Winnipeg, MB—Jordan Gross scored a pair of goals and added an assist to pace the Admirals offense to a 6-2 win over the Manitoba Moose in game one of the Central Division Semifinals on Friday night.
The win gives the Ads a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series that will continue on Sunday afternoon with game 2 at 2 pm.
The six goals were one shy of the franchise record for goals in a road playoff game and it was the most they have scored in any post-season contest since beating Houston 7-0 on May 11th, 2009.
In addition to Gross, Marc Del Gaizo (1g-1a), Luke Evangelista (2a), Egor Afanasyev (2a), and Mark Jankowski (2a) all chipped in multi-goal efforts, while Yaroslav Askarov stopped 35 shots to pick up the win in his first career post-season start.
Just as it did in the regular season, the Admirals special teams shined as they scored on two of the three power-play opportunities, while vanquishing all four of the Manitoba chances, including a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:21 early in the third period.
The Admirals scored three times in the first 8:19 of the game, beginning with Del Gaizo’s first post-season goal just 95 seconds after the puck dropped.
Zach Sanford made it 2-0 with a one-timer from the slot on a power-play at 7:24 and less than a minute later Jimmy Huntington found a loose puck at the side of the net and pushed it by Moose goalie Evan Cormier.
Milwaukee also tallied three times in the second frame as Gross sandwiched his two goals around a Austin Rueschhoff goal.
The Ads and Moose return to the ice for game 2 on Sunday afternoon. The series then shifts to Milwaukee for game three on Wednesday, May 3rd at 7 pm at Panther Arena.
