MILWAUKEE , WI – The Milwaukee Admirals took a 2-0 series as they defeated the Rockford IceHogs by the same score of 3-1 as the first game to send the series to Rockford for a Sunday evening matchup at the Metrocentre.
One of the things the Admirals wanted to do in game two of the West Division semifinals was to keep out of the penalty box as they were called for seven penalties in the first match. The IceHogs, who have one of the league’s worst power plays, were able to convert on one of those chances in the first game.
The game started pretty slowly for the IceHogs as they couldn’t get a shot on goal for almost half the period. Both teams must have been pretty tired as there were no whistles blown to stop play until eight minutes were left in the period. Milwaukee outshot Rockford by a margin of three times by a 15-to-five count. Late in the period, the Admirals finally struck. Defenseman Cody Franson deflected a puck off the post for his first goal of the playoffs, with a late assist given to Nick Spaling at the 18:49 mark.
In the second frame, the IceHogs Bryan Bickell and the Admirals Kelsey Wilson decided that their teams needed a little spark and got into the first scuffle of the game. It would be Rockford who started to catch fire as they started to getting competitive in getting shots fired towards Drew MacIntyre. One of those shots finally got in as the puck bounced around and in off of MacIntyre. Evan Brophy was the last one to touch the puck before in went into the net so he was credited with the goal while assists were given to Rob Klinkhammer and Bickell at 7:52. But like the first frame Milwaukee was able to score late in the period. At 17:48 right wing Hugh Jessiman took a shot at IceHogs goaltender Corey Crawford that he did not cover and the puck made it into the net bouncing around. Jessiman was assisted by Patric Hornqvist and Cal O’Reilly on the eventual game-winning goal.
Milwaukee put the cap on the game as Hornqvist stole the puck from a Rockford defender and took the puck in and fired a shot in over Crawford’s shoulder and into the net to give the Admirals the 3-1 lead. Crawford was pulled with just under two minutes left but Rockford was unable to pull off the two-goal deficit.
As the series moves to Rockford the Admirals understand their work is just beginning.
“We want to come out hard and aggressive (in Rockford) like we did tonight,” said Jessiman, “ I think following up a win with a solid first 20 minutes is important. We can’t rest on our laurels, we just got to go after them and play the same style that were are playing.”
The three stars of the game were Jessiman who was named the third star thanks to his game-winning goal, MacIntyre was the second start after allowing only one goal on 25 shots, and Hornqvist was the star of the game because of his goal and an assist.
Contact matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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