Milwaukee Admirals hold off Griffins; Ufko, Marino score
(Courtesy: Milwaukee Admirals)
MILWAUKEE - Matt Murray stopped 27 of the 28 shots he saw, and the Admirals made a pair of first-period goals stand up as they defeated the Griffins 2-1 on Saturday night.
The win for Murray was his third in his past four starts and marked the fifth time in his past seven games that he has allowed just one goal. The St. Albert, Alberta native improved his record to 9-4-3 on the season and his .932 save % is fourth in the AHL.
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Ryan Ufko and Kyle Marino scored the goals for Milwaukee, while Ryder Rolston dished out a pair of assists as the Ads won consecutive games for the first time in a month.
One night after beating Iowa 2-1 in overtime, the Admirals and Griffins combined for their three goals in the first 5:08 beginning just 17 seconds into the game when Ufko scored his first career even-strength goal. Off the face-off, Ufko got the puck at the right point, walked the blueline and then fired a shot through traffic that went over the glove of Grand Rapids goalie Sebastian Cossa.
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Marino pushed the Admirals' lead to 2-0 with his first career power-play goal at the 4:33 mark of the first when he found a loose puck in the crease and pushed the puck past Cossa’s outstretched leg.
However, the Griffins responded 35 seconds later as Dominik Shine scored a shorthanded goal to cut the lead to 2-1.
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That was it for the scoring the rest of the way as Murray stopped the final 23 Grand Rapids shots and the Ads PK killed off three Griffins power-play opportunities.
The Admirals continue their five-game homestand when they host the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday night, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.