Des Moines, IA— Zach L’Heureux scored the overtime winner to lift the Milwaukee Admirals to a 4-3 win over the Iowa Wild Tuesday at Wells Fargo Arena.
Milwaukee has won three straight. The Admirals have a ten-point lead over second place Grand Rapids in the Central Division. Milwaukee’s magic number to clinch the division title is 15.
L’Heureux received an outlet from Jake Livingstone and carried along the left wing boards. As he got into the Iowa zone, defender Daemon Hunt fell and L’Heureux snapped a shot past Iowa goalie Jesper Wallstedt. The goal, at 2:19 of the overtime, was L’Heureux’s 18th of the season.
Admirals goalie Yaroslav Askarov stopped 30 shots to earn his 25th win off the season. He made a stop on a Turner Elson penalty shot at 4:34 of the third period to keep the Admirals within one goal when the Wild had a 3-2 lead.
Iowa scored the first goal of the game at 7:06. Sammy Walker was alone in the slot and received a pass. He whipped a shot past Askarov for his 13th tally of the season.
Milwaukee tied the game at 8:36 of the first frame. Roland McKeown’s shot from the right point was deflected by Jasper Weatherby. Ozzy Wiesblatt shot the rebound into the net for his first goal as an Admiral and his fourth in the American Hockey League this season.
Iowa scored a pair of goals with an extra attacker in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. First, with a delayed penalty call coming against the Admirals, Iowa’s Walker fed a pass through the slot from the left circle to the right. Defenseman Hunt slapped the puck into the net at 13:35 for a 2-1 lead.
On the power play, Elson redirected a Cedar Bankier pass into the net for a goal at 17:59 of the second period to make it 3-1 for the Wild.
Admirals center Fedor Svechkov scored a pair of goals to tie the game 3-3. Svechkov had missed the previous 15 games with an injury. His first came just :22 into the third frame. Joakim Kemell breezed into the offensive zone on the left and sent a quick pass to the right of the slot for a Svechkov one-timer. The goal was the fastest goal from the start of a period for the Admirals this season.
Svechkov tied the game with a power play goal from the front of Iowa’s net. It was his 15th goal of the season and his fourth power play marker.
The Admirals return to UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena Fri., Mar. 29 to host the Rockford IceHogs.
