Winnipeg, MB—Matt Murray was once again impressive in net for the Admirals, making 33 saves but it wasn’t enough as Milwaukee dropped a 2-1 decision to Manitoba in game two of the Calder Cup Playoffs first round.

The loss for the Ads forces a decisive game three on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm at the Canada Life Centre.

The Admirals and Moose have played in the post-season three times in the past five years and now all three of those series will be determined by a winner-take-all game. In addition, this is the ninth time since Karl Taylor took over as bench boss that an Ads series will go the distance.

After a scoreless first period, Ryan Ufko got the Ads on the board with his second career playoff goal at 1:42 of the second period. Ufko was sprung from the penalty box after a high-sticking call and took a pass from Kevin Gravel at the far blueline. He skated in on Moose goalie Dominic DiVincentiis before tucking a forehand that was originally stopped before trickling over the goal line.

However, Manitoba tied things up at the 3:53 mark when Parker Ford collected the rebound of a Walker Duehr shot and put into the Milwaukee net.

The game remained knotted at one until 43 seconds remaining in the game when David Gustafsson deflected a Brayden Yager shot over Murray’s shoulder for a power-play goal and a 2-1 Manitoba advantage, setting the stage for Sunday’s decisive game three.

The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to take on the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Central Division Semi-finals.