(Highlights to be posted tomorrow)
Blake Geoffrion scored the Admirals’ first goal of the night in the Bradley Center just :42 into the first period.
Milwaukee never looked back, pasting the Peoria Rivermen 8-1.
Geoffrion, the defending Hobey Baker winner, had already had a career night a week ago when he registered 3 points (2g, 1a) in Milwaukee’s 7-5 loss to the San Antonio Rampage. On Friday night, however, his star may have finally arrived.
The lead would stand at 1-0 for the remainder of the first period, as the Admirals blasted 16 shots on Peoria’s goaltender Ben Bishop. The Rivermen, on the other hand, only sent three pucks in Mark Dekanich’s direction.
At 2:08 of the second period, Mark Van Guilder scored his fourth of the year on an assist from Andreas Thuresson and Kelsey Wilson to put the Admirals up 2-0.
After that, the game just got silly.
Geoffrion registered his second point of the night, assisting on Andreas Thuresson’s goal at 8:02 of the second.
Even a Kelsey Wilson tripping penalty couldn’t stop the Ads, as Chris Mueller scored a short handed goal on an assist from Matt Halischuk…a move they clearly practiced on the flight from Vancouver.
Linus Klasen tacked on his 20th of the season to put the Ads up 5-0.
Shortly thereafter, Geoffrion and Peoria’s Brennan Evans had words with each other and racked up coincidental roughing minors. Blake was only a couple of swings from a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
As the third period began, the unthinkable happened – Peoria managed to score, closing the gap to 5-1 on a Mark Cundari goal at a little over a minute into the period.
The Admirals answered back quickly, with Ryan Thang scoring just 51 seconds later on assists from Roman Josi and Geoffrion.
Then, it got ugly.
On the ensuing faceoff, Kelsey Wilson tangled with the Rivermen’s Ryan Reaves. After both had gone to the box with 5 minute fighting majors, Milwaukee’s Scott Ford danced with Peoria’s Anthony Peluso and each earned their own set of 5 minute fighting majors. On the faceoff after that, Peoria’s Phil McRae got into it with Grant Lewis. Both players punched their minute off coupons and managed to get off with 4 minutes in roughing double minors.
With the game already out of reach, Geoffrion added his second goal of the night on assists from Klasen and Thang at 12:55.
After appropriately putting up a touchdown on the Green Bay Packers-colored ice, the Admirals went for the two-point conversion, as Jon Blum scored on an assist from Geoffrion and Josi.
Geoffrion finished the night with 5 points.
Game Notes:
- Mark Dekanich was stellar, saving 27 of 28 Peoria shots.
- 8 goals was the most that the Admirals had scored since April 9, 2010, against the Chicago Wolves.
- Both Linus Klasen and Jon Blum finished at +4.
- Peoria goalie Ben Bishop played the entire game, finishing with a save percentage of 0.757.
Box Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peoria Rivermen | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Milwaukee Admirals | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| Location | Bradley Center – Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| Winning Goaltender | Mark Dekanich |
| Losing Goaltender | Ben Bishop |
| First Star | Blake Geoffrion (MIL) – 2G, 3A, 5P |
| Second Star | Linus Klasen (MIL) – 1G, 2A, +4 |
| Third Star | Andreas Thuresson (MIL) – 1G, 1A |
| Attendance | 10,793 |
—
PHOTO CREDIT: Scott Paulus