Ice Hogs take down the Admirals, 3-1

ROCKFORD -- Carter Hutton stopped 27 shots to lead the Rockford IceHogs to victory over the Milwaukee Admirals Saturday night in Rockford, 3-1.

Milwaukee stumbles into the All-Star break as losers of four straight and ten of their past 13 games.

The IceHogs goalie was busiest in the third period as he stopped 14 Milwaukee shots. The Admirals could only muster 14 in the first two periods combined.

Rockford claimed an early lead when Rostislav Olesz deflected a shot from the left point past Admirals goalie Jeremy Smith for his tenth goal of the season at 4:15 of the first period. Standing near the left circle, Olesz knocked a Joe Lavin shot from the left point down and through Smith’s legs.

Milwaukee countered when Taylor Beck tipped his eighth goal of the season past Rockford netminder Carter Hutton at 12:44 of the first period. From the left point, defenseman Scott Valentine threaded a pass to the right circle for Joel Champagne. Champagne, with his back to the net, spun a backhanded shot toward the goal for the Beck deflection.

The IceHogs claimed the lead when Lavin, in transition, carried the puck across Milwaukee’s blue line on the left wing and fired a low slapshot that beat Smith just past his left pads. Lavins second goal of the season came at 10:34 of the second period.

Rockford extended its lead with a power play goal by Brian Fahey at 18:12 of the second period. Ben Smith carried the puck behind Milwaukee’s net and passed to the right circle for a one-timer by Fahey and a 3-1 lead for the IceHogs.

The Admirals finished the month of January with a record of 3-9-1-0. The Admirals scored only 27 goals in that span, and just 15 of those were even-strength goals.

Milwaukee resumes play after the All-Star break Friday, Feb. 3 when the team hosts Peoria at 7 pm.