Rockford, IL--Goalie Carter Hutton stopped 30 shots to lead the Rockford IceHogs past the Milwaukee Admirals 4-1 Saturday.

It turned out the game was decided in the second period when Milwaukee gave up a season-high 22 shots during the second stanza. Rockford took a 3-1 lead in the second after a scoreless first frame.

Rockford tallied the first goal at 5:03 of the second period when Brandon Bollig fired a low shot from the top of the right circle past Admirals goalie Magnus Hellberg for his fourth goal of the season.
The Admirals had a chance to tie the game at 9:12. With defenseman Victor Bartley in Milwaukee’s penalty box, Chris Mueller stole a pass and skated in on IceHogs goalie Carter Hutton. Before he shot, Rockford defenseman Adam Clendening tripped him so Mueller was awarded a penalty shot. However, Hutton made a glove save on the subsequent chance.

Rockford’s Ben Smith scored his 13th goal of the season at 11:28 of the second to give the IceHogs a 2-0 lead with a shot that beat Hellberg from the left circle inside the right post.

The Admirals cut the deficit with a 5-on-3 power play goal at 16:30 of the second period. Defenseman Ryan Ellis’ shot was stopped by Hutton, but Mueller grabbed the rebound and waited for the goalie to commit. As he did, Mueller slid a shot into the net for his 12th goal of the season, third on the power play. Ellis and Victor Bartley recorded the assists. The power play goal was just Milwaukee’s fifth in the last 16 games.

Rockford gained the two-goal advantage right back with a power play goal by Martin St. Pierre with just 1:11 remaining in the second period.

Rockford’s Marcus Kruger added an empty-netter with 41 seconds remaining in regulation to close the scoring.

The Admirals will be back at the BMO-BC to face their Amtrak Rivals – the Chicago Wolves – Thursday January 3rd at 7pm.

For tickets fans should call Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or by logging onto www.ticketmaster.com. Groups of 10 or more receive significant discounts off the original ticket price. For more information, or to purchase group tickets, fans can call the Admirals office at (414) 227-0550.

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