MILWAUKEE, WI – The Milwaukee Admirals are trying to erase the memory of losing in each of the first rounds of the last Calder Cup Playoffs. Tonight they took that first step in reaching their goal as they defeated the Rockford IceHogs in the first game of the West Division Semifinals by the score of 3-1. The score was much closer than the final tally as the game was decided in the final minutes in front of a crowd of 3,022 at the Bradley Center. Milwaukee center Cal O’Rilley, who just returned from a stint with the parent club in Nashville, sent a shot to Robert Dietrich from the blueline who in turn snapped a centering pass to right wing Patric Hornqvist who fired it in through Corey Crawford at the 6:41 mark.
Later in the period, with Cody Franson in penalty box for Milwaukee, the IceHogs got a great sign as Akim Aliu pounded a rebound from the near post past Drew MacIntyre with assists coming from Tyler Mosienko and Jimmy Sharrow at 9:14. Why was this good sign for Rockford? The team ranked second to last in power play efficiency during the regular season. And into the second, Rockford poured it on. Unlike the first period were the shots were close, Rockford took it to Milwaukee as they fired 15 shots versus the Admiral’s 6. But both teams held the fort down as neither side was able to crack the net to take the leaf. This continued into the third as the play started to tighten up. Both teams were only able to muster up six shots a piece, but late in the period one of those shots went in. With 2:52 left in the game, O’Reilly gave his team the lead. Franson fired a shot that ricocheted off the boards behind the net off Hornqvist and to O’Reilly for the goal up close. The IceHogs then pulled Crawford for the extra attacker. Things became a little nervous for the Admirals as defenseman Nolan Yonkman put the puck out of play for the delay of game penalty to give Rockford the 6-on-4 power play. But with nine ticks left, it was Cal O’Reilly again as the team took possession of the puck for him to shot home the empty netter.
Rockford converted its one power play chance of the seven they gained where Milwaukee had no luck on the three man advantages that came their way. The three stars of the game were: (3rd Star) Corey Crawford who blocked 21 of the 23 shots that went his way, (2nd Star) Cal O’Reilly with two goals and an assist, and (1st Star) Drew MacIntyre who blocked all but one of the 32 shots he faced. The Milwaukee Admirals played well as they were afraid a bit as Rockford is a good road team and they also carried the onus of having been eliminated early the last two seasons. Team President Jon Greenburg knew that they had to change the makeup of the team and with Nashville they built a team that was physically bigger where they can play and take the guys out in the corners. What is a blessing or a guise is the player movement that the team faced this year with Nashville. The good thing is that the team had such a big lead in the division, coach Lane Lambert was able to tweak his lines to see which is advantageous to the scenario that the team is facing. This turned the team to coast a bit in the final ten games but this first win is the real bonus from everyone’s efforts. Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 16 – Rockford 1 Milwaukee 3 (Milwaukee leads series 1-0) Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 18 – Rockford at Milwaukee, 7:30 Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 19 – Milwaukee at Rockford, 5:05 Game 4 – Tue., Apr. 21 – Milwaukee at Rockford, 7:05 *Game 5 – Fri., Apr. 24 – Rockford at Milwaukee, 7:00 *Game 6 – Sun., Apr. 26 – Milwaukee at Rockford, 5:05 *Game 7 – Mon., Apr. 27 – Rockford at Milwaukee, 7:00
*if necessary all times local
Contact matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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