MILWAUKEE - V-day had a whole meaning on Tuesday night, as the Milwaukee Admirals got their first home victory in 6 contests at the Bradley Center. The Admirals shutout the West Division Houston Aeros 3-0 in Tuesday night's Valentines Day game. Chris Mueller, Joel Champagne and Jon Blum each contributed a goal for the black and blue, while goaltender Jeremy Smith recorded his second shutout of the year.
Chris Mueller put Milwaukee on the board after redirecting a Victor Bartley wrister at the 12:11 mark of the first. Defenseman Teemu Laakso fed a pass up to Bartley from behind the Houston net, and Bartley let a rocket go from just inside the blue line. The shot would've went wide right, but Mueller got a stick on it and sent it past Houston goaltender Matt Hackett for his team-leading 23rd goal of the year.
Houston thought they tied it up in the final seconds of the middle frame after lighting the lamp on the power-play, but Jon DiSalvatore's goal was quickly ruled no goal because it was kicked in.
Milwaukee lit the lamp again with less than four to go in regulation thanks to forward Joel Champagne. Champagne kept the pressure on down low and got a rebound past Hackett for his fifth of the season.
Houston pulled Hackett with just over two left in regulation in hopes of putting together two goals to tie it, but Jon Blum cleared the puck from the Admirals end and scored an empty netter to give the Admirals their third and final goal of the night. Blum's goal was a shorthanded goal, because teammate Teemu Laakso was still in the box for a slashing call.
The Admirals hit the road for a pair of weekend games against the first-ranked West Division Oklahoma City Barons. The Barons are on a hot streak, winning 9 of their last 10 games. They also lead the entire Western Conference with 69 points, and have the number one and two ranked goaltenders in the lead (Yann Danis and David LeNeveu respectively).
1. MIL Mueller, (23) (Bartley, Laakso), 12:113. MIL Champagne, (5) (Puustinen, Laakso), 16:103. MIL Blum, (3) (Lajunen), 17:52 (EN/SH)
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