Admirals snap skid with win over Texas

MILWAUKEE -- Admirals netminder Jeremy Smith made 25 saves and the Ads made two first-period goals stand up as they snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Texas Stars Saturday night at the Bradley Center.

All of the game’s scoring took place during the first period and the Admirals jumped out to a two-goal lead on markers by Juuso Puustinen and Joel Champagne. Puustinen got things started with his lucky 13th goal of the year on a nice tic-tac-toe passing play while the Ads were on the man-advantage at 6:32 of the period. Taylor Beck and Victor Bartley earned assists on the play.

Champagne made it 2-0 at the 9:47 mark of the first. Ryan Flynn carried the puck from behind the net and tried to jam it past Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft, who managed to make the initial stop. However Champagne was there to grab the rebound and slide it by Raycroft.

The Stars trimmed the lead in half with 3:48 to play in the opening period when Smith had trouble covering up a puck in the slot and Mike Hedden was there for an easy tap-in.

It was all Smith and the Admirals defense the rest of the way as the Ads netminder stopped 15 combined shots during the final 40 minutes, including a semi-breakaway for Hedden mid-way through the third period. Milwaukee also killed off both of the power-play chances that the Stars had during the final two periods.

The Admirals get right back at it Sunday afternoon when they host the Lake Erie Monsters at 1:00 pm at the Bradley Center.