The Milwaukee Admirals kicked off their season by spoiling the Chicago Wolves‘ banner raising with a 5-2 win over the reigning Calder Cup champions.
Milwaukee forwards Mark Jankowski and Markus Nurmi scored in the back half of the first period to give the Admirals the 2-0 lead.
Chicago responded in the second period with strong skating and heavy shot. This allowed them to tie the game before the seven minute mark of the period. However, Admirals’ winger Tim Schaller hopped on a rebound with one minute to play in the second to give them the 3-2 lead over the Wolves.
The third period was an even matched affair until the refs disallowed a goal from Chicago forward Mackenzie MacEachern. Once the Wolves were rattled, it was the beginning of the end for Chicago and Milwaukee was able to score two goals before the final horn sounded.
While the season has just begun, Saturday’s game showed a few positive things that have already begun to take shape for Milwaukee this season.
Keep an eye on the Admirals’ defense
A huge part of the Admirals success on Saturday was their defense.
Due to the amount of pressure the Wolves experienced from the Admirals’ defense, Chicago had to resort to passing the puck more than rushing the net. This forced the Wolves to fire longer and higher shots towards Milwaukee’s netminder Devin Cooley. One of the area’s where Cooley excels is being able to quickly snatch a puck out of the air.
Two defenders, Kevin Gravel and Adam Wilsby, showed a lot of promise as the game rolled on. The quick footed Wilsby was able to keep up with the Wolves and take away their shooting lanes by forcing them to move closer to the boards to get away from him. For the bulk of the night, Gravel positioned himself as an extension of Cooley. He closed up holes in the crease and added length to Cooley’s stick side which prevented the Wolves from having too many chances down low.
Passing was a team effort
During the 2021-22 season, passing reined supreme on the Admirals’ power play. Each player on the man advantage communicated well together. They always seemed to know where their teammates were without having them in their line of sight. Plus, their passing was quick enough to make a goalie’s head spin.
On Saturday, it appeared this level of passing and communication has spread amongst the team. Strong passing and non verbal communication gave the Admirals the upper hand over the Wolves multiple times throughout the night.
Started strong, Finished strong
A great word to describe the Admirals on Friday is “Finishers.” Despite whatever the Wolves through their way, the Admirals found ways to finish checks and plays giving them the upper hand for the bulk of the game. In the end, when push came to literal shove, the Admirals found ways to capitalize on the Wolves’ stressed out demeaner and scored two goals in the final 2:37 of the game.
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