MILWAUKEE — The Grand Rapids Griffins allowed three unanswered goals for the second straight game, falling to the Milwaukee Admirals 5-2 on Tuesday at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
The Griffins’ loss to Milwaukee (15-9-4-0) followed a similar script to Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Iowa Wild that encapsulated a three-goal third period. Grand Rapids (14-9-1-2) remains seated at third in Central Division standings with 31 points, maintaining a two-point lead over the Chicago Wolves and falling to three behind the Admirals and Wild, both tied for first.
Now 0-2-1-0 in their three-game stretch on the road, the Griffins return home to Van Andel Arena to host the Rockford IceHogs and Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Puck drop for both games is 7 p.m.
Turner Elson netted his ninth goal of the season a little over halfway through the first period to give Grand Rapids an early lead. Elson corrected a shot from Chris Terry behind the goal line over Milwaukee goaltender Tom McCollum’s right shoulder, making it 1-0 at 12:49 of the frame.
Two back-to-back goals from the Admirals turned the tides away from Grand Rapids in the second period. Just 1:04 in, Milwaukee forward Nicholas Baptiste beat netminder Harri Sateri from the slot for a game-tying goal.
Garrett Ross put the Admirals in the lead 5:24 later, moments after a faceoff in the Griffins’ zone. Defenseman Brian Cooper wrestled the puck away from Dylan McIlrath along the boards and sent it to Ross, who finished it point-blank to make the score 2-1.
Less than three minutes later, Matt Puempel scored the equalizer on a power play. Filip Hronek passed Puempel the puck from the point, and the ensuing wrist shot from the left circle tied both teams at 9:19.
Milwaukee regained the lead late in the frame. Admirals forward Anthony Richard fished the puck out of a scrum with Axel Holmstrom along the boards and sent it to Emil Pettersson in the right-wing circle, who hurled in a one-timer at 16:36.
That one-goal lead was extended to two at 6:31 of the third period, when Connor Brickley chucked the rebound from a Baptiste shot past Sateri from the high slot to double Grand Rapids’ score.
Admirals forward Just Kirkland tacked on the empty-netter at 18:01 for a 5-2 finish on the night.
McCollum, the game’s first star, matched Sateri’s 26 shots on the night for the win.
Notes: Puempel’s goal gave the power play unit a 1-for-6 finish, while the penalty kill went a perfect 3-for-3…Elson also notched a secondary assist on Puempel’s goal, ending the night with two points…McCollum played with the Griffins from 2009-16 and 2017-18 and is the franchise’s all-time goalie leader in wins (123), games played (263), minutes (14900:25) and saves (6640).
Three Stars: 1. MIL McCollum (W, 26 saves); 2. MIL Baptiste (one goal, two assists); 3. MIL Tinordi (assist)
