Gameday Preview: Stars at Milwaukee Admirals, Game 2

Texas Stars 41-29-4-6, 92 pts #4 West Division

at

Milwaukee Admirals 44-22-6-8, 102 pts #1 West Division

Admirals lead 1-0

April 16th at 7:00 PM

Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

The Stars attempt to rebound after a tough series-opening loss to the Ads on Thursday. A lot of the loss can be attributed to puck luck, something that Coach Gulutzan talks a lot about around the playoffs. After no player in the season series scored more than four points, Gabriel Bourque and Chris Mueller exploded for five and four points respectively in just the first game. Puck luck indeed.

Part of puck luck, however, is your own creation. Fortunus intoned after Thursday's game: "Milwaukee got good bounces but you create your own luck by skating hard, working hard and winning the battles." The Stars intend to come out with the same basic game plan but they need to come out with more intensity.

Jeremy Smith showed his playoff experience in nets on Thursday. Despite playing behind Mark Dekanich all season in Milwaukee, Smith led the Cincinnati Cyclones to victory over the Bachman-led Idaho Steelheads in last year's ECHL Finals.

Special teams, as always, are very important in the playoffs. Texas was 1/4 on the PP Thursday including a scoreless 65-second 5-on-3. Milwaukee, however, only got one opportunity on the power play and made it count for their second goal. Surely chances were limited for both sides but you have to make them count in the playoffs.

Stars injury/call up report:
Ludwig (lower body)

Admirals Web Resources:
Website: milwaukeeadmirals.com
Blog (Official): In The Crease
Blog (Unofficial): Admirals Roundtable (@adsroundtable)
Twitter: @mkeadmirals