Milwaukee, WI— Trailing 3-0 deep in the third period the Ads staged a furious comeback before coming up just short in a 3-2 loss to the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday afternoon at Panther Arena. Graham Knott and Tommy Novak scored third-period tallies and then the Ads had numerous grade A scoring chances in the final minute with their goalie pulled, but they couldn’t get the equalizer.

The loss was just the third time in 11 games that the team had fallen in regulation in a home school game. Connor Ingram stopped 31 shots in net for Milwaukee, marking the sixth time this season he has turned aside at least 30 shots against the Moose.

Milwaukee’s magic number to clinch a spot in the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs remains at 11 with eight games to go in the regular season.

Manitoba jumped out to a 3-0 advantage, lighting the lamp in each of the first three periods, and had a power-play with less than 12 minutes to go in the game. However, Tommy Novak created a turnover high in the Ads zone, collected the puck and raced up ice with two-on-one with Graham Knott. Novak froze Moose goalie Mikhail Berdin before feeding Knott in the slot and he chipped in to make it 3-1.

The score stayed that way until less than a minute to go when Novak himself found the back of the net for his seventh of the season. With Ingram pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Novak sent a shot from the half wall that snuck through traffic and over the shoulder of Berdin.

The Admirals had numerous chances to tie the score in the final 55 seconds, but Berdin and the Manitoba defense held off a barrage of pressure and escaped with the victory, snapping a nine-game point streak at home for Milwaukee. The Ads last regulation loss at Panther Arena was back on February 26th against Colorado.

The Admirals and Moose get right back at it on Friday night at 7 pm at Panther Aren as Milwaukee continues a four-game homestand.