Admirals drop 2-1 decision to Rockford in shoot-out
MILWAUKEE -- For the third time in the past four games the Milwaukee Admirals erased a third period deficit to tie the game and force overtime. Unfortunately for the Admirals they weren’t able to earn two points on the night as they dropped a 2-1 shoot-out decision to the Rockford IceHogs.
The Admirals fell behind early as Rockford scored at the 6:04 mark of the first period. Kyle Beach controlled the puck on the board, turned and fired a shot on Jeremy Smith. The puck went through the five-hole of Smith and to the back of the net putting the Ads down 1-0.
The IceHogs looked like they were going to extend their lead with 4:46 left in the first. Phillp Danault found Phillippe Paradis, who got behind Milwaukee’s defense, for a break-a-way. Smith came up with a huge save to keep the Admirals down 1-0, which is the way the first period ended.
Rockford looked to extend their lead in the second period as they kept the puck in the Admiral’s end of the ice. However, Smith came up huge and recorded eight saves on eight IceHogs shots in the first eight minutes of the period.
Later in the second period the Ads and IceHogs had a bench clearing brawl at the 10:08 mark that resulted in a combined 19 penalties, ten ejections, including both head coaches, and an extra intermission for a cooling off period.
When play resumed the Admirals found themselves on the power-play, but they couldn’t convert and after two periods it was still 1-0 Rockford.
The Admirals offense woke up in the third period as they tied the game at the 2:42 mark. Ryan Flynn handled the puck behind the net and found Mark Van Guilder who beat Alexander Salak tying the game at one.
Milwaukee kept the pressure on the IceHogs and with 3:55 left in the game Chris Mueller and Brodie Dupont had a two-on-one. Mueller had Salak beat but his shot hit the post keeping the game tied at one, which would be the way the third period ended sending the game to overtime.
The Ads had the best scoring chances in overtime. With 3:27 to go in overtime, Van Guilder found Kevin Henderson in front of the net but Salak made the left pad save keeping the game tied at one.
Milwaukee continued attacking in overtime as with 55 seconds left, Mueller tipped Victor Bartley’s shot but the puck hit the post again keeping the game tied at one and sending the game to a shootout.
The Admirals struggled to beat Salak in the shootout as Jon Blum was the only Admiral to score. Terry Broadhurst and Brandon Pirri beat Engren to win the game for the IceHogs.
Milwaukee plays Tuesday evening game in Charlotte to kick off a seven-game road trip. The team returns to the Bradley Center Sunday, April 15 to host Charlotte at 3 pm.