Game Summaries
November 13, 2004
vs. Houston Aeros
at the Bradley Center
A couple of big streaks came to a halt in this afternoon game.

The 17 consecutive games without a regulation loss, dating back to May 20 in the playoffs against Rochester, came to an end. As did the team's streak of killing penalties, which ended at 31. The Admirals had not given up a power play goal since Darren Haydar was ejected for physical abuse of an official (Brian Pochmara) on October 30. Oddly enough, Haydar had not been in the box since then, and the streak ended during his first return trip to the box on a call by ... Brian Pochmara.

Scottie Upshall missed his first game of the season, along with recent scratches Paul Brown, Ed Campbell, and Ryan Suter.

This was a frustrating game to watch, as the Houston defense smothered most of Milwaukee's attempts to set up anything in the offensive zone. I noticed the Admirals were continuously trying to setup finesse passing plays instead of just putting the puck on the net and crashing for rebounds. The Aeros were able to break up most of the passes, and Milwaukee struggled because of it.

The game started off ugly for Milwaukee when Brian Finley was burned on the first two Houston shots of the game on nearly identical plays. Houston twice found players open on the far (right) post on crossing passes which caught Finley off guard. I've always felt that Finley moves better from his left to right, and is weaker right to left, and it showed on those two plays.

In the final minute of the first period, the Admirals scored on a power play because of a very nice play by Tony Hrkac. Hrkac was posted up a few feet away from the side of the net when the puck bounced in the air towards him. He caught the puck, dropped it to his stick, and made a perfect pass into the slot to Timofei Shishkanov, who one-timed it past Houston goaltender Mike Smith.

The highlight of the day for Admirals fans was a heavyweight fight between former Golden Gloves boxing champ Jeremy Yablonski and Houston's Derek Boogaard. Boogaard is a big boy, standing at 6'7" and 270 lbs. compared to Jeremy's 6'1" 230 lbs. Earlier in the game, Boogaard tried to get Yablonski to go, but the time wasn't right for Jeremy. In the 2nd period, they finally squared off. Boogaard used his size advantage to get some leverage on Jeremy and connected on a few small punches, but Yablonski pulled the jersey over the giant's head and went to town with several monster blows before both linesmen mercifully stepped in to stop the onslaught. Yablonski was lucky to avoid an unsportsmanlike conduct call after he did an animated 'hand cleaning' gesture on the way to the box. The fight energized the crowd, but didn't do much for the team.

After Houston got their power play goal to make it 3-1, they scored again on a misplay by Brad Tiley, whose turnover allowed Marius Holtet to shoot uncontested over Finley's blocker.

Down 4-1 with about eight minutes remaining, the Admirals went on a power play. Coach Noel took the chance on that opportunity on pulling the goalender for a sixth attacker in order to spark a comeback. The move worked to produce a power play goal by Wyatt Smith.

In the final minute, Noel took another chance to spark a comeback by challenging the legality of the stick of Pierre-Marc Bouchard. The blade's curve was too much, allowing Milwaukee to have a 6 on 4 advantage after pulling the goaltender again.

The team was unable to produce anything in the final minute. Houston's goaltender Mike Smith almost scored a goal that hit a teammate at the Milwaukee blue line. Moments later, Mark Cullen scored an empty netter to seal the game shut.

