Dan Hamhuis scored once and added a pair of assists to lead the defending Calder Cup champion Milwaukee Admirals to a 3-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch in American Hockey League action Saturday night.
Syracuse opened the scoring in this one early in the first period. Rookie Greg Mauldin did an excellent job of finding a soft spot in the Admiral defense by sneaking backdoor on goaltender Seamus Kotyk. Mauldin then converted a pretty cross crease feed from Tim Jackman to put the Crunch up 1-0.
Later in the first Milwaukee was able to even things up courtesy of some undisciplined play from the home team. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen's holding call was followed by a double minor accessed to Zenith Komarniski that resulted in three straight attempts with the man advantage for the Admirals.
Milwaukee cashed in on the opportunity when promising prospect Scottie Upshall re-directed a Dan Hamhuis offering past Crunch netminder Karl Goehring for his 5th of the season and a 1-1 game.
The Admirals power play struck again at the 8:30 mark of period number two. After a failed Crunch clearing attempt Dan Hamhuis and Darren Haydar worked the give and go to perfection resulting in Hamhuis fourth of the season to give Milwaukee their first lead of the night.
In the third Milwaukee's power play stepped to the forefront yet again to give the Admirals a two goal lead. Wyatt Smith corralled a blocked Dan Hamhuis drive and as he fell down he swept the puck past Goehring for the goal.
Greg Mauldin's second goal of the game, a power play tally at the 9:19 mark, brought the Crunch to within one, but that was as close as they could get on this night.
Seamus Koytk recorded 24 saves in picking up his fifth win of the season for Milwaukee. Karl Goehring turned aside 24 Admiral shots in a losing effort for the Crunch.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:December 11, 2004
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Milwaukee Admirals
Attendance:4,111
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Syracuse, Mauldin 3 (Jackman, Svitov), 5:22. 2. Milwaukee, Upshall 5 (Hamhuis, Hrkac), 13:36, (pp). Penalties-Yablonski, Mil (fighting), 5:24; Sugden, Syr (fighting), 5:24; Hamhuis, Mil (roughing), 5:49; Jackman, Syr (roughing), 5:49; Upshall, Mil (roughing), 9:29; Tollefsen, Syr (holding), 10:43; Komarniski, Syr (double minor, roughing), 12:25.
Second Period-Scoring-3. Milwaukee, Hamhuis 4 (Haydar, Suter), 8:30, (pp). Penalties-Fiddler, Mil (roughing), :06; Tiley, Mil (tripping), 2:35; Motzko, Syr (tripping), 7:19; Upshall, Mil (cross-checking), 12:58; Motzko, Syr (interference), 15:52.
Third Period-Scoring-4. Milwaukee, Smith 9 (Hamhuis, Haydar), 4:15, (pp). 5. Syracuse, Mauldin 4 (Svitov, Beauchemin, 9:20, (pp). Penalties-Pandolfo, Syr (hooking), 3:12; Pivko, Mil (tripping), 7:46; Hrkac, Mil (slashing), 18:22; Komarniski, Syr (roughing), 18:22.
Shots on Goal:Milwaukee, 15-4-8--27; Syracuse, 6-11-9--26.
Power Play Opportunities:Milwaukee, 3-6; Syracuse, 1-5.
Goalies-Milwaukee, Kotyk (5-1-0-0), 26 shots- 24 saves; Syracuse, Goehring (5-6-0-0), 27 shots-24 saves.
Referee-Scott Hoberg (46); Linesman- Jim Harper (59), Tim Kotyra (53).
Three Stars:
1. Dan Hamhuis: Showed why he spent all of last season in the show. Finishes the night with a goal and two assists.
2. Greg Mauldin: Continues to impress in his rookie campaign with a two-goal night.
3. Wyatt Smith: Scored what turned about to be game-winner in the third period.
Lineups:
Milwaukee:Goal:Brian Finley, Seamus Kotyk.Defense: Dan Hamhuis, Brad Tiley, Greg Zanon, Kevin Klein, Ryan Suter, Andrew Hutchinson, Ed Campbell. Forwards: Simon Gamache, Brandon Segal, Timofei Shishkanov, Scottie Upshall, Darren Haydar, Wyatt Smith, Jordin Tootoo, Cam Severson, Libor Pivko, Jerrad Smithson, Tony Hrkac, Jeremy Yablonski, Vernon Fiddler.
Syracuse:Goal:Karl Goehring, Pascal Leclaire, Andrew Penner.Defense: Zenith Komarniski, Andre Lakos, Jamie Pushor, Aaron Johnson, Prestin Ryan, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Francois Beauchemin. Forwards: Joe Motzko, Jeremy Reich, Tim Jackman, Mark Hartigan, Matthias Trattnig, Raffaele Sannitz, Alexander Svitov, Brandon Sugden, Greg Mauldin, Mike Pandolfo, Jeff Panzer, Steve Goertzen, Brad Moran.
Pre-game Skate:
Scratched for the Crunch were goaltender Pascal Leclaire (groin), defenseman Prestin Ryan and left wing Matthias Trattnig. The Admirals didn't dress defenseman Ed Campbell and right wing Jordin Tootoo (hip pointer).
Short Shifts:
Matthias Trattnig was a healthy scratch for the first time this season on Saturday. Trattnig has struggled to find his scoring touch and he has only registered 3 assists in 24 games played……….Crunch enforcer Brandon Sugden continued his run thru the league's top heavyweights with another impressive performance Saturday night. Sugden easily decisioned Milwaukee's Jeremy Yablonski and left the Saskatchewan native bloodied and beaten. Yablonski missed a good portion of the first period receiving medical attention in the Milwaukee dressing room……..By surrendering three more power play goals Saturday night the Crunch have now given up five in their last two contests……..With the loss Syracuse now stands 10-9-3-3; B.F.
On Deck:
The Crunch is off until next Friday when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins pay a visit to the War Memorial. The following evening Rochester is in town for a Saturday evening tilt. Game time for both contests is set for 7:30 P.M.