Another three games in the book and Milwaukee is back to its old tricks. In the 2018-19 season, the Admirals set an AHL record for most overtime losses during a stretch that undoubtedly made their playoff berth possible. With three games in three days, Milwaukee did its best impersonation of last year’s squad, losing all three contests—two in a shootout and one in overtime.
This week the Milwaukee heads to Grand Rapids on Wednesday and hosts Texas on Friday night.
Headlines
- Last Tuesday, Milwaukee assigned defender Brandon Fortunato to Florida for ice time purposes. Correspondingly, they recalled defender Adam Smith.
- Forwards Frédérick Gaudreau and Laurent Dauphin both returned to the lineup this past weekend.
- Yakov Trenin and Miikka Salomäki were recalled to Nashville on Saturday. Trenin made his NHL debut versus Florida and was reassigned on Sunday, joining forward Daniel Carr on his way from Nashville.
- Milwaukee recalled forward Tanner Jeannot from Florida on Monday./
Stats and Standings
The Admirals’ expected contributors—Salomäki, Blackwell, Schneider—are hitting their marks on offense (for the most part), but there are a few surprises; Anthony Richard and Frédérick Gaudreau, notably, aren’t driving a majority of scoring, but I suspect sample size will solve that moving forward.
Frédéric Allard and Jarred Tinordi have been excellent defensively; Jérémy Davies and Alexandre Carrier have been fine at both ends. Steven Santini has been…fun…, for lack of a better term.
Troy Grosenick looks like he hasn’t skipped a beat from last season yet.
Game Recaps
October 18 v. Colorado Eagles
Milwaukee played a fairly back-and-forth contest as they hosted the Eagles for the first time in franchise history. A power play goal by Frédérick Gaudreau and a late marker by Colin Blackwell in the third forced overtime.
The Admirals ultimately fell in a shootout as Troy Grosenick allowed consecutive goals.
October 19 v. Colorado Eagles
Saturday night was a similar affair to Friday. Michael Joly opened the scoring on the power play for the Eagles; Laurent Dauphin responded with his first of the year in period two.
The penalty-filled contest wound to a dramatic end as the teams traded third period goals before Logan O’Connor undressed the Admirals for a spectacular overtime winner.
October 20 @ Chicago Wolves
Milwaukee seemed to control period one easily but shot attempts were fairly even. Two goals, including Jérémy Davies’ first, gave the Admirals a lead heading into period two, where Patrick Brown knotted things up for the Wolves.
Fatigue announced its presence in the third period and overtime before the Wolves took things in a shootout.
Player of the Week
Jérémy Davies (D): Davies only dressed for two games this weekend (giving Josh Healey a chance to slide into the lineup) but shone when he was on the ice. On Friday and Sunday, he totaled five shots and his first professional goal.
He also maintained a stellar 1.09 goals-against per 60 minutes and shone possession-wise on Sunday versus Chicago: 51.5% Corsi, 85.7% controlled zone exit rate, 33.3% controlled zone entry-against rate. -ED
Musings
One thing that’s felt noticeable early this season is division competitiveness. It’s not surprising; Milwaukee has often struggled in the past against some of its most frequent opponents, and I don’t expect this season to be any different. Right now, Iowa looks like the team to beat.
Other notes from Milwaukee’s three-in-three:
- The AHL schedule can be brutal sometimes. It relies heavily on division play, but there are some teams willing to go the extra financial mile to play new opponents (i.e. Colorado). Three-in-three is tough and even more so when all three go to extra minutes.
- Frédéric Allard has been dominant on defense early in the season. Sample size is small, but he’s yet to allow an even-strength goal when on the ice.
- It’s clear Fortunato was sent to Florida for regular playing time, which is smart given the circumstances. I’m curious to see how often Josh Healey rotates into the rotation, though. Davies and Jarred Tinordi sat for him on Saturday and Sunday, respectively -ED/
From Rachel:
- The neutral zone seemed to be an area of weakness against Colorado.
- Anthony Richard on the penalty kill is a thing of beauty (Note: Eric here…I’ve long navigated the idea of playing skill players like Forsberg or Arvidsson on the penalty kill; Richard could be dynamite here).
- Eeli Tolvanen often found ways to work himself behind the defense for scoring opportunities (Note: Eric here again…would it surprise you to hear Tolvanen, Richard and Schneider are miles ahead of their teammates in shots on goal this season?). –RK/
All statistics are courtesy of theAHL.com and eliteprospects.com. Charts are courtesy of Bryan Bastin (@projpatsummitt).