The Milwaukee Admirals opened their 2022-23 season by traveling down to Chicago to take on the defending Calder Cup champions—the Chicago Wolves. Despite being outshot, Devin Cooley backstopped the Admirals to two points to start the year.
Milwaukee will travel to Grand Rapids tomorrow night before hosting Manitoba for their home opener this weekend.
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Quick Hits
- Forward Todd Burgess and goalie Tomáš Vomáčka were assigned to the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL
- Former Milwaukee Admiral Rocco Grimaldi signed a one-year AHL contract with the San Diego Gulls/
Milwaukee Admirals (5) @ Chicago Wolves (2)
Taking on the powerhouse Chicago Wolves is always daunting, but the Admirals’ balanced lineup came well-prepared to take on the AHL title holders. With Navrin Mutter and Tommy Apap scratched up front and Luke Prokop, Xavier Bouchard, and Keaton Thompson scratched on the blue line, Milwaukee rolled four offensive-minded lines led by Philip Tomasino, Tommy Novak, and Cole Schneider.
Phil Tomasino picks up his first point for the Admirals with an assist on Roldan McKeown’s insurance goal.#Smashville #MILHockey pic.twitter.com/p9lFBptIB9
— OTF: Preds Prospects (@OnTheFutureOTF) October 16, 2022
The Admirals’ second line of John Leonard, Luke Evangelista, and Juuso Pärssinen was solid but largely out-chanced by the Wolves’ dangerous attack in the first two frames. That trio recorded a 45.5%, 43.5%, and 52.6% Corsi rating at even strength, respectively.
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Veteran Mark Jankowski, who will be a crucial piece of Milwaukee’s scoring this year, notched the team’s first goal of the season on an early power play. Markus Nurmi recorded his first AHL goal just a minute and a half later with a setup from Jankowski and Egor Afanasyev.
And moments later, Markus Nurmi notches his first AHL goal. Lone assist comes from Egor Afanasyev.#Smashville #MILHockey pic.twitter.com/sb5xbdjlGa
— OTF: Preds Prospects (@OnTheFutureOTF) October 16, 2022
Milwaukee let Chicago back in this one with two unanswered goals in the second period, but the fourth line responded late in the frame with a hard-working goal from Tim Schaller and Jachym Kondelik.
Devin Cooley stood tall most of the night, turning aside 27 of 29 shots after he got comfortable with a heavy workload through the game’s first half. Milwaukee then avoided the issue that plagued them most of last season—the penalty box—committing just one infraction all game. In period three, Roland McKeown added his first as an Admiral, and Jimmy Huntington deposited an empty-net marker to give Milwaukee a well-earned road victory.
The Week Ahead
- Wednesday, October 19 @ Grand Rapids Griffins
- Saturday, October 22 vs. Manitoba Moose/
All statistics are courtesy of eliteprospects.com, theAHL.com, or manually tracked.