Admirals Explode for Three First-Period Goals, Upset Griffins 5-2 on Road

Before Grand Rapids could settle in Saturday night, Milwaukee had already built a lead that the Griffins never seriously threatened. Three goals in the opening 11:21 at Van Andel Arena set the tone for a 5-2 Admirals victory that qualifies as one of the more convincing road upsets of the AHL season.

Oesterle got Milwaukee moving at 4:07, finishing off feeds from Edstrom and Willis for his seventh of the year. Ninety-three seconds later, Cole O'Hara made it 2-0, converting on assists from Isaac Ratcliffe and Oasiz Wiesblatt for his 15th goal of the season. Grand Rapids responded with a Dufour power-play goal at 8:47, cutting the deficit to one and briefly steadying the home crowd. But Ratcliffe answered on Milwaukee's own power play at 11:21, burying his fifth of the season from assists by Tanner Molendyk and Matier, and suddenly the Admirals were back up by two heading into the first intermission with a 3-1 lead.

The middle period was more contested but Milwaukee didn't give ground where it mattered. Kevin Gravel's one-timer from the top of the zone at 9:36 of the second, set up by Edstrom and Bancroft, pushed the lead to 4-1. Grand Rapids kept fighting, and Eduards Tralmaks converted his team's second power-play goal of the night at 12:04, with Erik Gustafsson and Ondrej Becher assisting, to make it 4-2. That's as close as it got.

The Griffins had a chance to make things interesting 50 seconds into the third when William Wallinder ripped a shot from the blue line and Milne tipped it past Milwaukee goalie Murray, but the goal was waved off for a high stick. Ryder Rolston then punched in a rebound from Molendyk at 10:48 to close out the scoring at 5-2 and eliminate any remaining doubt.

The game had an edge to it from the start. Gibson drew an instigating major and fighting penalty at 7:02 of the first, and Grand Rapids' Mazur picked up a holding call and later a double minor for high-sticking in the second period. Neither team was short on physicality, but Milwaukee's discipline on the power play made the difference: the Admirals converted once in two opportunities while the Griffins went 2-for-4.

The victory carries real weight in the standings context. Grand Rapids entered Saturday as the Central Division leader and had claimed the best start in AHL history through 50 games earlier this season, posting a 40-7-2-1 record for 83 points at that point. Beating them on their own ice, convincingly, is not a result the Admirals had managed consistently in this series. The teams split earlier meetings in January and February, with Milwaukee winning a 5-4 overtime game on Jan. 13 thanks to Zachary L'Heureux's winner, while Grand Rapids answered with a 5-2 road win at Panther Arena on Feb. 3 and a 6-4 victory at Van Andel Arena earlier in the season.

Saturday was a different story, and the three-goal opening period was the reason why.