Oh, the woes of being an IceHogs fan! The freshly rebranded Screw City IceHogs experienced a 5-1 loss against the mighty Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night at the BMO Center. The night proved difficult as Admirals’ netminder Devin Cooley blocked an impressive 45 shots, holding the IceHogs to a single goal. But hey, it’s still better than no goals, amirite?
Despite the Screw City crowd’s passionate support, the Admirals took an early 1-0 lead in the first period. Following a tripping minor on Buddy Robinson, Milwaukee’s Joakim Kemell cashed in on the power play with a goal at 1:11, assisted by the ever-hustling Cole Schneider. Our beloved Hogs were caught off-guard and trailed by one.
Soon after, forward Brett Seney and the Hogs had the chance to tie things up with a penalty shot, but alas, Cooley came in clutch and made the save. Denied!
The second frame started rough as the Admirals scored again during their third power play. A killer slapshot by Jordan Gross saw the Hogs’ Arvid Soderblom diving to save, but sadly, to no avail. The Hogs were down 2-0.
But lo and behold, Luke Philp and Rocco Grimaldi combined their skills for a superb deflected shot, slicing the Admirals’ lead in half at 2-1! IceHogs fans were ecstatic, Philp had scored his 25th goal of the season!
As we celebrated our mini victory, the Admirals extended their lead again just before the second intermission. Tim Schaller and Tye Felhaber showcased some top-notch teamwork as they made it 3-1.
The third period proved a nail in the coffin for the IceHogs as the Admirals bagged two more goals, taking their final score to a brutal 5-1. It was a breakaway wrister from Jimmy Huntington and an empty-netter by Schneider that sealed our team’s fate.
Soderblom fought valiantly, turning away 24 of the 28 shots faced. Meanwhile, Cooley took home the win with his incredible 45 saves on 46 Rockford shots.
But hey, there’s always next time, right? In the world of AHL, there’s never a dull moment. Let’s hope the Screw City IceHogs will rise from the ashes and give us a thrilling game soon! Keep on rockin’ in Rockford, folks!