Admirals beat Moose behind Murray’s 42 saves
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Admirals opened the playoffs with a strong start, beating the Manitoba Moose 4-1 in Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round series Wednesday night.
Matt Murray stopped 42 shots, tying a playoff career high and delivering the most saves by an Admirals goalie in a postseason game since 2022.
Reid Schaefer, Brady Martin, Kevin Gravel and Cole O’Hara scored for Milwaukee, which won a Game 1 on the road for the first time since April 2023 — also against Manitoba.
The Admirals struck first at 9:18 of the opening period when Schaefer redirected a shot from Jordan Oesterle. O’Hara also had an assist.
Less than three minutes later, Martin — a 2025 first-round pick by Nashville — scored his first professional goal, splitting two defenders and beating Thomas Milic to make it 2-0.
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Gravel extended the lead to 3-0 midway through the second period with a shot from the point that got through traffic.
Manitoba cut the deficit early in the third when Parker Ford scored at 4:14, but that was as close as the Moose would get.
Murray held strong down the stretch, making 15 saves in the third period.
O’Hara sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1:19 remaining.
Milwaukee will look to close out the series in Game 2 on Friday night.
The Source: The Milwaukee Admirals provided information.