Rockford IceHogs goalie Carter Hutton continued to have the Milwaukee Admirals number as he stopped 44 shots to record his fifth victory of the season over the Ads on Friday night at the Bradley Center, as the IceHogs defeated Milwaukee 3-1.
In Hutton’s five victories over the Admirals he has only allowed six goals.
With 13:50 remaining in the first the Ads had back to back scoring chances in front of Rockford’s net but Carter Hutton made two amazing saves to keep the game scoreless.
After the Admirals failed to clear the puck, Rockford took advantage and at the 12:27 mark defensemen Ryan Stanton took a shot from the top of the faceoff circle and beat Atte Engren putting the IceHogs up 1-0, which would be the way the first period ended.
Milwaukee answered back to start the second period. At 3:53 Victor Bartley sent a pass to Juuso Puustinen , who was in front of the net, and Puustinen passed right back to Bartley and beat an out of position Hutton tying the game at one.
Later in the second, the Ads looked like they were going to take the lead as Taylor Beck corralled a rebound and had an open net. However, defensemen Ben Youds sacrificed his body to keep the puck out of the net and keep the game tied at one, where it remained heading into the third.
Rockford took the lead at the 3:55 mark in the third period as Brandon Pirri and Ben Smith came into the Admirals zone with a 2-on-1 rush. Smith fed Pirri from the right circle and he ripped a one-timer past Engren for the eventual game-winner.
The IceHogs picked up an insurance goal with a 5-on-3 tally by Jeremy Morin at 7:29 of the third. Morin worked a give-and-go with Rostislav Olesz and fired a shot from the near faceoff circle that beat Engren extending Rockford’s lead to 3-1.
The Admirals conclude their four-game homestand when they host Chicago Saturday night at 7:30 pm, with a post-game concert by rock legends STYX.