ROCKFORD GRINDS OUT WIN OVER MILWAUKEE

Hogs move into eighth in the Western Conference standings

Milwaukee, Wis.- Facing another must-win situation Saturday night, the Rockford IceHogs passed another test.

Rockford topped the Milwaukee Admirals 3-1 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center and moved into the eighth position in the AHL's Western Conference.

After putting up seven goals on Friday, Rockford was held off the board by Milwaukee on Saturday in the opening period on ten shots. The Admirals fired seven shots on Carter Hutton.

Rockford's struggling power play gave it a 1-0 lead in the second period. Maxime Sauve fed Adam Clendening at the right point, and the rookie d-man fired home his eighth goal through traffic and past Magnus Hellberg at 3:14. Coming into Saturday, Rockford's power play was 2-for-27 over its past eight games.

Another power-play strike in the second extended Rockford's lead to 2-0. Jeremy Morin's shot on Hellberg snuck through the goalie, and Ben Smith was there to clean up his 23rd goal of the season at 14:08.

In the third period, defenseman Klas Dahlbeck made it a 3-0 lead with his first career AHL goal. Dahlbeck picked up a Brandon Svendsen pass in the slot and beat Hellberg five hole at 12:42.

Milwaukee cracked Hutton a few moments later in transition. Jusso Puustinen cleaned up a Patrick Cehlin rebound and beat Hutton for his 15th goal of the season at 15:00 of the third.

For the second straight game, Rockford dominated the shots on goal board, outshooting Milwaukee 36-21.