Milwaukee, WI. – The Rockford IceHogs stunned the Milwaukee Admirals 3-2 in Game 1 of the Central Division Semifinals with an overtime victory. The IceHogs hold a 1-0 series lead following Colton Dach’s game winning goal.
In the first period, Rockford put 11 shots towards Milwaukee goaltender Matt Murray, but the backstop stood tall in the Admirals’ net.
The Ads jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first minute of the 2nd period with a pair of goals in the span of 15 seconds.
Cal O’Reilly grabbed a rebound behind the net and stuffed the puck past Drew Commesso on a wraparound. On the ensuing shift, Fedor Svechkov grabbed the puck in the slot and shot a backhander into the cage to double the lead.
The IceHogs took 1:33 of power play time into the start of the 3rd period, though the Milwaukee penalty kill stood tall to maintain the 2-0 lead.
With a little over eight minutes to go, Jackson Cates fed Paul Ludwinski from behind the net and the rookie sniped over Murray’s shoulder to get Rockford on the board.
The IceHogs pulled the goaltender in the final four minutes for the extra attacker. Zach Sanford grabbed the puck from below the goal line and stashed it in front for Gerry Mayhew to wrist home and tie the game with 3:27 to go in the 3rd.
Just 12 seconds into overtime, Dach grabbed the puck right off the face off and fired it over the shoulder of Murray to give Rockford Game 1.
Next up, the IceHogs and Admirals face off for Game 2 in Milwaukee on Saturday, May 3 at 6:00pm CT.
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