Admirals come up short on the road

In his first game in a Milwaukee Admirals uniform since the 2019-20 season, Troy Grosenick nearly willed the team to a win on the road.   

But Milwaukee (1-2-0-0) dropped its second straight with a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Marlies in its lone visit to the Coca-Cola Coliseum on Tuesday night.

After parts of three seasons with the Admirals, Grosenick, a 33-year-old Brookfield, Wis., native, suited up for Ontario and Providence before being limited to six games with Lehigh Valley last season.

The first game in Grosenick’s second stint with his hometown team got off to a poor start. Toronto opened the scoring 7:57 into the game on Nick Abruzzese’s first goal of the season. The Marlies extended their lead just 77 seconds later when Kyle Clifford scored off a neutral-zone turnover.

The Admirals were outshot 10-3 through 20 minutes, but stormed back in the second period.

Joakim Kemell halved the deficit at 8:42. Skating in on a 2-on-1 with Denis Gurianov, Kemell took the return pass and fired a shot from the right circle into an open net with Keith Petruzzelli out of position for his first goal of the ’23-’24 campaign.

Then it was time for Zach L’Heureux to make a little personal history with a pretty goal.

With 36 seconds left in the period, the 27th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Nashville Predators knotted the score at 2 with a spinning backhand shot over Petruzzelli’s left shoulder and under the crossbar for his first pro goal.

For the second straight game, the Admirals were involved in dangerous play that threatened to change the outcome. But unlike last Saturday against the Texas Stars when L’Heureux was slapped with a match penalty, the Admirals were on the receiving end of the rough play.

At the end of the second, a scrum ensued in front of Petruzzelli and Toronto’s Joseph Blandisi speared Fedor Svechkov, drawing a match penalty. One second earlier, the Marlies’ Clifford was called for interfering with Grosenick — essentially laying on the netminder’s back.

The gave Milwaukee a 5-on-3 for 1:59 and another three minutes of 5-on-4 play after that, but the couldn’t get anything past Petruzzelli.

With Yaroslav Askarov getting the night off in the first night of back-to-back games, Grosenick was solid after first period, shaking off a shot to the mask midway through the second period as well as Clifford’s interference.  With 4:51 left in the contest, Grosenick made his best save of the game, denying Matteo Pietroniro from the far dot.

But the Admirals failed to clear the zone and paid for it less than 30 seconds later when Alex Steeves beat Grosenick from the near circle.

At the end of the game, L’Heureux was assessed his second misconduct in three games — this time for abuse of officials.

THREE STARS

1. Zach L’Heureux, Milwaukee: First professional goal is in the books.
2. Troy Grosenick, Milwaukee: Backup finishes with 27 saves in his season debut and second go-round with the Admirals.
3. Denis Gurianov, Milwaukee: Another assist to give him three in a three-game points streak.

COMING UP

The Admirals complete their first set of back-to-back games of the new campaign Wednesday night against the Belleville Senators. Milwaukee swept both games from Belleville last season, including a 3-2 shootout win March 25 in Ontario. The Admirals return home Saturday against the Iowa Wild.