Domenic DiVincentiis made 31 saves and Manitoba survived a late Milwaukee push to earn a 2-1 victory in the decisive Game 3 of their first-round series on Sunday afternoon.
Manitoba advances to take on Grand Rapids in the Central Division semifinals.
Manitoba grabbed a 1-0 lead 11:43 into the game when Walker Duehr skated from the right-wing half wall to the faceoff circle and snapped a shot past Matt Murray for his first goal of the series.
With 4:22 left in the second period, David Gustafsson – who scored the winning goal in the final minute of Game 2 – gathered a loose puck behind the Admirals net and centered a feed to Samuel Fagemo, who was just coming on from the bench. Fagemo wired a shot home from the left circle to put the Moose ahead 2-0.
The Admirals pressured throughout the third period, cutting the deficit to 2-1 when Jake Lucchini took a back-door pass from Jordan Oesterle and tucked it home for his first of the series.
DiVincentiis, the second-year pro, stopped 50 of the 52 shots he faced over his two starts to help Manitoba to its first series victory since 2018.
Murray turned aside 28 shots in the loss, finishing with five goals allowed on 108 shots in the series (1.68, .954).
(Manitoba wins series, 2-1)
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 22 – Milwaukee 4, MANITOBA 1
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 24 – MANITOBA 2, Milwaukee 1
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 26 – MANITOBA 2, Milwaukee 1
