MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Admirals took on the Charlotte Checkers and a share of first place in the Midwest Division on the line at the Bradley Center on Saturday evening. The Admirals had a 20 second lapse in the third period as they gave up two goals, falling to the Checkers 4-3.
The Admirals and Checkers traded first period power-play goals and were deadlocked 1-1 after one. Kyle Wilson started the scoring with his second PPG in as many nights at the 4:53 mark. Stationed just above the left dot, Wilson took a pass from Teemu Laakso and ripped a one-timer past Charlotte netminder Mike Murphy.
The Checkers responded just less than two minutes later as Zac Dalpe pounced on a loose puck near the crease and slid it past Milwaukee goalie, Anders Lindback.
Milwaukee fell behind early in the second period as Nicolas Blanchard took a pass from Derek Joslin and beat Lindback giving the Checkers a 2-1 lead over the Admirals.
Seven minutes later the Admirals tied the game at 2-2 as a pass sequence from Taylor Beck to Ryan Flynn resulted in Beck getting a backhanded goal off a pass from Flynn.
The AHL All-Star, Chris Mueller, put the Admirals back on top in with 2:08 left in the third period as Zach Stortini found the loose puck and passed off to Mueller who put the puck in the back of the net. The Admirals went into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead over the Checkers.
With around 11 minutes to go in the game, the Admirals failed to clear the puck out of the zone, a costly mistake that led to Charlottes Zac Dalpe getting possession and firing the puck past Lindback, tying the game at 3-3. Twenty seconds later the Admirals would find themselves down 4-3 after Zach Boychuk took a pass from Matthew Pistilli and beat Lindback.
Mueller was the Admirals bright spot as he tallied two points on a goal and assists in the game. Milwaukee returns to the ice tomorrow night when they travel to Peoria to face the Rivermen at 5:00 p.m.