL.com and eliteprospects.com. Charts are courtesy of Bryan Bastin (@projpatsummitt).