boxscores courtesy of pointstreak.com

POINTSTREAK.COM PRINTABLE GAMESHEET:
Bradley Center
Sat, Nov 13, 2004 at 1:30 pm

Houston 5 at Milwaukee 2

Referee: Brian Pochmara (43) Attendance: 5,228
Linesman: Roger Behling (15)
Steve Campbell (51)		 Game Length:
Game Number: 		2:24
177
FINAL
Scoring  1  2  3 T
Houston 2215
Milwaukee 1012
Shots 1  2  3 T
Houston611724
Milwaukee94922
Power Plays G OPP PIM
Houston 1 7 19
Milwaukee 2 5 23
V - H # Per Team Time Scored By Assists PP SH Players On Ice
1 - 0 1 1 HOU 5:43  M.Koivu  M.Foy  R.Wallin     V  6 15 21 22 34 H  5 10 20 29 39
2 - 0 2 1 HOU 6:09  B.Burns  M.Holtet  D.Cavanaugh     V  4 16 24 27 36 H  2 8 22 23 26
2 - 1 3 1 MIL 19:31  T.Shishkanov  T.Hrkac  W.Smith x   V  4 17 19 27 H  4 16 21 24 26
3 - 1 4 2 HOU 5:30  M.Cavosie  Z.Michalek  R.Giroux x   V  6 8 10 17 19 H  2 8 25 39
4 - 1 5 2 HOU 13:48  M.Holtet  D.Cavanaugh       V  5 16 24 36 55 H  4 6 12 16 26
4 - 2 6 3 MIL 13:24  W.Smith  L.Pivko   x   V  5 8 10 17 H  4 10 16 20 21 24
5 - 2 7 3 HOU 19:18  M.Cullen (en)       x V  17 19 27 55 H  2 8 10 16 20 21
Houston Roster Milwaukee Roster Penalties
# Name G A +/- S Pim
4  B.Burns 1 0 +1 2 2
5  E.Reitz 0 0 +1 1 0
6  Z.Michalek 0 1 +1 1 4
8  R.Giroux 0 1 0 1 0
10  K.Law 0 0 0 3 2
15  R.Wallin 0 1 +1 1 0
16  D.Cavanaugh 0 2 +2 1 0
17  M.Cullen 1 0 +1 1 0
19  M.Cavosie 1 0 +1 1 0
21  M.Koivu 1 0 +1 2 0
22  J.Lessard 0 0 +1 3 0
24  S.Veilleux 0 0 +2 1 0
27  P.Traverse 0 0 +2 0 0
31  D.Boogaard 0 0 0 0 7
34  M.Foy 0 1 +1 2 0
36  M.Holtet 1 1 +2 3 0
41  M.Smith 0 0 0 0 0
55  J.Erskine 0 0 +2 0 2
96  P.Bouchard 0 0 0 1 2
  Totals: 5 7 +19 24 19
Goalies Min Sh Sv Ga
41 M.Smith (win) 60:00 22 20 2
Totals: 60:00 22 20 2
# Name G A +/- S Pim
1  B.Finley 0 0 0 0 0
2  D.Hamhuis 0 0 -2 1 0
4  B.Tiley 0 0 -1 1 0
5  G.Zanon 0 0 -1 2 0
6  K.Klein 0 0 -1 2 0
8  A.Hutchinson 0 0 -2 3 2
10  S.Gamache 0 0 -2 1 0
12  B.Segal 0 0 -1 1 0
16  T.Shishkanov 1 0 -2 3 2
20  D.Haydar 0 0 -2 0 4
21  W.Smith 1 1 -1 3 0
22  J.Tootoo 0 0 -1 2 2
23  C.Severson 0 0 -1 1 2
24  L.Pivko 0 1 0 1 4
25  J.Smithson 0 0 0 1 0
26  T.Hrkac 0 1 -2 0 0
29  M.Matteucci 0 0 -1 0 0
33  J.Yablonski 0 0 0 0 7
39  V.Fiddler 0 0 -1 0 0
  Totals: 2 3 -21 22 23
Goalies Mins Sh Sv Ga
1 B.Finley (loss) 57:16 23 19 4
Totals: 57:16 23 19 4
P T  Player M  Offense Time
1 V  K.Law 2  Slashing 7:01
1 H  L.Pivko 2  Holding 12:33
1 V  Z.Michalek 2  Interference 17:41
2 H  L.Pivko 2  Interference 1:18
2 H  D.Haydar 2  Interference 3:42
2 V  D.Boogaard 2  Unsportsmanlike. 7:39
2 H  J.Yablonski 2  Unsportsmanlike. 7:39
2 V  D.Boogaard 5  Fighting 9:54
2 H  J.Yablonski 5  Fighting 9:54
2 H  C.Severson 2  Charging 10:47
2 H  T.Shishkanov 2  High Sticking 15:13
2 V  B.Burns 2  Elbowing 18:51
3 H  J.Tootoo 2  Cross Checking 4:36
3 H  A.Hutchinson 2  Hooking 9:25
3 V  J.Erskine 2  Delay of Game 12:05
3 H  D.Haydar 2  Roughing 14:49
3 V  Z.Michalek 2  Roughing 14:49
3 V  P.Bouchard 2  Illegal Stick 19:03
  Total Min: 42 Total Offenses: 18  

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