Milwaukee Admirals tie team mark with eighth straight win

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Marek Mazanec stopped all 21 shots he saw in relief duty and 3 of 5 Utica shooters to help the Admirals to a team record tying eighth consecutive victory in a 3-2 shoot-out win over the Comets on Wednesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The only other time in team history the team has won eight in a row was March of 1989 and they have never done it since joining the AHL in 2001.

Mazanec, who was assigned from Nashville earlier in the day, won for the fourth consecutive game.

Utica went up 1-0 just 37 seconds into the game on a wrister by Darren Archibald from the right dot. The Comets made it 2-0 with 7:30 remaining in the opening stanza when Hunter Shinkaruk fired another wrister past Admirals starter Magnus Helberg.

The Admirals cut the Comets lead in half on a nicely executed tic-tac-toe goal from Viktor Stalberg. With the puck low in the Utica zone, Stalberg sent a pass from the right circle to Austin Watson, who chipped it over to Brendan Leipsic on the opposite side. Leipsic wasted no time in sending it back over to Stalberg who had on open net as Utica goalie Jacob Markstrom hadn't recovered.

Just when it looked like the score would remain the same through two periods, Miikka Salomaki scored his seventh of the season to level the score with just 10 seconds left in the second. Defenseman Joe Piskula chipped the puck to the slot for Viktor Arvidsson and his backhander was denied by Markstrom, however, Salomaki was quick to bounce on the loose puck for the goal.

After a scoreless third period and a scoreless but entertaining overtime, Predators #1 pick Kevin Fiala and Stalberg both scored to start the shoot-out for Milwaukee. However Utica's Brandon DeFazio and Shinkaruk scored for the Comets, forcing extra rounds in the shoot-out. After misses by both teams in the fourth round Salomaki beat Markstorm with his attempt and Mazanec stoned Dustin Jeffrey to propel the Ads to the win.

The Admirals will look to set a new team record with their ninth win in a row when they host Iowa on Friday night in FM106/Coors Light Country Music Night, featuring a post-game concert by country music star Brett Eldredge.

Fans can purchase tickets for Wednesday's or Friday's game, or any Admirals game, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or online here. Groups of ten or more receive a minimum of $2 off the face value of the tickets. For more information or to book a group fans should call the Admirals office at (414) 227-0550.