Admirals finish road trip with win over Grand Rapids

GRAND RAPIDS -- Goalie Jeremy Smith stopped 20 shots to lead the Milwaukee Admirals to a 3-2 road win over the Grand Rapids Griffins Sunday, November 25th at Van Andel Arena, 3-2.

Smith was able to keep the puck out of the net while the Griffins had an extra attacker for the final 1:22.

The win snapped the Griffins eight-game winning streak and also gave the Admirals winning record (3-2-1-1) on their season-long seven-game road trip.

Milwaukee grabbed a 1-0 lead with Scott Valentine’s second goal of the season at 7:10 of the first period. Daniel Bang tipped the puck from the left circle to Joonas Jarvinen at the left point. Jarvinen fed a pass to the right point and Valentine ripped a one-timer over the glove of Griffins goalie Petr Mrazek.

The Griffins tied the game with a power play goal at 14:40 when Tomas Tatar popped a rebound of a Joakim Andersson deflection into the net.

Milwaukee reclaimed the lead with six seconds left in the first period. Milwaukee had two late-period 5-on-3 power plays but couldn’t convert with two extra attackers. The Admirals did strike with a one-man advantage when Mattias Ekholm’s shot from the left point eluded Mrazek and found its way under the crossbar. Jon Blum recorded the assist.

The lone goal of the second period was scored by Milwaukee’s Chris Mueller at 15:11 while his team was killing a penalty. Mueller stole the puck from Griffins defenseman Brendan Smith at the left point and cruised in on a breakaway. He shot the puck from between the circles low past Mrazek’s glove for his eighth goal of the season. To date, Mueller has both of Milwaukee’s shorthanded goals this season.

The Griffins got within one on a third period goal by Francis Pare with nine minutes left in the game.

The Admirals return home to host Chicago on Friday, November 30 in their first home game in three weeks.