Tonight, the Rockford IceHogs travel North to take on the Milwaukee Admirals. It’ll be the fourth meeting between the teams in their first dozen games.
The matchup pits the top two teams in the AHL Central Division as the leading IceHogs (7-3-0, 14pts) are coming off of a 3-2 loss on Tuesday Night against the Cleveland Monsters. The Admirals (5-3-0, 10pts) sit in second-place and are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday Night.
In the previous three contests between the Admirals and IceHogs, Milwaukee has notched two victories, both coming on the road. In the three matchups, the IceHog have been out-scored 12-11 by the Admirals and have been out-shot in the last two of three games.
The IceHogs will look to have Vince Hinostroza continue his hot start to the season, having tallied 11 points in 10 games this season, including four points in the three games against the Admirals. While Hinostroza has been the leading scorer through 10 games this season, he has slowed as of late with just one assist over the last three games. Along with Hinostroza, IceHogs forward Tomas Jurco has been a bright spot offensively for Rockford, tallying nine points through 10 games. Jurco has come on strong over the last five games, playing at a point per game pace, including a game-winning goal against the Iowa Wild on October 25.
For the Admirals, they are led offensively by rookie Tyler Kelleher and Emil Pettersson. Pettersson has 11 points through the first eight games for Milwaukee, including a four game point streak from October 15-27, where he scored two points each game. Rookie winger Kelleher is the second leading scorer for the Admirals with seven points through eight games including a five game point streak from October 8-27. Kelleher has been held off the scoresheet in the last two Admirals games.
Puck drops at 7pm CT between the IceHogs and Admirals at the UW-Panther Arena in Milwaukee. The game can be heard on Sportsradio 105.7 FM in Milwaukee or on Sportsradio 1330 AM in Rockford. The game can also be seen on AHL Live or on channel 23.3 in Rockford.