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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Admirals News and Notes Column: Lethargic Play Leads to Loss Against Peoria

Posted on: Wednesday, 8 March 2006, 03:03 CST

By Dan Manoyan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Mar. 8--Maybe it was the revolving door that is minor-league hockey that came back to shoo the Milwaukee Admirals out of the Bradley Center on Tuesday night.

Or perhaps it was the fact that it was the weary team's fifth game in seven nights. Or just maybe it was the aches and ailments that have suddenly beset the team.

But leave it to Admirals coach Claude Noel to say it best:

"We're a very average team right now. We're not a great team right now; there is no question about that."

Noel wasn't saying anything that the sparse crowd at the Bradley Center hadn't already figured out. Peoria, a team that was 1-4-1-1 on the season vs. the Admirals, dominated Milwaukee, 4-0.

The Rivermen, who are the Admirals' likely opponent in the opening round of the American Hockey League playoffs, improved to 35-22-1-4. The Admirals, who are in second place in the West Division and a notch ahead of Peoria, fell to 39-18-5-3.

"Thank God we don't have too many of these games," Noel said. "It looked like our fifth game in seven, not to make excuses.

"You look at our back end, even on the power plays, and we've got forwards playing back there. It shows; we aren't driven from the back."

Speaking of power plays, the Admirals, who were without Greg Zanon and Jordin Tootoo on call to the parent Nashville Predators, had more than their share. Peoria racked up twice as many penalties as Milwaukee (eight to four). Noel knew his team was in for a long night in the first period, when Peoria had four penalties to none for Milwaukee and twice the Admirals squandered 5-on-3 opportunities.

When the Admirals beat the Rivermen, 6-4, on Saturday night, five of Milwaukee's goals were on the power play.

"We had some great chances," Noel said. "We had some plays where I'm thinking, 'Come on, what are you doing? We can't miss the net from there.'

"It's a different game if we score on one of those opportunities. Instead of trailing, we are at least tied after the period.

"But when they scored the second goal, all of a sudden we have people trying to do too much, clogging up the middle, running into each other. It was a mish-mash game."

Despite the fact that the Admirals had the huge man power advantage and outshot the Rivermen, 13-6, in the first period, Peoria came away with a 1-0 lead. Ryan Ramsey put Peoria on the board at 2 minutes 5 seconds off assists from D. J. King and Joe Talbot.

The killer, however, was Brendan Buckley's goal at 10:52 of the second period. Gavin Morgan and Blake Evans finalized Peoria's onslaught with goals of their own.

It wasn't a career night for Admirals goalie Brian Finley, who faced 25 shots on goal, two fewer than Peoria goalie Reinhard Divis.

"Well, (Finley) is renowned for his rebounds and I thought they could have had a few more tonight," Noel said. "He didn't have a good night.

"The first thing we have to do is recover. We need a good practice on Thursday and a good game Friday night against Cleveland."

Peoria 1 2 1 -- 4

Milwaukee 0 0 0 -- 0

First period -- 1, Peoria, Ramsay (King, Talbot), 2:05. Penalties -- Talbot, Peoria (hooking), 2:56; MacKenzie, Peoria (high-sticking), 3:28; Buckley, Peoria (hooking), 7:21; Talbot, Peoria (hooking), 17:28.

Second period -- 2, Peoria, Buckley (Brooks), 10:52; 3, Peoria, Morgan (Zigomanis, Low), 16:26. Penalties -- Ramsay, Peoria (holding), :52; Evans, Peoria (slashing), 4:19; Berry, Milwaukee (interference), 6:51; Berry, Milwaukee (roughing), 14:19; Keith, Peoria (hooking), 16:32.

Third period -- 4, Peoria, Evans (Linglet, Low), 11:15. Penalties -- Ramsay, Peoria (high-sticking), 5:13; Stortini, Milwaukee (elbowing), 11:15; Stortini, Milwaukee (game misconduct-elbowing), 11:15.

Saves

Divis, PEO 13 10 4 -- 27

Finley, MIL 5 9 7 -- 21

Summary: Shots on goal -- Peoria 6-11-8-25; Milwaukee 13-10-4-27. Penalties /minutes -- Peoria 8 for 22; Milwaukee 4 for 19. Power-play opportunities -- Peoria 0 for 3; Milwaukee 0 for 8. Referee -- Scott Hoberg. Linesmen -- Jay Jacobs, Peter Cichy.

A -- 3,018. T -- 2:19.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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