The Milwaukee Admirals obliterated the Texas Stars tonight. I'll take solace in the fact that only 2,737 bothered to showup to tonight's game. This is paltry in comparison to the 4,272 that showed up to the Texas Stars 5-2 win over the Admirals last week in Cedar Park. Come on, we're a Texas hockey team and we're beating you in attendance... That's sad, guys.
Texas started Todd Ford tonight. The Stars came out and got two early power plays but did nothing with them. They allowed Milwaukee to set up the cycle and spend a lot of time in their zone. The Stars needed to score first, with the Admirals having a .870 winning percentage when scoring first. Despite all this, Texas won the shots battle on the period, likely due to the power play opportunities.
The Stars penalty kill was tested late in the first and into the second on a tripping minor to Vishnevskiy. Tousignant dropped the gloves with Wacey Rabbit and went down like a house of cards after a few hits. Honestly, he just lost his balance. The Stars got a 3rd chance on the power play and did nothing with it, now 0/3 on the night.
After a bit of a misplay, Vishnevskiy was forced to take a hooking minor to prevent a quality scoring chance by Milwaukee. The Admirals Sulzer would score on the ensuing power play from the right wing circle. You can't load up a power play like theirs too many times without getting bitten.
Dan Jancevski took another penalty for holding just a few minutes later and the Stars succumbed just 5 seconds in when Spaling put one past a prone Todd Ford. Again, the Stars cocked the gun, what can you expect?
Just minutes later, Nick Spaling sent a great pass from the right wing circle out to Mike Santorelli coming down the slot. He shot on the forehand, collected his own rebound and shoveled it home on the backhand. 3-0 Milwaukee. The Stars lost the 2nd period and certainly lost the shots battle in the period as well, 17-9.
Texas was given another power play opportunity, the fourth of the night at 6:42 of the 3rd. They couldn't capitalize. However, just after the penalty expired, Garrett Stafford slapped one in from the right point that bounced off Pickard and Aaron Gagnon backhanded over the goalie, who was laid out on the goal line helplessly.
Off a draw in the Texas zone, Nick Spaling sat down on Todd Ford like a chair, which drew a goaltender interference call. Texas had a few good chances but took themselves off the advantage when Aaron Gagnon was called for tripping. It wasn't really tripping, it was being in the vicinity of an opposing player falling down. If anything, the Admirals player should have been called for holding the stick.
Colin Wilson, the AHL's rookie of the month for January, with a nasty wrist shot from the right wing circle staked the Admirals to a 4-1 lead with 7 minutes left. With just 2 minute left in the game, Tristan Grant would score on a coast-to-coast play to make it 5-1. Todd Ford took his first regulation loss of the season.
The Stars have had a tough schedule over the past few days. This is the 4th game in 5 days for them. They played well at even strength and had shots on the power play but couldn't break through. They really got killed on the penalty kill though tonight, with the Admirals going 3/6 on the night. They played alright at even strength but were given 5 gifts in the form of minor penalties to the Admirals and did nothing with them.
The Stars have Wednesday and Thursday off before playing again at Cedar Park Center on Friday for a two game set against the Rivermen. As of tonight, the Stars are still first place in the West division, but only by a point. Rockford and Chicago will play once each before Friday. Milwaukee's next game is not until Friday. The IceHogs have a chance to move into first place with a win tomorrow, but the Stars will still have five games in hand over them at that point.
You can't win 'em all, but when you lose, you just don't want it to be like this. We'll get 'em again on Friday.
Tonight's lines:
Wathier-Morin-Rallo
McCulloch-Lindgren-Beaudoin
Sceviour-Gagnon-Sawada
Gazdic-Tousignant-Shelast
Fortunus-Vishnevskiy
Stafford-Jancevski
Hutchinson-Ludwig
Ford
Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Wilson and Krahn (injured)
Stephenson and Korostin (scratched)
Peters (call up)
AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Milwaukee - February 2 2010
Texas started Todd Ford tonight. The Stars came out and got two early power plays but did nothing with them. They allowed Milwaukee to set up the cycle and spend a lot of time in their zone. The Stars needed to score first, with the Admirals having a .870 winning percentage when scoring first. Despite all this, Texas won the shots battle on the period, likely due to the power play opportunities.
The Stars penalty kill was tested late in the first and into the second on a tripping minor to Vishnevskiy. Tousignant dropped the gloves with Wacey Rabbit and went down like a house of cards after a few hits. Honestly, he just lost his balance. The Stars got a 3rd chance on the power play and did nothing with it, now 0/3 on the night.
After a bit of a misplay, Vishnevskiy was forced to take a hooking minor to prevent a quality scoring chance by Milwaukee. The Admirals Sulzer would score on the ensuing power play from the right wing circle. You can't load up a power play like theirs too many times without getting bitten.
Dan Jancevski took another penalty for holding just a few minutes later and the Stars succumbed just 5 seconds in when Spaling put one past a prone Todd Ford. Again, the Stars cocked the gun, what can you expect?
Just minutes later, Nick Spaling sent a great pass from the right wing circle out to Mike Santorelli coming down the slot. He shot on the forehand, collected his own rebound and shoveled it home on the backhand. 3-0 Milwaukee. The Stars lost the 2nd period and certainly lost the shots battle in the period as well, 17-9.
Texas was given another power play opportunity, the fourth of the night at 6:42 of the 3rd. They couldn't capitalize. However, just after the penalty expired, Garrett Stafford slapped one in from the right point that bounced off Pickard and Aaron Gagnon backhanded over the goalie, who was laid out on the goal line helplessly.
Off a draw in the Texas zone, Nick Spaling sat down on Todd Ford like a chair, which drew a goaltender interference call. Texas had a few good chances but took themselves off the advantage when Aaron Gagnon was called for tripping. It wasn't really tripping, it was being in the vicinity of an opposing player falling down. If anything, the Admirals player should have been called for holding the stick.
Colin Wilson, the AHL's rookie of the month for January, with a nasty wrist shot from the right wing circle staked the Admirals to a 4-1 lead with 7 minutes left. With just 2 minute left in the game, Tristan Grant would score on a coast-to-coast play to make it 5-1. Todd Ford took his first regulation loss of the season.
The Stars have had a tough schedule over the past few days. This is the 4th game in 5 days for them. They played well at even strength and had shots on the power play but couldn't break through. They really got killed on the penalty kill though tonight, with the Admirals going 3/6 on the night. They played alright at even strength but were given 5 gifts in the form of minor penalties to the Admirals and did nothing with them.
The Stars have Wednesday and Thursday off before playing again at Cedar Park Center on Friday for a two game set against the Rivermen. As of tonight, the Stars are still first place in the West division, but only by a point. Rockford and Chicago will play once each before Friday. Milwaukee's next game is not until Friday. The IceHogs have a chance to move into first place with a win tomorrow, but the Stars will still have five games in hand over them at that point.
You can't win 'em all, but when you lose, you just don't want it to be like this. We'll get 'em again on Friday.
Tonight's lines:
Wathier-Morin-Rallo
McCulloch-Lindgren-Beaudoin
Sceviour-Gagnon-Sawada
Gazdic-Tousignant-Shelast
Fortunus-Vishnevskiy
Stafford-Jancevski
Hutchinson-Ludwig
Ford
Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Wilson and Krahn (injured)
Stephenson and Korostin (scratched)
Peters (call up)
AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Milwaukee - February 2 2010
This sucks. And it especially sucks that it had to be Milwaukee. I hope the boys can get some rest and be ready to come out flying Friday night.
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