For the Milwaukee Admirals, the 2023-24 season is just six games old and there are 66 more contests remaining.
The lack of offense so far, though, is starting to be a concern.
With a 3-1 loss to the Iowa Wild on Thursday in the only game on the AHL schedule — one that started at 10:30 a.m. local time — Milwaukee (3-3-0-0) has managed a total 13 goals, the second fewest in the league behind the Tucson Roadrunners’ nine.
“We’ve had five different goaltenders now,” assistant coach Scott Ford said in a postgame radio interview. “All of them seem to be getting in the way now.”
On the flip side, the Admirals goaltending has been solid with Yaroslav Askarov and Troy Grosenick combining to allow just 12 goals. Only the Bakersfield Condors have given up fewer, with eight through five contests.
In another trend from the early going, Milwaukee has had trouble keeping the puck out of the net late in periods. This was no exception in the back end of the home-and-home set with the Wild. With 12 seconds to play in the first, Grosenick gave up a goal to Simon Johansson through traffic in front.
The Admirals had not played since Saturday’s 2-1 win over Iowa (3-4-1-0) in which they logged 47 shots on goal. So, did the early start for the School Day Game (that drew 9,687 to Wells Fargo Arena) factor in the late goal? Admirals defensemen Roland McKeown didn’t think so.
“I prefer them,” he said in an interview after the opening period. “You just wake up and play.”
Around The AHL
The Admirals failed to get any of their 10 first-period shots past Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt but finally broke through late in the second. With McKeown serving a double-minor for high-sticking, Iowa’s Jake Lucchini turned the puck over, as Egor Afanasyev and Jasper Weatherby broke on in a 2-on-1, with Afanasyev burying a shot past Wallstedt for the short-handed goal with 5:24 to go.
All of Afanasyev’s team-leading three tallies this season have come on special teams.
But the lead didn’t last long. Less than two and a half minutes later and with the Admirals still killing off McKeown’s penalty, the Wild’s Steven Fogarty scored off a deflection.
Milwaukee outshot Iowa 9-4 over the final 20 minutes, but the Wild recorded the only goal when Andy Welinski scored an empty-netter with 1:35 remaining.
“There’s some expectations to bear down and produce when you get the opportunity,” Ford said. “It’s tough to win games when you’re scoring less than two goals per game.”
Grosenick finished with 21 saves in the loss.
THREE STARS:
- Jesper Wallstedt, Iowa. Stopped 30 shots en route to the win.
- Andy Welinski, Iowa. A goal and an assist for his first multi-point game with the Wild.
- Egor Afanasyev, Milwaukee. His first short-handed tally of 2023-24.
COMING UP:
The Admirals kick off a two-game home stretch Saturday night against the Grand Rapids Griffins before closing their season series with the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday morning. Milwaukee took six of eight meetings from Grand Rapids last season, holding the Detroit Red Wings’ top minor-league club to two goals or less in six contests. The Admirals dropped a 3-2 decision to the Marlies on Oct. 24 in Toronto.