Laforest ends struggles as Admirals blank Aeros

Sentinel staff writer

The only struggle Mark Laforest had Wednesday night was pulling off his sweaty jersey.

The Admiral goaltender may have been in a bit of a slump, but the Houston Aeros will testify that his skid is over. The Aeros should know, as they were blanked by Laforest and the Admirals, 1-0, before a crowd of 5,766 at the Bradley Center.

It was the first shutout in two years for the Admirals, who improved to 40-24-8. Milwaukee's magic number to clinch the Central Division title was reduced to three with the victory and Atlanta's 7-0 loss to Fort Wayne.

Milwaukee right wing Mike McNeill had the only magic on offense for either team. His goal with 11:03 left stood up.

That was the lone blemish on Houston goalie Troy Gamble's night. Gamble finished with 45 saves for Houston, which was blanked for the second straight game.

Laforest had given up goals on the first shot in Milwaukee's previous two outings. But he stood tall in a 20-save performance to record a rare shutout by an Admirals netminder.

In fact, the only lapse by Laforest was a memory one. He wasn't so sure when he last pitched a shutout.

"I think it was two years ago," he said. "I don't think I got one last year.

"I could be wrong, but I don't think I got one last year. It's been 12 years since I got one in this league."

Houston tried to extend that string down the stretch. Gamble was removed in favor of an extra skater with 1:13 to go.

The Aeros nearly scored during a scramble in front of Laforest with 22 seconds to go. Then Laforest made a save on a drive by Houston's Dave Tippett as the final horn sounded.

"It was tough sledding at the end," said Laforest. "But we won, and it's great. I've been struggling, but it's no big thing."

"We had some good chances," said Houston Coach Terry Ruskowski. "We haven't scored a goal in two games, and that really hurts.

"We've got to start scoring goals. If you hold a team to one goal and you still lose, your defense is doing a pretty good job."

Gamble did a pretty good job, too. But McNeill was even better during the sequence that won the game for the Admirals.

Milwaukee's John Byce and Dave Mackey were applying pressure during a scrum to Gamble's left. The puck bounded to McNeill, who buried a blast into the net.

"I kind of had a lane going to the net," said McNeill. "I don't know if he saw me, and the puck came through. I just whacked it into the net. I was fortunate. It was the one that counted."

"It was a blue-collar goal," said Admirals Coach Phil Wittliff. "He works hard every single night.

"He's a key player for us. We don't expect a lot from him offensively, because he's a great defensive player for us. But he got his 20th goal tonight, and that's a pretty good season for anybody."

McNeill certainly made Laforest's night by turning on the red light.

"I was relieved," said Laforest. "I didn't want to go into a shootout with the game at 0-0.

"Going into a shootout, 0-0, and taking a loss. That's got to be disgusting."

It didn't turn out that way, however, and the Admirals took the first of the three games between the teams this week. Mackey figures there will be more of the same when the teams play again Friday night at the Bradley Center.

"That was playoff hockey, and you're going to see that the rest of the way through," said Mackey.

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