CLEVELAND (WITI) -- Goalie Marek Mazanec stopped 35 shots and the Admirals penalty killers thwarted a five-minute power play at the end of regulation to lead the Milwaukee Admirals to a 3-2 overtime win over the Lake Erie Monsters Wednesday night, April 1st.
Admirals forward Viktor Arvidsson was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for charging into Lake Erie goalie Calvin Pickard with 4:25 remaining in the third period when the game was tied at two. The Admirals were able to kill that penalty and score the game-winner soon after the penalty expired in overtime.
Milwaukee forward Kevin Fiala served the five-minute penalty for Arvidsson. He came out of the penalty box with 6:25 remaining in overtime, just as the Admirals gained possession of the puck in its defensive zone. Colton Sissons skated through the neutral zone and passed to Fiala on the left wing. Fiala skated to the left circle, delayed, then fired a shot past Monsters goalie Calvin Pickard to give the Admirals the win. The goal, scored at :48 of overtime, was assisted by Sissons and Mark Van Guilder.
The win snapped a six-game losing skid for the Admirals.
The Monsters scored the first goal of the game with just 8.8 seconds remaining in the first period. Michael Schumacher’s shot from the left circle was stopped by Mazanec but Trevor Cheek crashed the net and tapped the rebound across the goal line for his sixth goal of the season.
Lake Erie took a 2-0 lead at 7:39 of the second period. Reid Petryk was the beneficiary of an Admirals turnover and fired a wrist shot from the high slot that found the back of the net.
Mazanec stopped 19 of 20 shots in the second period.
The Admirals got on the board at 2:07 of the third period. Van Guilder attempted a wraparound from behind the Monsters net. Goalie Pickard got a piece of it but the puck ended up atop the crease for Triston Grant to slam into the net. The goal was Grant’s 12th of the season, tying a career high. Van Guilder and Rich Clune recorded the assists.
The Admirals tied the game when Pickard had a Joe Piskula shot from the left point bounce off him into the slot. Admirals forward Gary Steffes slapped the rebound into the net for his third goal of the season. Piskula and Zach Budish notched the assists.
Milwaukee returns to the BMO Harris Bradley Center to host Texas Friday, April 3rd at 7:00 p.m.