The Milwaukee Admirals hosted the Texas Stars in a winner-take-all Game 5 in the Central Division Semifinals of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Milwaukee Game 5 at home against Texas by a final score of 5-3 to advance to the Central Division Finals.
With the win for the Admirals, they will face the Grand Rapids Griffins (Detriot Red Wings AHL Affailte) starting on Wednesday, May 15 at home. That series will also be a best-of-five series and the winner of that series will advance to the Western Conference Finals.
Milwaukee won this series against Texas after trailing in the series 0-2. The Admirals are the AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators and the Stars are the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars. In Game 5, Zach L’Heureux scored two goals for the Milwaukee Admirals in the first 58 seconds of the game against the Texas Stars. He now has five total goals this postseason.
In the third period, Texas trailed 3-1, but they made things interesting with an Oskar Back goal for the Stars and it was his second goal for them this postseason. The Stars cut it 3-2, but the Admirals scored two more goals in the third period to put the game out of reach.
One of those goals in the third period came with 2:42 remaining in regulation when Reid Schafer scored an empty-net goal for the Admirals. It was his first goal scored in the Calder Cup Playoffs for Milwaukee.
Goalies Were the Difference In Game 5 Between the Texas Stars and the Milwaukee Admirals
Goaltending seemed to prove large in Game 5 between the Stars and the Admirals. Ben Kraws was the starting goalie in this matchup for Texas. He was pulled after he only saved six shots on nine attempts. Remi Poirier came in relief for the Stars between the pipes and he saved 14 shots on 15 attempts.
As for Milwaukee, they started Troy Grosenick in net over top prospect Yaroslav Askarov. Grosenick had 29 saves for the Admirals. Milwaukee Admirals head coach Karl Taylor spoke to the media after the game about coming back from a 0-2 hole in this series. He said:
“Being able to come back after being down 2-0, winning three elimination games … the group definitely earned something there.”
It will be interesting to see how much gas they have left in the tank for the next series against the Grand Rapids Griffins with a trip to the Western Conference Finals on the line also. Goaltending played a huge role for them a season ago in the Calder Cup Playoffs and it will need to continue once again.
