Milwaukee Admirals beat Moose, take early series lead
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Jordan Gross scored a pair of goals and added an assist to pace the Milwaukee Admirals offense to a 6-2 win over the Manitoba Moose in Game 1of the Central Division Semifinals on Friday night, April 28.
The win gives the Admirals a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series that will continue on Sunday afternoon with Game 2 at 2 p.m.
The six goals were one shy of the franchise record for goals in a road playoff game, and it was the most the Admirals have scored in any postseason contest since beating Houston 7-0 on May 11, 2009.
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In addition to Gross, Marc Del Gaizo (1g-1a), Luke Evangelista (2a), Egor Afanasyev (2a), and Mark Jankowski (2a) all chipped in multi-goal efforts, while Yaroslav Askarov stopped 35 shots to pick up the win in his first career postseason start.
Just as it did in the regular season, the Admirals special teams shined as they scored on two of the three power-play opportunities, while vanquishing all four of the Manitoba chances, including a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:21 early in the third period.
The Admirals scored three times in the first 8:19 of the game, beginning with Del Gaizo’s first post-season goal just 95 seconds after the puck dropped.
Zach Sanford made it 2-0 with a one-timer from the slot on a power-play at 7:24 and less than a minute later Jimmy Huntington found a loose puck at the side of the net and pushed it by Moose goalie Evan Cormier.
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Milwaukee also tallied three times in the second frame as Gross sandwiched his two goals around a Austin Rueschhoff tally.
The Admirals and Moose return to the ice for Game 2 on Sunday afternoon. The series then shifts to Milwaukee for game three on Wednesday, May 3 at 7 p.m.