The Admirals live to see another day.

With their backs against the wall in Game 6 of the West Division Finals series against Houston, the Admirals scored three first-period goals en route to a 7-0 victory over the Aeros Monday night at the Bradley Center.

"I thought we played hard, I thought we played well," said head coach Lane Lambert. "Whether it's 7-0 or 1-0, it doesn't matter. It means we live to fight another day."

The Admirals, home for the first time in a week, get to fight that fight because they wasted little time getting on Houston goaltender Anton Kuhdobin, scoring a pair of goals on eight shots in the first 13 minutes. After Milwaukee's second score – a one-timer from Robert Dietrch -- Aeros head coach pulled Kuhdobin in favor of Nolan Schaefer.

Schaefer, sidelined since March 21 due to a lower-body injury, didn't fare much better. He allowed five more Milwaukee goals on 21 shots. All seven Milwaukee goals were scored by different players.

Mike Santorelli scored his team-leading fifth playoff goal while Patrick Hornqvist, Cody Franson and Bryan Smolinski each scored their third. Dietrich led the team with four points on the night. He first goal of the postseason made it 2-0 at 12:52 of the first and he assisted on three of the Admirals' next four goals.

Perhaps more impressive than the offensive output was how Milwaukee kept Houston's power play in check. The Aeros came into Game 6 converting power plays at a 29.6 percent clip (16-of-54) while the Admirals were killing just 76 percent of penalties.

Monday night, the Admirals' penalty-kill unit halted eight Houston power play opportunities.

"I thought our penalty-killing, we did the job tonight," Lambert said. "That's good because, so far in the series, it's been a bit of an Achillies' heel. "We managed to get some big saves from our goaltender both 5-on-5 and on power plays."

The Admirals defense made it an easy night for goaltender Drew MacIntyre. The Aeros mustered 21 shots on goal -- 10 of those coming in the third period -- all of which were halted by MacIntyre, who leads the American Hockey League with a 1.41 goals-against average during the postseason. His .940 save percentage is also close to the top of the list.

The seventh and final game of the series will be played at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Bradley Center. The winner advances to face the Manitoba Moose in the Western Conference Finals.

BOX SCORE: Admirals 7, Aeros 0

Houston 0 0 0 - 0
Milwaukee 3 3 1 - 7

First period: Scoring -- 1, Milwaukee, Jessiman 2 (Hornqvist), 7:34. 2, Milwaukee, Dietrich 1 12:52. 3, Milwaukee, Hornqvist 3 (Dietrich, Jones), 18:10. Penalties -- Grant, MIL (hooking), 4:18; Lundbohm, HOU (tripping), 9:21; Pouliot, HOU (roughing), 14:56; Grant, MIL (roughing), 14:56; Maki, MIL (goaltender interference), 14:56; Earl, HOU (hooking), 19:09.

Second period: Scoring -- 4, Milwaukee, Smolinski 3 (Franson, Dietrich), 8:13 (pp). 5, Milwaukee, Santorelli 5 (Wilson, Ortmeyer), 10:41. 6, Milwaukee, Franson 3 (Spaling, Dietrich), 14:44. Penalties -- Grant, MIL (hooking), 1:53; Ford, MIL (interference), 3:45; Love, HOU (roughing), 7:34; Love, HOU (roughing), 14:13; Jones, MIL (roughing), 14:13; Yonkman, MIL (roughing), 19:39.

Third period: Scoring -- 7, Milwaukee, Maki 1 (Spaling, Grant), 17:51. Penalties -- Rogers, HOU (interference), 5:16; Franson, MIL (slashing), 6:09; Grant, MIL (interference), 9:12; Thuresson, MIL (hooking), 10:56; Pouliot, HOU (interference), 18:41.

Shots on Goal: Houston -- 5-6-10-21; Milwaukee -- 12-12-7-31. Power-play opportunities: Houston-- 0 of 8; Milwaukee -- 1 of 5. Goalies: Houston -- Khudobin 7-6-0 (8 shots-6 saves); Schaefer 0-0-0 (23 shots-18 saves). Milwaukee -- MacIntyre 7-3-0 (21 shots-21 saves).
A -- 2,583