Monsters Too Much for Milwaukee

Oct 22, 2008

The Lake Erie Monsters scored three goals in the second period and held on to beat the Milwaukee Admirals Wednesday in Cleveland, 4-3.

The game marked the first-ever meeting between the teams.

Milwaukee, looking to snap a three game losing skid, scored the first goal of the game. While on a power play, Antti Pihlstrom deflected a Alex Sulzer shot from the point past Lake Erie goalie Jason Bacashihua. It was Pihlstrom's team-best fourth goal of the season, third on the power play. Nick Spaling also picked up an assist on the goal at 13:52.

The lead was short-lived, however. The Monsters tied the game at 15:46 when Tom Fritsche found T.J. Galiardi in front of the Milwaukee net for the equalizer.

The Monsters mashed the Admirals in the second period by scoring three unanswered goals. The first was scored on a backdoor play when defenseman Derek Peltier moved in from the right point to tip a pass into the net at 4:23. Brian Willsie scored his fifth goal in as many games when his wristshot from the slot beat Admirals goalie Drew MacIntyre at 9:46. Then, former Admirals forward Chris Durno slapped in a rebound for a power play goal at 14:21.

It was at that moment that things started to turn in Milwaukee's favor. After Durno's goal, Milwaukee's Kelsey Wilson fought Lake Erie's Chris Stewart. The fight seemed to energize Milwaukee, which was outshot 32-17 through the first two periods.

Wilson got the Admirals on the board with a strong shift at 13:28 of the third to make it 4-2. Milwaukee used its size in the form of Wilson, Josh Gratton and Spaling to keep the puck low in Lake Erie's zone. Wilson, standing in front of the net, was able to push a rebound into the net for his first of the year.

The Admirals nearly got within a goal at 15:42. Defenseman Teemu Laakso's shot from the right point went into the net, but a split second before, the referee's whistle blew to call a penalty on Gratton for goaltender interference. Gratton did bump into Bacashihua on the play.

With goalie Drew MacIntyre on the bench for the extra attacker, Milwaukee scored a 6-on-4 power play goal with 3.7 seconds to pull within one. A shot from the left point ricocheted off two Lake Erie defenders to Cal O'Reilly. The Admirals center fired the puck into the net for his second goal of the year, both on the power play. Sulzer and Robert Dietrich notched the assists.

MacIntyre stopped 35 of 39 Lake Erie shots. The Admirals finished with 32 shots on goal.

The loss drops Milwaukee's record to 1-3-0-1. The team hosts Peoria Friday at 7 p.m.