The Milwaukee Admirals were unable to beat Drew MacIntyre and quietly ended their season with an 2-0 loss to the Toronto Marlies tonight.
Greg McKegg scored the only non-empty net goal of the night on the power play late in the second period. The Admirals pushed to get the equalizer for the rest of the game, but TJ Brennan’s empty net goal with 24 seconds left sealed the deal for the Marlies.
Toronto moves on and will play the victor of the Grand Rapids/Abbotsford series. The Griffins currently lead that series two games to one.
The Admirals were heavily outscored in the series, losing every game by at least two goals. They hosted the first two games, losing 6-2 and 5-2 respectively. Overall they were outscored 13 to 4 in the series. Marek Mazanec was the only goalie to appear in net for Milwaukee.
The sweep is obviously a disappointment for the Admirals, who came into the playoffs on a hot streak, winning seven of their last ten games. The team which looked dangerous late wasn’t able to steal a single game from the over-powering Marlies. This is the third straight season that Milwaukee has lost in the first round of the playoffs. Last season they lost to the Texas Stars three games to one, and in 2012 they were swept by the Abbotsford Heat.
So it’s the end of the road for the Admirals, who can now turn their focus to improving for next season.
As an aside, I would like to thank Dirk for giving me an opportunity to cover the Admirals this season. I’d also like to thank Charlie Larson and the Admirals organization for making it an easy transition into the press box. It’s been a great season, and I’m looking forward to next year.
I am hoping to have some season recap posts in the coming weeks, as well as a look at the Nashville prospect pipeline for the future. The actual season may have ended, but as you all know for those passionate about the sport hockey never really ends.