The Milwaukee Admirals evened the Central Division Finals with a 5-2 win in Game 2 on Monday, reducing their match-up with Grand Rapids to a best-of-three.
And having to go on the road for Game 3 tonight, the Admirals could hardly afford to enter Van Andel Arena facing elimination. Milwaukee took a 4-0 lead on Monday before two late Griffins goals, but the Admirals eventually iced the victory.
“These are two really good teams – they’ve had a great second half, we’ve had a great second half,” Admirals head coach Karl Taylor told reporters. “Two really good teams going after each other.”
Only seven games into their postseason, the Central Division champions have already faced their fair share of challenging circumstances. They lost the first two games of their best-of-five division semifinal against Texas before taking the series with three consecutive wins. After falling in Game 1 last week at home to the Griffins, a loss in Game 2 would have put the Admirals down 2-0 for the second series in a row going into a hostile environment.
“I love playing in G.R.,” Taylor said. “They usually have good crowds, it’s loud, it’s a really fun city. It’s a challenge because they do play well at home, but we want those challenges. It’s supposed to be hard here. It’s not supposed to be easy.”
For the second consecutive series, Taylor made a mid-series goaltending switch. Against Texas, Yaroslav Askarov started the first two games before Taylor inserted Troy Grosenick for Game 3. He stuck with Grosenick through Game 1 against Grand Rapids before going back to Askarov, who came through with 27 saves in Monday’s win.
“What a great game by Asky,” Taylor said. “What a great response from him stepping up. It’s always a challenge. These kids are so young. These are young men, and it was awesome – I was really proud of how he played.”
Now the Admirals must win at least one game in Grand Rapids, where the Griffins had the AHL’s third-best regular-season record at 23-7-4-2.
“We know that going into Grand Rapids is going to be a challenge,” rookie forward Zach L’Heureux told reporters. “It’s a hard barn to play in, but we’re looking forward to it. Excited for that challenge. We want to go there, win two games, and finish it off.”
Awash in standout prospects, it was a swap of first-round picks for the Griffins for their Game 2 lineup.
With defenseman Simon Edvinsson, selected sixth overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2021 NHL Draft, considered “day-to-day,” according to head coach Dan Watson, rookie forward Nate Danielson, just in from Portland of the Western Hockey League, made his pro debut on Monday. Detroit took him ninth in last year’s NHL Draft, and he had 67 points (24 goals, 43 assists) in 54 games for Portland this season.
Watson was pleased with Danielson’s debut in making the jump not only to the AHL, but to the Calder Cup Playoffs.
“He was good,” Watson said. “Smart player. I think he moves well. It’s a tough game to throw him into right away, but he can handle it. He’s used to that type of pressure. I thought he did well, but he’ll get better as the games go along here.”
Said Danielson, “I thought I was all right. I think I can definitely be better. It’s a lot different game from junior, just the physicality and speed and everything like that.”
Vincent Iorio has returned to the Hershey Bears in advance of Game 3 tonight.
The second-year defenseman collected 14 points and registered a plus-26 rating in 60 games with the Bears during the 2023-24 regular season. He was injured in Game 1 of the Washington Capitals’ first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the New York Rangers back on Apr. 21.
― with files from Patrick Williams
