Milwaukee rolls past Griffins, 5-1

MILWAUKEE 5, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Rookie Ryan Flynn notched his first two professional goals and third-year pro Matt Halischuk potted the eventual game-winner as Milwaukee erased a 1-0 deficit and cruised to a 5-1 win over visiting Grand Rapids on Thursday night at the Bradley Center.

The 22-year-old Flynn registered his first pro goal with 1:42 left in the second period, tying the game at 1-1 a little more than eight minutes after Greg Amadio had given the Griffins a 1-0 edge.

Just 1:04 after Flynn’s marker, Halischuk struck on the power play for his ninth goal of the season, putting the Admirals on top to stay. Flynn, Gabriel Bourque, and Andreas Thuresson provided insurance tallies in the third stanza.

Mark Van Guilder chipped in a pair of assists for Milwaukee, and rookie goaltender Jeremy Smith stopped 30 of 31 shots to run his record to 7-4-0 on the year.

The victory allowed Milwaukee (21-11-2-4, 48 points) to jump past both Texas and San Antonio into sole possession of second place in the remarkably tight West Division, and the Admirals are now just one point back of first-place Peoria.

Grand Rapids fell back to the .500 mark overall at 17-17-1-4.