Rockford, IL- The Rockford IceHogs (13-14-2-1) will make the short trip up to Milwaukee for a mid-week contest with the Milwaukee Admirals (12-13-2-0) tonight at 6 p.m. The IceHogs are coming off their highest output of the season with an 8-4 victory over the Texas Stars. The IceHogs got contributions from the entire lineup over Texas with 11 different players putting their name on the scoresheet against Texas. 

The Matchup:

All-Time Series: 85-80-15-12

Season Series: 3-1-2-0

Tale of the Tape: The IceHogs will battle a struggling Admirals team that has dropped their pervious nine games. Milwaukee has been held to two goals or fewer in each of their last five games including being shutout against Grand Rapids on Saturday, Dec. 27. Rockford's offense has found a spark over their previous three games, posting a seven and eight goal performance in two of their last three games. Rockford has taken the last two games against Milwaukee with a 3-2 win on Nov. 30 and a 5-3 win on Dec. 12 where goaltender Laurent Brossoit scored his first professional goal. 

Team Leaders: 

Milwaukee:

 Points- Jake Lucchini- 24 points 

 Goals- Daniel Carr- 11G 

 Assists- Jake Lucchini- 17A

Rockford:

 Points- Brett Seney- 21 points 

 Goals- Brett Seney- 9G

 Assists- Brett Seney- 21A

Three Things To Know: 

Special Teams Trends: Rockford's power play has lit the fuse over the last three games going 5/13 for a 38% success rate over those three games. Dmitry Kuzmin and Gavin Hayes tallied power play goals Saturday over the Stars. On the other side, the Admirals have gone 0/9 on the man advantage over their last three games. Despite the recent struggles, the Ads still lead the AHL with a 30% conversion rate on the power play. The two penalty killing units enter tonight's matchup with similar numbers as the IceHogs boast an 82.1% success rate shorthanded while Milwaukee sits just behind the IceHogs with an 82% mark. 

Hayes' Career Night: Second year forward Gavin Hayes earned 'first star' honors Saturday night with a four-point (2G, 2A) performance. Hayes' four-point night comes just two games after Rem Pitlick tallied four points in his first game back in a Rockford sweater. The 21-year-old has 11 points (4G, 7A) through 28 games in his second professional season. The Blackhawks 2022 3rd round selection now has five multi-point games through his first 78 games in the AHL. 

Offensive Spark: The IceHogs have tallied 16 goals over their last three games. Rockford set a season-high in goals with a 7-3 win over Manitoba on Dec. 20 and then broke the tally with an 8-4 win over Texas. Eight different players recorded a multi-point performance last weekend against the Stars including goalie Stanislav Berezhnoy who recorded two assists. Rockford compiled 21 total points with all but one of the eight goals collecting two assists. 

Multi-point Performances on 12/27:

Gavin Hayes: 2G, 2A

Kevin Lombardi: 2G, 1A

Jamie Engelbert: 2G

Dmitry Kuzmin: 1G, 1A

Ryan Mast: 2A

Rem Pitlick: 2A

Martin Misiak: 2A

Stanislav Berezhnoy: 2A

Heard It Here First:

Gavin Hayes on moving up in the lineup:

When I saw the lineup sheet I knew I had to step up a little bit and obviously I did a lot. I felt like the bounces were going my way today and when you have those games overall it feels good. 

2025-26 Matchups: 

Rockford is back home on Wednesday, December 31 at 4:00 p.m. hosting the Chicago Wolves. It's a Screw City Night with Pizza Hut Family Packs and tickets are available at icehogs.com.