It’s been a historic month for the Admirals, who have now strung together ten straight wins in pursuit of a franchise-record 11th. Last week they rattled off two impressive road victories in Iowa and Grand Rapids before picking apart the Griffins at home on Saturday night.
Milwaukee hosts Manitoba tonight, then travels to Texas this weekend to take on the Rampage and Stars.
Headlines
- On Friday, Nashville reassigned defender Steven Santini to Milwaukee
- On Sunday, Milwaukee returned defender Scott Savage on loan to the Maine Mariners [ECHL]
- On Monday, Nashville recalled forward Daniel Carr; Carr has points in ten straight AHL games
- On Tuesday, Nashville recalled forward Lukas Craggs from Florida [ECHL] to Milwaukee/
Stats and Standings
Not much has changed as this team is riding its impressive streak. The top six continues to pace the team offensively with Daniel Carr and Cole Schneider leading the way. Frédéric Allard continues his stellar play, while Jérémy Davies’s stability may be evening things out for Steven Santini, too.
Troy Grosenick and Connor Ingram continue their excellent starts.
Game Recaps
November 19 @ Iowa Wild
Milwaukee started the week on a positive note, controlling most of the play in period one and heading into intermission with a one-goal lead courtesy of a power play strike by Rem Pitlick.
Period two was a special-teams shootout that saw three of four goals scored on the man advantage or shorthanded.
Iowa charged back to start the third, taking a two-goal lead thanks to three goals in four minutes. Colin Blackwell and Alexandre Carrier helped tie things late before Daniel Carr scored the lone shootout goal to claim victory.
November 22 @ Grand Rapids Griffins
Laurent Dauphin opened the game’s scoring with a shorthanded marker despite a consistent period-long push from the Griffins.
Grand Rapids put up two in period two, but Carrier and Daniel Carr answered back on just five total shots in the third period.
November 23 v. Grand Rapids Griffins
Milwaukee seemingly picked apart the Griffins with surgical precision en route to their tenth-straight win. Eeli Tolvanen buried a power play tally off an absurd pass from Yakov Trenin in period one, Daniel Carr and Cole Schneider made things look easy to open scoring in period two, and Tolvanen buried a second with his patented wrist shot in the third to cap off a 5-0 dismantling by the Admirals.
Players of the Week
Yakov Trenin (F): I know I beat the drum for Trenin all summer long, but I’ve still been nervously anticipating his regression. However, it’s yet to come. Trenin capped off another week with four more points (1g-3a), bringing his season total to 18 in 15 games.
This power play assist takes an absurd level of awareness and skill to execute: to check that Tolvanen plans to float to the back door and then freeze the defender before a no-look pass…no words.
He’s shooting at a 25.81% rate at the moment, so there is concern with that, but Trenin continues to be dominant. [ED]
Rem Pitlick (F): Pitlick collected three points this week – all goals – bumping his season total to 12 in 20 games. He’s starting to score at even strength more regularly, which will pair well with the lethal shooting threat he provides on the power play.
He’s also shooting above a 20 percent rate (22.22%), but he’s slowly balancing out his point total with more primary scoring at even strength, too. [RK]
Musings
As part of their 50th season, the Admirals have rolled out a steady stream of heritage-based promotions this season. This includes three nights where the team will wear jerseys celebrating their past. Last week, the team unveiled the best (unquestionably) of these sweaters:
The @mkeadmirals are commemorating their 50th season with a logo that pays homage to kitchen appliances. Learn why here: https://t.co/JJ62Su4Xbk pic.twitter.com/5CGP3Xdwra
— Chris Creamer (@sportslogosnet) November 22, 2019
The organization is paying homage to the origin of the team name, which couldn’t be more different than the naval theme we’re familiar with. On April 4th, the team will sport jerseys with the above logo – referencing Admiral refrigerators, which were sold by a local businessman who bought the team in 1970.
Musings and Observations, courtesy of Rachel and Eric:
- As Rachel notes, this team has elevated nearly every facet of its play over the last ten games. It hasn’t been uncommon to see hot streaks the past few seasons, but this is the first time in recent memory that Milwaukee is consistently icing dominant five-man units.
- Tommy Novak now has 12 points in 18 games and has landed nicely centering Cole Schneider and Daniel Carr; consider me pleasantly surprised.
- Lost in the team’s success is Anthony Richard’s struggles this season. It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly is up, but six points in 19 games is not what I expected from the team’s leading scorer last season.
- The team has shuffled its power play units a bit this season and players like Jérémy Davies and Josh Wilkins have been victims of the numbers game. Tolvanen, Trenin, Novak, Donovan and Richard looked good on Friday and Blackwell could slot in nearly anywhere and contribute.
- Rachel wants it noted that Alexandre Carrier is an assist machine. I am obligated to tell you that just two of Carrier’s 14 points were primary ones at even strength./
All statistics are courtesy of theAHL.com and eliteprospects.com. Charts are courtesy of Bryan Bastin (@projpatsummitt).