Milwaukee, WI—Freddy Gaudreau scored just 36 seconds into overtime to secure a 2-1 win for the Admirals over Rockford on Saturday afternoon at Panther Arena. Connor Ingram earned the win in net, stopping 18 of the 19 shots thrown his way.
The win for Milwaukee was their second in a row and upped their record to 26-7-4-2, good for an AHL-best 58 points. The Admirals didn’t get their 26th win last season until March 13.
Gaudreau’s heroics started innocuously enough as he wove through the neutral zone with the puck during the 3-on-3 extra session. As he entered the Admirals zone he put on a burst of speed to get around a defenseman and then flipped a backhand that went through the crease, banked off the back of Rockford’s Jacob Nilsson and into the Hogs cage.
Not his prettiest goal, to be sure, but it counted as the game-winner all the same. For Gaudreau, it was his 10th career overtime winner and first this season.
After getting shutout by the Ads last night the IceHogs stuck first today Lucas Carlsson finished off some impressive passing with his fourth goal of the year at 13:57 of the opening stanza.
Milwaukee didn’t get on the board until early in the third period when Rem Pitlick struck for the second time in as many games. With the Ads on a power-play, Pitlick was stationed between the circles and fired a one-timer off a pass from Tommy Novak that beat Rockford goalie Kevin Lankinen low to the glove side.
The score stayed that way the rest of the third, setting the stage for Gaudreau’s GWG.
The same two teams will meet for the third straight game on Tuesday night in Rockford. The Admirals next home game is on Wednesday, January 15 at 7 pm against the Chicago Wolves at Panther Arena.
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