Sikura Tallies Twice; Hogs Split Weekend With Admirals

Milwaukee, Wis. — Unable to complete a comeback at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, the Rockford IceHogs split the home-and-home series with the Milwaukee Admirals after falling 5-3 on Saturday night. Forward Dylan Sikura marked his third two-goal night of the season against the Admirals.

After evening the score in the middle frame and emptying the net in favor of an extra attacker in the final stanza, the IceHogs couldn’t light the lamp against the Admirals and dropped the 5-3 contest.

Similar to Rockford’s Friday night victory, the first period saw five goals to start the night. The Admirals leapt out to an early 3-0 lead as Milwaukee forward Egor Afanasyev slapped the puck in at 2:19, forward Cole Schneider lit the lamp through traffic at 7:36, and defenseman Roland McKeown bounced the puck in off the crossbar on IceHogs goaltender Jaxson Stauber at 10:22.

Sikura shortened the Admirals’ lead to 3-2 with back-to-back tallies late in the introductory frame. As both chip-in goals came off rebound shots from IceHogs defenseman Isaak Phillips, Sikura poked the puck past Admirals netminder Yaroslav Askarov at 16:07 and 18:33 to pull within one goal of Milwaukee.

Skating past Milwaukee’s defense and catching a pass from Phillips, IceHogs forward David Gust ripped the puck under Askarov’s glove and scored the only goal of the second period at 7:04. Phillips assisted on all three Rockford goals.

The Admirals put pressure on Stauber throughout the third stanza including tallies from Afanasyev’s wrap-around goal at 3:18 and forward Markus Nurmi’s power play goal at 8:47.

Rockford was outshot 28-26 by the Admirals; both Stauber and Askarov totaled 23 saves on the night, but the Milwaukee goaltender earned the win.

Join the Screw City IceHogs on Friday, Dec. 9 against the Iowa Wild!
To honor the region’s rich manufacturing history and the uniqueness of the “Screw City” nickname long associated with Rockford, the Rockford IceHogs will become the Screw City IceHogs on Friday, Dec. 9. Preorder a Screw City IceHogs replica jersey online now, and an additional line of Screw City merchandise will be available to purchase in the IceHogs team store at the BMO Center starting at the Dec. 9 game. Get tickets for the Screw City IceHogs game and learn more about the Screw City IceHogs at IceHogs.com/ScrewCity.

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