(Courtesy: Milwaukee Admirals)
MILWAUKEE - Aiden Fink scored two goals and the Admirals converted all three of their shootout attempts as they grabbed a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Chicago Wolves on Saturday night.
Big picture view:
Milwaukee overcame a 3-0 deficit and lowered their magic number to clinch a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the sixth straight season to just one. The Ads can secure that spot Sunday afternoon when they take on Iowa.
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By the numbers:
Oasiz Wiesblatt, Dalton Bancroft and Cole O’Hara all scored on their shootout attempts. The Admirals won in the shootout for the first time since April 12, 2024.
Fink’s two goals gave him nine points (3g-6a) in his first five professional games since signing an ATO with the Admirals on March 30. Jake Lucchini collected a pair of assists for his third multi-point contest in his past five games.
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Matt Murray stopped 21 shots in regulation and overtime, then one of two in the shootout to collect his 21st win of the season.
The Wolves got the only goal of the first period as Noah Philip scored his sixth of the season to give Chicago a 1-0 advantage.
Chicago scored the next two to push their lead to 3-0 courtesy of tallies from Nikita Pavlychev at 1:21 of the second and Noel Gunler at 6:52.
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Fink’s first goal of the game got the Admirals on the board at 12:59 of the second. The play started when Jake Lucchini collected a loose puck in the slot and dropped it back for Andrew Gibson. Gibson rifled a shot from the right circle and Fink deflected it in to make the score 3-1.
Then, just over three minutes later, Fink found the back of the net again when he was able to clean up the rebound of a Cole O’Hara shot to pull Milwaukee to within one.
Ryder Rolston evened the score at 3-3 for the Admirals 7:54 into the third period after he intercepted a pass behind the Chicago net and skated around the right post. He faked like he was going to jam the puck and stepped back before lifting a shot over the shoulder of Chicago goalie Cayden Primeau.
That was the end of the scoring for either team for the remainder of regulation and OT, setting the stage for the Ads to triumph in the shootout.
The Source: The Milwaukee Admirals provided this report.