Admirals ice the Heat, 4-1

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Admirals defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-1 on Friday evening at the Bradley Center. The win was keyed by Milwaukee’s special teams as they scored two power-play goals, a shorthanded goal and were a perfect five for five on the penalty kill.

After the Admirals missed a few early scoring chances against the Heat, Milwaukee found the scoring column with 10:49 left in the first period. With the Ads on the power-play, Kyle Wilson took the puck behind the net and found Juuso Puustinen in the slot and beat Leland Irving putting the Ads on top 1-0.

The Admirals went on their second power-play of the night after Dustin Sylvester was called for delay of game. Wilson got the play started by making a pass to Puustinen. Puustinen fired a shot that was turned away by Irving; Puustinen recovered as he corralled his rebound and beat Irving for his second goal of the game at the 13:55 mark of the first, extending the Ads lead to 2-0.

The second period belonged to goaltender Jeremy Smith as he made a number of great saves, which started at the 2:38 mark in the second when he kept the Heat off the scoreboard as they had a couple scoring chances from the crease.

He continued to turn Abbotsford shots away, sprawling out to his left at the 13:35 mark to keep the shutout in line. Smith’s effort shone through as the Heat had a two-on-one and Smith made a remarkable glove save to keep the Heat scoreless.

After two periods of play the Ads held on to their 2-0 lead

The Admirals lost the shutout with 11:07 left in the game when Greg Nemisz took the puck from the corner and beat Smith cutting the Ads lead to 2-1.

Five minutes later, Milwaukee extended their lead to 3-1, when Jani Lajunen and Ryan Flynn had a shorthanded two-on-one rush. Lajunen found Flynn who sent a rocket past Irving, giving Flynn his second goal of the year.

Flynn added his second goal of the game at the 18:58 mark. With an empty net, the Heat made a costly turnover in their own end and Flynn found the back of the net giving the Ads a 4-1 lead.

Puustinen (2g), Flynn (2g), and Wilson (2a) all recorded multi-point nights, while Smith turned aside 36 shots to earn his 22nd victory of the season.

The Admirals are back at it Saturday night when they travel to Rockford to face the IceHogs at 7:05 pm. The Ads return to the Bradley Center on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm against the San Antonio Rampage.