IceHogs Lose Series to Admirals with Heartbreaking Overtime Defeat

The Rockford IceHogs and Milwaukee Admirals concluded their five-game Central Division Semifinals series on Sunday. The strange series saw the road team win the previous four games. The IceHogs scored a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 1 and blew out the Admirals 6-1 in their building. When the series got to Rockford, the Admirals returned the favor with a 6-2 win in Game 3 before hanging on for a 3-2 Game 4 victory.

The Admirals became the first team to win on home ice with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 5. This marks the second straight year where the Admirals fell behind 0-2 in the Central Division Semifinals, only to win the series in three straight. They will play the Texas Stars in the next round, the team they beat in five games last season. Texas swept its series against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Interim head coach Mark Eaton was unhappy after Friday’s Game 4 loss. He was disappointed in the effort during the second period, which ultimately cost them the game.

“We let off the gas in the second period,” he said. “That’s a good learning lesson for us; you can’t play two out of three periods and come out on top. So, we’ll learn from that and put 60 full minutes together on Sunday.”

The IceHogs knew taking down the Central Division champions wasn’t going to be easy, but to let two chances to end the series on home ice slip away was a huge misstep. They headed back to Milwaukee to look for a third straight win after going winless at the Panther Arena in five regular-season visits.

“It’s been a physical series,” captain Brett Seney said. “Both teams want to keep playing. It’s not ideal; we wanted to close them out at home. But that’s playoff hockey. It’s hard to end a team’s season. We’ve stung them twice, and they’ve stung us twice. We’re going to have our best Sunday, and I’m sure they’ll have theirs.”

Aidan Thompson had a chance to give the IceHogs an early lead when he was awarded a penalty shot five minutes into the game. Milwaukee goaltender Matthew Murray kept the shot out with his blocker. In a giant momentum swing, Chase De Leo finished off an odd-man rush to give the Admirals a 1-0 lead just 10 seconds later.

Midway through the opening period, Nolan Allan was given a four-minute double minor for high-sticking Keifer Bellows along the boards. The IceHogs killed off the penalty and didn’t allow a shot on goal during the four minutes.

After a strong opening period, the IceHogs’ top line was rewarded early in the middle frame. Seney took the puck behind the net and found Zach Sanford in front of the net for the game-tying goal.

Sanford gave Rockford their first lead of the game with a power-play goal less than three minutes later. This time, Cole Guttman found him below the right circle, where he flipped the puck over Murray’s glove hand.

The Admirals didn’t roll over a die after the two quick IceHogs goals, as they tied the game five minutes later. Kevin Korchinski was pressured by two Milwaukee forecheckers behind the net and coughed up the puck to Fedor Svechkov, who quickly deposited it behind Drew Commesso.

The Admirals scored a potential back-breaking goal with 1:06 left in the second period when Jesse Ylonen rifled a one-timer home from the top of the left circle.

Joey Anderson tied the game at 11:09 of the third by getting to a loose puck in front of the net and banging it home. It was his fourth goal of the series, all of which were scored in Milwaukee. Sanford picked up his third point of the day with the secondary assist.

The Admirals pushed hard over the final eight minutes of regulation. They outshot the IceHogs 15-7 in the third period, but Commesso answered the bell and got the game to overtime. This was the second game of the series to go to overtime. Colton Dach won Game 1 in 12 seconds, and Svechkov ended the series in just 1:38. With Sanford in the penalty box for a delay of game infraction, Svechkov poked a loose puck in behind Commesso for his second goal of the game and third of the postseason.

“Losing, in general, is never fun,” a dejected Eaton said after the game. “To see this group grow together over the last five months and play our best hockey of the year over the last three or four weeks. We really had the feeling in the air that something special could have happened. Right now, it’s a sting for the guys in there. It’s such a great group. They care about each other. It’s a tough way to end it.”

Even though this series did not end the way many thought it would a week ago, there are still plenty of positives to take out of this seven-game postseason run. This is a very young team with players who will be looked upon to fill essential roles in Chicago one day. The lessons learned in defeat can go a long way in figuring out how to win.

“The guys will want to be in the position to make long runs in the future,” Eaton said. “You look at the last game where we carried the play for 40 minutes. But you realize it’s that short spurt where you let off the gas or not playing your best can be the difference in a game. It’s the little things like that that guys can learn from. You’ve got to work for your bounces. If you’ve won before and been through it, you know it takes some bounces here and there.”

This was a very close IceHogs locker room. Many of these guys will be back next season and some will either head to the NHL or move on to other organizations. Once the hurt subsides, the young players will realize this experience has made them better and brought them closer to their ultimate goals.