Winnipeg, MB— Cole Schneider scored his ninth goal of the season to force overtime and Jordan Gross and Luke Evangelista scored in a shootout to lift the Milwaukee Admirals to a 4-3 shootout win over the Manitoba Moose Thursday at Canada Life Centre.
Down 3-2 in the third period, Schneider slid a backhander into the net for his team-leading ninth goal of the season at 4:16. He cleaned up a rebound from a Tommy Novak shot. The win moved Milwaukee to 5-4-0-0 this season when trailing after two periods, one of only two teams in the American Hockey League to have a winning record in that scenario.
Both teams exchanged several chances in overtime, but neither club found the back of the goal.
In the shootout, Milwaukee’s Gross and Evangelista each scored while Manitoba’s two shooters were denied. The Ads improved to 2-0 in games decided in shootouts this season.
Despite being outshot 15-9 in the first period, it was Milwaukee getting there first goal of the game. A clearing attempt by the Moose hit the referee in the left corner. Evangelista fed the loose puck to Novak in the slot. Novak’s slap shot found the back of the net for his eighth goal of the season at 11:41 of the first period.
Manitoba tied the game 1-1 at 19:28 of the first frame. The Admirals turned the puck over in their zone and Manitoba’s Alex Limoges found himself alone in front of the goal to convert a Tyler Boland pass for a goal.
The Moose took a 2-1 lead at 9:37 of the second period when Wyatt Bongiovanni followed his shot and put it into the goal for his fourth tally off the year. Bongiovanni shot the puck over the net but it took a strange hop off the glass and died on the goal line between Admirals goalie Yaroslav Askarov and the goal line. Bongiovanni raced to tap it into the goal.
Milwaukee tied the game 2-2 at 10:15 of the second stanza with some hard work along the boards. Tim Schaller wrestled the puck free on the right wing and poked the puck to Jachym Kondelik. Kondelik found Tommy Apap in the slot and he fluttered a shot into the goal for his first marker of the season.
Manitoba reclaimed the lead when Jeff Malott scored on the power play at 16:34 of the second.
Askarov stopped 35 shots in the game and won his sixth straight decision. He improved to 10-3-0 on the season.
Milwaukee and the Moose meet again Sat., Dec. 3 in Winnipeg. The Admirals return to Milwaukee Wed., Dec. 14 to host the Hartford Wolfpack at Panther Arena.
