Milwaukee, WI— Led by the red-hot Reid Schaefer, the Admirals completed a comeback victory by winning 4-3 in overtime Sunday afternoon at historic Panther Arena. The win was one of the most exciting this season as the Admirals trailed by two goals with three and a half minutes remaining, yet Milwaukee rallied to force the overtime session and take home the victory.
The energy heightened early as halfway through the first period Kyle Marino and Tyrel Bauer dropped the gloves, setting the stage for an AHL prizefight between two of the league’s heavyweights.
Manitoba finally broke through just over two minutes into the second period with Dylan Moulton scoring his first career AHL goal.
Just three minutes later, the Admirals responded with a goal of their own, courtesy of the streaking Schaefer tallying his third goal in as many games. The finish was set up by an idyllic cross-ice pass from Jordan Oesterle who continued a streak of his own, tallying his seventh game in a row with an assist.
The period finished with a sour taste for the Admirals though, as after Milwaukee failed to score on a 70-second 5-on-3 opportunity, the Moose took the lead late in the frame, courtesy of a tap in from Philip Di Giueseppe with just over three minutes until the break.
Halfway through the third, the Moose extended their lead to 3-1 after an errant shot off the end boards fell to Nikita Chibrikov who was able to easily tuck it in.
With just over three minutes remaining, hope seemed lost as the Admirals missed out on a late game power play opportunity, but Milwaukee was not done yet. Tanner Molendyk used his strength to carry the puck into the zone, then as he threw it towards the net, Daniel Edstrom deflected it into the back of the net, and the comeback was on. With time ticking away, Molendyk once again set up another opportunity as he found Cole O’Hara in the offensive zone, who threaded a beautiful pass to a wide-open Fedor Svechkov in the middle of the slot, who sniped one home to tie the game at three with 2:12 to go in regularion.
Turning to the overtime period, the Admirals first 3-on-3 line did well to defend an early onslaught from the Moose, marking nearly a ninety second shift. Moments later, Edstrom won a key offensive zone faceoff, and found Jordan Oesterle who quickly sent the puck across the zone to the Schaefer who’s snap shot from the hash marks beat Manitoba goalie Thomas Milic stick-side at 1:48 of the OT session.
Milwaukee continues their homestand with a school day game on Tuesday morning against the Chicago Wolves at 10:30am.
