IceHogs Find Offense in High-Scoring Loss to Admirals

ROCKFORD, Ill. - Four different IceHogs scored goals, but the Milwaukee Admirals' offensive explosion sent the Rockford IceHogs home with a 7-4 loss at UW Panther Arena on Friday.

After being held without a goal in each of their last two matchups, the IceHogs opened scoring 3:39 into the contest when Dylan Sikura stepped in from the left circle and wristed a shot that deflected off a Milwaukee defender and into the cage. The marker was the Hogs' first on the man advantage since Jan. 14.

The Admirals answered with three goals of their own, however, as Frederick Gaudreau, Mathieu Olivier and Miikka Salomaki each tallied to put Milwaukee up 3-1.

MacKenzie Entwistle pulled Rockford within one before the first intermission when Nicolas Beaudin sprung him on a breakaway. Entwistle faked a forehand shot before pulling the puck to his backhand and burying the Hogs' second power-play goal of the night.

Unfortunately, the Admirals took advantage of a 5-on-3 advantage with two quick goals in the first 1:07 of the middle frame. Gaudreau and Eeli Tolvanen netted goals 19 seconds apart to make it 5-2 in favor of the home team.

Rockford responded with two more scores when Chad Krys deposited a point shot and Brandon Hagel batted a rebound out of mid-air three minutes apart to make it a one-goal game once again.

That was as close as the Hogs would get, though, as Rem Pitlick added one in the second and Daniel Carr notched one in the third to make it 7-4 and lift the Admirals over IceHogs for the fourth straight game.

GAME NOTES

Friday's loss to Milwaukee was Rockford's fourth straight defeat at the hands of the Admirals since Jan. 10. The IceHogs are now at risk of losing their fifth straight to Milwaukee since the club dropped five in a row from Jan. 7 - March 23, 2018.

The IceHogs netted four goals in a contest for the 11th time in the 2019-20 season on Friday. However, this was the club's first regulation loss when scoring more than three goals. They are now 9-1-0-1 when producing four tallies.

Dylan Sikura scored a goal and added two assists on Friday for just his second multi-point game of the season despite leading the roster in points per game this season (.77). His first multi-point effort came in the form of a three-goal, one-assist performance against the Chicago Wolves on Nov. 3.