The Milwaukee Admirals began their Calder Cup playoff run with the best-of-five Central Division semifinals against one of their rivals, the Rockford IceHogs. This year’s playoff contest marks the first postseason match-up for the two teams since the Admirals swept the IceHogs 4-0 in the 2009 Western Division semifinals. During the regular season, the Admirals led the IceHogs with a 7-1-0-2 record.
The first-seed Admirals enter the series on a six-game win streak, 13 days after their last match-up. The fifth-seed IceHogs enter the series after sweeping the fourth-seed Chicago Wolves 2-0 in the play-in round. IceHogs goaltender Drew Commesso ended the play-in series with 66 saves on 67 shots, including a shutout victory on Friday, April 25. The IceHogs outscored the Wolves by 7-1 in the series.
Game One: Thursday, May 1
The IceHogs completed a late-game comeback against the Admirals to secure a 3-2 overtime victory in game one on Thursday, May 1. The IceHogs’ victory stems from 3 unanswered goals within the last 8:12 of the contest.
The first period took a quick start with Rockford’s Cole Guttman taking the first shot of the game on Admirals’ goaltender Matthew Murray at 19 seconds. Three notable skirmishes happened within the first half of the period. A shove from Rockford’s Colton Dach led to a penalty on Milwaukee’s Ozzy Weisblatt for roughing. Weisblatt’s penalty awarded Rockford the first power play of the series.
Milwaukee’s success on the associated penalty kill comes from the quick agility of Murray. With ten seconds remaining in the power play, Rockford’s Joey Anderson took a shot, and the puck remained loose in the crease. Before Rockford’s alternate captain Cavan Fitzgerald could sneak the rebound shot into the net, Murray pushed the puck out of the crease.
After a scoreless first period, Milwaukee scored two back-to-back goals within the first minute of the second period. The Admirals’ all-time leading scorer, Cal O’Reilly, struck first with a wrap-around goal. Assists were awarded to Finnish forwards Joakim Kemell and Jesse Ylönen. Cal’s goal in Thursday’s contest marks his 20th professional post-season goal.
Following up 15 seconds later, Milwaukee forward Fedor Svechkov—who recently returned from a long stint with the Admirals’ NHL affiliate, the Nashville Predators—scored off a pass from linemates Ozzy Weisblatt and Keifer Bellows. Svechkov had six goals and six assists during the Admirals’ 2023-2024 Calder Cup Playoff run.
Following the two goals, Rockford’s Brett Seney took a big hit from Milwaukee’s regular season leader in penalty minutes, Kyle Marino. Rockford’s Nolan Allen dropped the gloves with Marino, landing both players in the penalty box with a five-minute major for fighting.
The second period ended with Rockford on their second power play of the contest after the referees issued two roughing penalties to Milwaukee and one to Rockford. Rockford did not secure a power play goal at the expiration of the power play in the third period.
Milwaukee’s two-goal lead over Rockford ended nearly twelve minutes into the third period. Paul Ludwinski of the IceHogs snuck the puck past Murray into the net on a shot from Jackson Cates and Jalen Luypen.
To turn a one-goal deficit into a tie-game, Rockford pulled goaltender Drew Commesso for an extra body in the offensive zone. Mayhew scored 22 seconds after Commesso reached the IceHogs’ bench. Zach Sanford, a former Milwaukee Admiral, and Anderson earned the assists.
Mayhew’s game-tying goal forced overtime. Rockford won the starting draw, and Dach skated the puck down the wing. Dach secured the 3-2 victory for the IceHogs 12 seconds into the overtime period. Dach’s goal tied for the third-quickest goal in AHL Calder Cup Playoff history.
“I thought we played hard and heavy,” said the Milwaukee Admirals’ head coach Karl Taylor. “I thought we were ready to play, and unfortunately, we didn’t get the results.”
Under Taylor’s leadership, the Admirals made it to the Western Conference Finals in two consecutive playoff runs, falling just short of the Coachella Valley Firebirds in each attempt. Taylor expressed he and the team are ready to move past the loss and recharge for the next game.
Thursday’s contest ended with Milwaukee outshooting Rockford 30-28. Dach earned the first star for his game-winning overtime goal. Svechkov and O’Reilly were awarded the second and third stars of the game, respectively, for their goals in the second period.
Game Two: Saturday, May 3
The IceHogs remained dominant over the Admirals, winning game two 6-1 on Saturday, May 3.
The IceHogs quickly leaped into the lead at 1:04 in the first period. Rockford’s Anderson picked up his second post-season goal off a shot from Samuel Savoie.
Rockford received the first power play of game two from a holding penalty on Milwaukee’s Marc Del Gaizo at 14:31. Although the power play attempt was unsuccessful for Rockford, their momentum remained strong throughout the remainder of the period. At 19:04, Anderson picked up his third goal of the post-season and second goal of the game. Assists were awarded to Seney and Sanford. The period ended with Rockford leading Milwaukee 2-0, with both teams having six shots on goal.
Anderson remained an active threat for the Admirals in the second period. Anderson’s hat trick, power play goal at 1:02—assisted by Korchinski and Commesso—took the IceHogs to a 3-0 lead.
Milwaukee cut the goal deficit to two at 14:22 in the second period as Del Gaizo sneaked a shot past Commesso. Milwaukee’s Ryder Rolston, who was traded from the IceHogs to the Admirals in November 2024, earned the assist the goal, making his first AHL career playoff point.
Del Gaizo spent 30 games with the Admirals and 46 games with the Predators during the 2024-2025 regular season. He returned to Milwaukee alongside Svechkov on April 21, following the conclusion of the Predators season.
“It hasn’t been hard [returning] at all,” said Svechkov. “I mean, I’ve been here for four years now, so I know all the guys on the team and we’re all really comfortable [together].”
Despite a small glimpse of a comeback for the Admirals, the start of a second scoring streak for the IceHogs sealed the Admirals’ fate for game two. Savoie returned the Admirals’ goal deficit to three with a goal from Gavin Hayes at 16:50 of the second period. Seney scored off a shot from Anderson at 16:03 of the third period. Rockford’s Aidan Thompson earned the first goal of his professional career at 16:58 of the third period with an assist from Fitzgerald.
Anderson earned the first star for game two with four points from his early-game hat trick and assist on Seney’s goal. Commesso earned the second star with a whopping 30 saves on 31 shots as Milwaukee outshot Rockford 31-19. Finally, Savoie earned the game’s third star recognition with one goal and two assists.
What’s Next?
Following Saturday’s loss, Coach Taylor said, “We still have life, and we have an opportunity, just the margins are a little tighter now.”
The IceHogs lead the Admirals 2-0 in the series. The Admirals must win the remaining games to advance to the Central Division finals. The winner of this series will face off against the winner of the series between the two-seed Texas Stars and the three-seed Grand Rapids Griffins. The Stars lead that series 1-0.
Game three of the series will be at Rockford’s BMO Center on Wednesday, May 7. Game four, if needed, will be in Rockford on Friday, May 9. Finally, if needed, game five will allow the Admirals to return home and reclaim the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Sunday, May 11.