Gameday Preview: Stars at Milwaukee Admirals

Texas Stars 10-8-1-1, 22 pts #9 Western Conference

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Milwaukee Admirals 9-8-1-1, 20 pts #11 Western Conference

December 5th at 7:00 PM

BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

Texas and Milwaukee face off for the second time on the season. Once again they are in very similar places to each other. At their first meeting, Milwaukee was 2-2 and Texas 2-3. Now they are off by one game, as you can see above. Since then they are nearly the same; Texas is 8-5-1-1 and Milwaukee is 7-6-1-1.

Milwaukee comes into the game on a three contest winning streak and with points in their last four. The Stars had their streak broken up on Saturday against Grand Rapids. They finished a 3-in-3 weekend strong with a win at struggling Peoria.

Jeremy Smith continues to take the lionshare of starts in net for the Milwaukee Admirals. However, he is 6-9-1 on the season. Backup Magnus Hellberg is at 3-0-0 but has a very inflated 3.82 GAA, allowing four goals twice and three once. The Ads just so happened to put up one more goal than he allowed each night. Smith is down at 2.57 GAA but isn't getting the same lucky offensive support as Hellberg. The last time these two teams dueled, Jack Campbell allowed just one while Smith allowed two. Usually, two goals against should be enough to win the game for your team, but when the offense doesn't hold up their end of the bargain, that gets more difficult.

Here is a great post from the Admirals Roundtable, reflecting on the first quarter for the club.

Texas has shown a penchant for comebacks recently. Down 2-0 in Peoria, they pulled out a shootout win. That's a really great quality for a team. Long road trips have the ability to pull teams together. Time away from the hustle of home and with no one but the team and the game to be around build a camaraderie, especially if the team is winning. The Stars are now 7-2-1-0 in their last ten. Are they a team to watch out for now? If the trend continues, they could be. A win tonight would put them into the top eight in the West and playoff contention.

Stars injury/call up report:
None.

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