Devin Cooley made 43 saves and Jimmy Huntington scored with 46 seconds left in regulation to give the Milwaukee Admirals a 2-1 win and a 2-0 series lead over Manitoba in their Central Division semifinal series.
The series now shifts to Winnipeg for the final three games (if necessary), beginning with Game 3 on Wednesday night.
After two scoreless periods, Brayden Burke put Milwaukee on the board first with 2:10 gone in the third when his shot deflected off a Moose defender and got past Mikhail Berdin for his second goal of the series.
Morgan Barron pulled the Moose even with 1:29 left in regulation, but Huntington restored the lead with the game-winner, his first career postseason goal, just 43 seconds later.
Cooley followed up his 40-save performance in Friday’s Game 1 with another standout performance on Saturday. Cooley, in the starting role with Connor Ingram on recall to Nashville, has a .965 save percentage in the series; Milwaukee has a two-game lead in the series despite being outshot by a combined margin of 86-37.
Central Division Semifinals – Series “M” (best-of-5)
C2-Manitoba Moose vs. C3-Milwaukee Admirals
Game 1 – Fri., May 6 – MILWAUKEE 3, Manitoba 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 7 – MILWAUKEE 2, Manitoba 1
Game 3 – Wed., May 11 – Milwaukee at Manitoba, 8:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 13 – Milwaukee at Manitoba, 8:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 15 – Milwaukee at Manitoba, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern