Milwaukee, WI— Rocco Grimaldi and Matt Luff each posted four point nights, while Cole Schneider scored the game-winner in overtime as the Admirals defeated the Texas Stars 4-3 on Wednesday night at Panther Arena.
The win was the second straight for the Admirals and extended their point streak to four games (2-0-0-2).
With the Admirals on the power-play in the overtime session Luff dished to Schneider directly in front of the Texas cage. His initial shot was stopped by Texas netminder Matt Jurusik, but Schneider dove and poked the loose puck under Jurusik’s pads for the game-winner.
The Stars got on the board first as Fredrik Karlstrom deflected a shot from former Admiral Jeremy Gregoire 9:07 into the game.
The Admirals would erupt for three goals in the second period, beginning with Luff’s first of the game just over four minutes into the frame. Grimaldi took a shot from the top of the left circle that was saved by Jurusik. However the puck squirted to Jurusik’s right and Luff was there to deftly chip it over his shoulder to knot the score.
Grimaldi got a goal of his own at the 11:47 mark of the second to give Milwaukee a 2-1 advantage. Grimaldi drove towards the Texas net, but peeled back and spun to his left before firing a shot from the face-off circle that beat Jurusik high, blocker side.
Luff scored his second of the night and ninth of the season with 3:10 to go in period off a beautiful cross-cross pass from Grimaldi that Luff just need to tap in to boost the Ads lead to 3-1.
However, Texas battled back and scored a pair of goals in the third, the first by Joel L’Esperance at 6:09 and the second by Nick Caamano with 3:16 left in the game, setting the stage for Schneider’s OT heroics.
Connor Ingram stopped 35 shots to pick up the win in net for the Admirals, who peppered Jurusik with a season-high 48 shots.
The Admirals get right back on the road as they head to Grand Rapids for two straight games, beginning Saturday, January 22nd at 6 pm CT. Milwaukee’s next home game will be Friday January 28th when they host the Rockford IceHogs at 7 pm at Panther Arena.
