ALLARD, RICHARD POWER ADS PAST HOGS

ROCKFORD, Ill -- A three-goal rally for the Rockford IceHogs gave the team a lead late in the second period, but a pair of goals from Frederic Allard helped the Milwaukee Admirals take a 4-3 win in the 2017-18 preseason opener at BMO Harris Bank Center Thursday night.

Matt Iacopelli, Tommy Olczyk, and Matthew Rupert tallied for the Hogs during their second period blitz, but five Rockford penalties resulting in three Milwaukee power-play goals ultimately sunk the home team.

The Admirals opened the scoring with a power-play goal almost five minutes in after Allard found open space in the slot to hammer home a Yakov Trenin feed from the corner.

Milwaukee then doubled its lead as Justin Kirkland crashed the net and chipped a rebound over Jeff Glass on a power play just over halfway through the first frame, which ended with a 2-0 Admirals lead.

The second period saw the IceHogs respond, thanks initially to a patient play from Iacopelli. The forward carried the puck into the high slot before ripping a shot past Milwaukee’s Matt O’Connor for Rockford’s first goal.

Just four minutes later, Tommy Olczyk lit the lamp, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play to tie the game, 2-2.

Before the teams headed off for intermission, Matthew and Ryan Rupert combined to put the Hogs ahead for the first time in the game, with the former slotting a shot through the legs of O’Connor.

Milwaukee then potted two goals in the third period, courtesy of Allard and Angelo Miceli. Anthony Richard assisted on each of the two goals.

Rockford’s Glass stopped 26 shots, while his counterpart O’Connor faced down 33 of his own.