Barons' Comeback Falls Short

Kevin Fiala scored a goal and had an assist to lead the Milwaukee Admirals to a 4-2 win over the Oklahoma City Barons Tuesday night at the Cox Convention Center.

After a scoreless first period, Fiala gave the Admirals a 1-0 lead at 13:18 of the first period, when he took a pass from Johan Alm in the right circle and blasted a one timer past Barons goalie Laurent Brossoit and into the lower right side of the Oklahoma City net.

Oklahoma City's Bogdan Yakimov scored two third period goals for the second multi-goal game of his career, with Andrew Miller assisting on the second score to extend his current point streak to six games.

The loss closed out the Barons' season series against Milwaukee, with Oklahoma City winning three of the four games.

Oklahoma City fell to 37-19-3-3 on the season, two points behind AHL Western Conference-leading Grand Rapids, but two points ahead of second place San Antonio in the West Division.

Milwaukee scored three straight unanswered goals, all in a seven-minute span of the second period to take a 3-0 lead. After Fiala's goal, the Admirals extended their lead to 2-0 while the Barons were on the power play. After the Barons' Jason Williams's stick shattered on a shot attempt in the Milwaukee zone, Mark Van Guilder scooped up the loose puck near the Oklahoma City blue line and skated the length of the ice before depositing a backhand shot through the pads of Brossoit for a shorthanded goal at 16:41 of the second.

One-minute, thirty-four seconds later, the Admirals took a 3-0 lead when a scramble for possession in the right corner of the Barons zone saw the puck trickle in front of the Oklahoma City net, where Triston Grant elevated a backhander over Brossoit's blocker.

The Barons avoided the shutout at the 11:59 mark of the third period when Yakimov took a pass from the left corner and fired a one timer from the left circle that sailed over the glove of Milwaukee goalie Magnus Hellberg and into the top-right corner of the net.

Yakimov added his second goal at 17:38 of the frame, grabbing a loose puck that skidded to the front of the Admirals net and flipping it past Hellberg to cut the Admirals' lead to 3-2.

Austin Watson tallied an empty net goal for Milwaukee at 19:17 to solidify the Admirals' 4-2 win.

The Barons' next game is Friday, March 20, when they take on the second-place, division rival San Antonio Rampage in a 7 p.m. start at the Cox Convention Center.