In the eyes of head coach Lane Lambert, the Admirals played one of their worst games of the season but thanks to stellar play in goal, avoided falling behind, 3-1, in its West Division Playoff series with Chicago.

The Admirals broke open a scoreless contest with a pair of third-period goals to beat the Wolves, 2-0, and even their best-of-seven series at 2-2.

"That was probably our worst game in three months," Lambert said. "We had a great performance from our goaltender that stole the game and that's what you need in the playoffs."

Pekka Rinne stopped 37 shots to pick up his fifth shutout of the season and the third against Chicago, which hadn't been shutout in the playoffs since June 2, 2005.

Rich Peverley, in his first game back after spending the last few weeks with the NHL's Nashville Predators scored at 4:45, streaking down through the right circle and beating Chicago goaltender Ondrej Pavelec high to put Milwaukee up, 1-0. Antti Philstrom scored on a breakaway down the center that began in front of the Admirals net to add an insurance goal at 18:15.

The Admirals will try to stave off elimination from the West Division Semifinals tomorrow night. Game 5 of the series gets underway at 7 p.m. at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

The victory ensures that the two teams will play a sixth game, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bradley Center.