Admirals bounce Stars, advance to Central Division Finals

MILWAUKEE - Zach L’Heureux scored twice in the first minute of the game to stake the Admirals to an early lead as they went on to defeat the Texas Stars 5-3 in the decisive Game 5 of their playoff series and advance to the Central Division Finals.

The victory marks the first time in team history that the Admirals have overcome a 0-2 series deficit to come back and win, and it improved head coach Karl Taylor’s record in elimination games to 11-3 since he took over in 2018.

This was also the first time in team history the Admirals have advanced past the first round in three consecutive seasons, and all three times, the Admirals needed the full five games to do it.

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Troy Grosenick stopped 29 shots to earn his third straight win, while Juuso Parssinen (2a), Fedor Svechkov (1g-1a), and Adam Wilsby (2a) all notched multipoint efforts to pace the Admirals' offense, which collected a pair of power play goals in the contest.

Reid Schaefer potted his first career postseason goal with an empty-netter late in the third period to seal the win.

The two goals for L’Heureux increased his total in the series to five, all of which came in the final three games, which is the most among all players in the league during the Calder Cup Playoffs. Parssinen has three consecutive multipoint games to his credit and totaled seven points (1g-6a) in the four games he played.

The Admirals advance to take on the Grand Rapids Griffins in the best-of-five Central Division Finals beginning Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.