WINNIPEG, MB – Justin Kirkland and Frederick Gaudreau both scored in the shootout as the Milwaukee Admirals beat the Manitoba Moose 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon.

In a game that started at 10:30 a.m. (school promotion), the Moose were still asleep in the first period as Kirkland and Trevor Smith scored unanswered goals in the first period to give Milwaukee a 2-0 lead.

However, the moose woke up and scored two of their own. In the second period, JC Lipon scored his 11th of the year from Tucker Poolman and Mike Sgarbossa at 5:54 p.m. to cut the lead to 2-1. Then, in the third, Sami Niku scored his 12th from Nic Petan and Patrice Cormier at 7:06 to tie it at 2-2.

However, in the shootout, both Sgarbossa and Petan failed to score and the Moose fell to 6-6-4 in the month of February.

The Moose are now 35-16-4-4 on the season, still first in the Central Division with 78 points, a full six points ahead of second-place Chicago.

On Wednesday, the Moose outshot the Admirals 26-23. The Moose were one-for-six on the power play while the Admirals were zero-for-three. Eric Comrie made 21 saves in the Moose net and is now 16-10-3-2 on the season.

The Moose play again on Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the Wolves in Chicago.

THE NOTEBOOK: Sami Niku has four goals and 14 points in his last 15 games… Patrice Cormier now has 189 points with the Moose/IceCaps franchise, tying him with Bill Bowler (1997-00) for the franchise’s record for all-time points by a centre… Nic Petan has points in 12 straight road games – seven goals and 18 points.

Scott Taylor, Manitoba Post

Photos by James Carey Lauder