A rough night on special teams doomed the Abbotsford Heat on Friday, as they fell 4-1 to the Milwaukee Admirals on the road.
The Admirals scored twice on the power play, and added a shorthanded marker in the win.
Milwaukee converted on their first two man-advantage opportunities in the first period, both goals coming courtesy of Juuso Puustinen.
After a scoreless middle frame, Greg Nemisz drew the Heat to within one at 8:53 of the third, driving from the corner to the front of the net and roofing a short-side shot on Admirals goalie Jeremy Smith.
But just under five minutes later, Ryan Flynn scored shorthanded to restore the two-goal Milwaukee lead. Flynn would later round out the scoring into an empty net with 1:02 remaining.
Heat goalie Leland Irving took the loss, stopping 25 of 28 Milwaukee shots. His Admirals counterpart Smith turned aside 37 of 38 pucks the Heat directed his way.
The defeat dropped the Heat (28-21-3-1, 60 points) to eighth in the Western Conference. They continue the road trip on Saturday against the Chicago Wolves, the Vancouver Canucks' affiliate.
ICE CHIPS:
• Heat defenceman Brian Connelly returned to the lineup on Friday after sitting out the previous three games due to injury.
• The Heat saw a trio of forwards on the move this week. Paul Byron was reassigned to Abbotsford by the Calgary Flames on Thursday, and he was in the Heat lineup in Milwaukee. Guillaume Desbiens was recalled by the Flames on Friday, while Judd Blackwater was released from his player tryout (PTO) contract. He'd failed to register a point in 17 games with the Heat after being recalled from the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers.