MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Admirals earned a point in the standings, but fell to the Charlotte Checkers 2-1 when Zac Dalpe scored with 12.5 seconds left in overtime Friday night at the Bradley Center. Playing in his third game in the past week, Admirals netminder Atte Engren was strong in net, turning aside 20 shots despite suffering the loss.
Just when it looked like the game was headed to a shoot-out, Charlotte’s Justin Krueger held the zone at the blue line and faked a shot before passing to Jerome Samson just to Engren’s left. When the Ads converged on Samson he chipped a pass over to Dalpe, who lifted the puck over Engren to give the Checkers the win.
Charlotte scored the only goal of the first period, just 2:31 into the game. University of Wisconsin alum Scott Dolan was able to gather a loose puck just to the left of Engren and lift it past him for a 1-0 lead.
The Admirals had a golden opportunity when they had four consecutive minutes of power-play time with 4:18 to play in the first thanks to high-sticking penalty on Charlotte. However the Ads were unable to score and trailed 1-0 after the first.
The second period also had just one goal, but this time it was the Admirals who found the back of the net. Milwaukee's Joel Champagne forced a turnover in the neutral zone and sent the puck over to Kyle Wilson. Wilson and Ryan Thang did a quick give-and-go, which got Wilson behind the Charlotte defense and he deeked right before sending a forehand off the left post and in with just 1:15 left in the second.
Neither team was able to score in the third period, combining for just 11 shots.
The Admirals are off on Saturday, but return to the Bradley Center ice on Sunday, February 12th at 4 pm to face the Peoria Rivermen.