RECAP: Hogs’ Rally Falls Short in Physical Showdown

Game Recap Presented by IBEW

ROCKFORD, Ill.—Unable to complete a late third-period comeback, the Rockford IceHogs fell 3-2 to the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night at the BMO Center in a game that featured a combined 62 penalty minutes. Rookie forward Paul Ludwinski made his AHL debut tonight.

Just over a minute into the first period, Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead after Phil Tomasino tallied a one-timer from the edge of the left circle over Rockford netminder Drew Commesso’s blocker side (1:01).

After the Admirals turned it over at their own blueline, Rem Pitlick stole the puck and ripped a wrister from the left circle over Milwaukee goaltender Yaroslav Askarov’s right shoulder, tying the contest 1-1 before heading into the first intermission (15:34).

The hard-hitting introductory frame featured the division rivals combining for nine penalties totaling 18 penalty minutes.

Cal O’Reilly was waiting in the low slot and stole the lead back for Milwaukee in the second stanza after getting his stick on Roland McKeown’s shot from the right point and tipping the puck behind Commesso to give the Admirals a 2-1 lead (9:15).

Extending their lead to 3-1 early in the final frame, the Admirals won a faceoff in Rockford’s right circle, and Jusso Parssinen angled the puck to the low slot where Tomasino netted his second goal of the contest (5:58).

As the Admirals headed to the power play after Austin Strand was charged for a high-sticking minor at 13:16, Zach Sanford caught Jalen Luypen’s backhanded pass in the high slot and buried a wrist shot from the left circle, scoring his second shorthanded goal of the season and cutting the lead to 3-2 (14:02).

Despite the Hogs pulling Commesso at 17:05 and a power-play advantage after Zach L’Heureux was called for cross-checking at 18:19, Rockford couldn’t capitalize on the extra man.

Commesso stopped 24 of 27 Milwaukee shots, and Askarov marked 21 saves on 23 Rockford attempts.

SUNDAY, APRIL 14 AT 4PM: FAMILY PACK NIGHT + HAMMY'S BIRTHDAY
Come party with Hammy and a bunch of his favorite mascot friends for Hammy’s birthday on our final Meijer Family Pack game of the season! Family Packs start at just $40 and include tickets, pizza, soft drinks, souvenir cups, and parking.

Family Pack games are proudly presented by Meijer, WTVO 17, FOX 39 and B103.

Mascots scheduled to join Hammy's birthday celebration include Arvee (Rock Valley College), Buckaroo & Cheese Fries (Beef-A-Roo), Poopsie (Beloit Sky Carp), Rocky (Rockford Park District), Roscoe (Milwaukee Admirals), Rusty (Chicago Steel), Sock Monkey (Midway Village), and Victor E. Huskie (Northern Illinois University).

Tune In LIVE on the IceHogs Broadcast Network Presented by BMO
Watch and listen to every game this season on the IceHogs Broadcast Network presented by BMO! Listen from your favorite device, at home, or on the road at IceHogs.com and on the IceHogs app and watch LIVE on AHLTV and selected games in High Definition on 19.2 The365! Fans can also tune in on all of Mid-West Family’s local stations including 104.9 The X, B103, 95.3 The Bull, and Rockford Greatest Hits 100.5 and featured on Rock River Current, the Stateline’s premiere source for local events, news and culture.