The Salt Lake Golden Eagles fell to the Milwaukee Admirals 5-1 Saturday night.
It was the second straight loss for the Eagles after going 13-0 in February.Tim Sweeney scored the evening's first goal 16:57 into the first period, getting by Milwaukee forward Eric Murano then skating past defenseman Jack Capuano and around to the net. It was to be the Eagles' only score. The Admirals answered back a minute later as Dave Mackey took a short pass from Peter Bakovic and hit a low 15-footer past Eagle goalie Warren Sharples.
Milwaukee scored three goals in the second period, their third goal coming from Shaun Clouston. Clouston was a trailer on a play that saw him break to the net and take a pass from Alain Lemieux and redirect it past Sharples. Sharples recorded 17 saves and Milwaukee goalie Mil Weeks had 26.
The Admirals are battling for one of eight IHL playoff spots, which may have accounted for their intensity. "They made it difficult on us offensively, they were on us all night . . . they played a desperate game because they're in a desperate situation," said Francis.
The final score came 12 minutes into the third period when Murano skated down the right side and beat Sharples with a low shot from 20 feet. Salt Lake is 1-19 when trailing going into the third period and is 31-1 when leading.
"We got off to a decent start, but it was inevitable that it was going to be a struggle throughout," said Eagle coach Bob Francis. "The guys made a good effort to get it going but the energy level was low and we cheated in some important areas. As a result, it was a difficult process."
Salt Lake finished with 27 shots to 22 for Milwaukee. Both teams failed to capitalize on power play opportunities, each going 0-5. The Eagles had a 5-minute power play late in the game when Admiral defenseman Curtis Hunt was given a penalty for head butting as he was getting pummeled by Paul Kruse in a fight.
The Eagles get a five-day rest then spend Friday and Saturday at San Diego.
The Eagles traded 22-year-old left wing Bryan Deasley to the Quebec Nordiques in return for the Calgary Flames receiving 27-year-old center Claude Loiselle. Despite losing Deasley, Salt Lake remains three players over the IHL dress limit.