Admirals stay hot, douse Rivermen, 3-1

MILWAUKEE (WITI) Admirals goalie Magnus Hellberg continued his dominance over the Rivermen making 24 saves to lead the Admirals to a 3-1 victory Friday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

This is the Admirals fifth straight win; the longest winning streak the team has posted this year. Hellberg has allowed only one goal against the Rivermen in his last three games against Peoria, all of them wins.

On the opposite end of the ice, scoring for the first period started at 4:20 when assistant captain Mark Van Guilder, relentlessly applied pressure in front of the net pushing a short shot past Peoria’s netminder Mike McKenna. Despite the Ads coming out on top after the first period 1-0, the Rivermen outshot them 12 to 11.

Peoria was able to get on the board with 11:15 remaining in the second when Brent Sonne of Peoria take a low angle shot from the corner on the goal line. The pass deflected off Ads defender Scott Ford’s skate and past goaltender Magnus Hellberg. The second period concluded with the teams tied at one.

Austin Watson scored the game-winner, his 17th goal of the season, on the power play at 11:36 in the third period. Watson tipped a shot into the back of the net after defender Mattias Ekholm took a slapper from the top of the right circle.

With 5:49 seconds remaining in the final period Daniel Bang was tripped on a breakaway receiving a penalty shot against McKenna, but the Rivermen netminder stoned Bang to keep the Ads lead at one.

However, with 2:30 remaining in the game the Rivermen pulled McKenna from the net hoping to get the eqalizer with the man advantage. However with 1:34 left Brad Winchester skated the puck into the empty net bringing the Admirals lead to 3-1.

The Admirals look to continue their winning streak when they faceoff against the Toronto Marlies for the first time at home this season on Saturday, March 23.