MILWAUKEE -- They got a point on the road and finish a six-game road trip with a 3-2-1 record, exactly that one point above .500.

But it was hard to see the silver lining through the smoke coming out of head coach Scott Arniel's ears here at the Bradley Centre Saturday night. "That was two points lost," Arniel bristled of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Admirals.

"I suppose I should be happy with the point. But if you're satisfied with being a point above .500, well that's just not what we expect on this team. We've got a lot of work to do."

Arniel's players agreed in a subdued dressing room, deadly silent after an uneven effort that saw the Moose dominate the first period only to turn back into a very average team the rest of the way.

"Not good enough," said winger Guillaume Desbiens. "Inconsistent again. It's been the problem."

And the road trip? "The road trip," offered centre Marco Rosa, "was very average."

FIRST PERIOD

The Moose are all over the Admirals early and the puck seldom leaves the Milwaukee end. They're rewarded for the effort at 17:18 when they finally -- and mercifully -- score a power-play goal when defenceman Brian Salcido fires a soft wrist shot from the blue-line that Milwaukee netminder Mark Dekanich never saw.

Moose 1 Admirals 0

SECOND PERIOD

Admirals centre Mike Santorelli, reassigned from the Nashville Predators just last week, wins the face-off, gets the puck back and then shoots five-hole on Moose netminder Daren Machesney, who wishes he could have that one back at 4:15. Moose winger Sergei Shirokov gets his club back out front at 15:46, setting up at the side of the Milwaukee net and one-timing a gorgeous cross-ice feed from linemate Marty Murray into a gaping net for another power play marker. But then it's Santorelli's turn to beat Machesney again just 61 seconds later, banking one in off the post on a shot from the identical spot as the first one.

Moose 2 Admirals 2

THIRD PERIOD

They bash, they crash and the Moose spend most of the period in the Milwaukee end, but nothing gets settled. No scoring.

Moose 2 Admirals 2

OVERTIME

Santorelli, who else, gets loose in front of the Moose net midway through the frame and Salcido grabs him. Salcido gets called, the Admirals bang away and with just two seconds left in the penalty -- and just 47 seconds left in overtime -- Admirals centre Ben Guite wins a battle at the goalmouth and slides the puck under Machesney for the winner.

ICE CHIPS

Rising star

The Admirals have a serious prospect in defenceman Jonathan Blum. Blum is just 20 years old and has played the grand total of 12 games of pro hockey but already has three goals and two assists and is looking like a very wise pick for the Nashville Predators.

Up next

The Moose get some much needed rest before returning to the ice at MTS Centre on Thursday for the first of back-to-back games against Wilkes-Barre.

-- Paul Wiecek

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 25, 2009 C2