Admirals bite the Wolves with 3-2 victory

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Admirals scored twice in the final 85 seconds of the game to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win over the Chicago Wolves in Amtrak Rivalry action Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The victory gives the Admirals their first three-game winning streak of the season and marked the second consecutive contest against the Wolves when the Ads have trailed late in the third, only to eventually earn the win.

Trailing 2-1 late in the third period, the Admirals were hacking at the puck along the side of the goal. The puck squirted out in front of the crease where Gabriel Bourque found it and flicked one past Wolves goalie Matt Climie at 18:35 of the third to tie the score at two.

It appeared that the two teams would be headed to overtime, but with 19.7 seconds to play Jon Blum ripped a slapper from the left point that Chris Mueller got a piece of and deflected high over the glove of Climie for the game-winner. It was Mueller team-leading ninth goal of the season and the second straight contest where he has scored the game-winner.

It was the Wolves who got on the board first when Billy Sweatt beat Ads netminder Jeremy Smith with a wrister on Chicago’s first shot of the game at the 2:21 mark

The Admirals tied it up at 15:17 when Victor Bartley notched his first goal of the season. Ben Ryan created a turnover in the Chicago zone, which sprung the Ads on a 3-on-2. Jani Lajunen sent a pass cross-ice to Bartley, who beat Climie from the top of the left circle.

An uneventful second period saw just nine combined shots and no scoring and the two teams went to the third tied at 1.

The Wolves grabbed their second lead on a power-play marker with 5:30 to go in the game. Forward Darren Archibald was stationed in front of the Admirals net and was hit by a shot from Kevin Connauton. The puck dropped to the left of Smith and Archibald was the first to it and he was able to slide it by Smith.

Smith finished the night with 19 saves to pick up his sixth win of the season.

The Admirals are off until next Wednesday when they play host to the Texas Stars at 7:00 pm at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.