Over the weekend, the Rockford IceHogs improved their win-streak and their position in the AHL Central Division with wins over the Chicago Wolves and Milwaukee Admirals. Rockford jumped from seventh in the Central Division to fifth with 50 points in the standings thanks to the weekend results and now ride a four-game win streak into the new week.
IceHogs Improve Winning Streak To Four Games
The IceHogs concluded a 40-game stretch of the season against AHL Central Division opponents with wins over the Chicago Wolves and Milwaukee Admirals this weekend. Starting on October 28, the IceHogs have only faced teams within their own Division and took out of it a 17-16-7 record.
They will enter their next game (Wednesday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) with a 21-19-8 record and 50 points in the standings. A record good enough for fifth-place in the Central Division for now, the IceHogs have played in 48 games this year, tied for the most in the Division with the Admirals and the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Rockford IceHogs defenseman Henri Jokiharju celebrates his first career professional goal against the Chicago Wolves. (Courtesy: Rockford IceHogs)
Rockford will need to continue their winning ways to keep their ground in the Calder Cup Playoff chase and will need to theoretically reach the mid-80’s range for season points this year to make the playoffs out of the Central Division. To do that, they will need to win at least 16 of their last 28 games to finish the season. Luckily for the IceHogs, 16 of their final 28 games this year will be played at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, including a six-game home stretch this month and another five-game homestand in late March.
Notching wins over teams ahead of them in the Central Division, such as they did over the Wolves and Admirals this weekend, the IceHogs may just have started to find their footing to make a late-push into the Calder Cup Playoff picture.
Rockford IceHogs def. Chicago Wolves, 5-2
The IceHogs improved their record against the Wolves this season to 5-3-1 after a 5-2 win on Friday night in Rockford. With Chicago Blackhawks Owner Rocky Wirtz and Hall of Fame goaltender Tony Esposito in the building, the IceHogs used a three-goal second period effort and a 28-save performance from Kevin Lankinen to secure their third win in-a-row at the time and take the lead in the Illinois Lottery Cup Rivalry this year.
Helping Lankinen get his fourth win of the season (4-5-3, 2.46 GAA, 0.910 save%) with five goals of support, the IceHogs saw multi-point efforts from Alexandre Fortin (2 goals) and Terry Broadhurst (2 assists) as well as the first North American professional goal from rookie defenseman Henri Jokiharju in his first ever AHL game.
In his first game with the IceHogs after being assigned earlier in the week, Jokiharju stepped into the Rockford lineup and played on the top-pairing with fellow rookie Lucas Carlsson. Jokiharju netted the 1-1 game-tying goal in the first period and played like he doesn’t want to be with the IceHogs for long, which is a good thing for him personally. Jokiharju’s assignment is to re-focus his development and give him the ice-time the Blackhawks feel he needs that he would not be seeing in Chicago.
For the IceHogs, they’ll benefit from any time that Jokiharju spends in Rockford, especially if he continues to play at the level he displayed over the weekend.
Rockford IceHogs def. Milwaukee Admirals, 3-2 (OT)
Following Friday night’s win over the Wolves. the IceHogs headed North to take on the Milwaukee Admirals in Milwaukee. With a 3-2-1 record against the Admirals coming into Saturday night’s contest, the IceHogs would have to win the war of attrition between them and the Admirals through 40 minutes of play. Finally in the third period, the floodgates would open, for both teams.
The IceHogs would get the opening goal of the game just under three minutes into the third period as Dylan Sikura netted his team-leading 13th goal of the season. With four points in his last four games, including a goal against the Admirals, Sikura tied Anthony Louis for the team-lead in points this season with 27. Following the 1-0 goal, just past the mid-way point of the final period, William Pelletier added to the IceHogs lead with his fourth goal of the year to make it a 2-0 lead for Rockford.
With Anton Forsberg in net, staring down Rockford’s first shutout of the season, the Admirals would pot two goals in the final 2:22 of the third period to complete the comeback and force overtime. Forsberg made 26 saves on 28 shots in regulation, but would not need to face any shots in the overtime period as Darren Raddysh for the overtime winner, his eighth goal of the season, just a minute and a half into overtime. With the 3-2 overtime win, Forsberg improved his record to 10-9-1 this season with a 2.64 GAA and a 0.917 save-percentage.
WILD STAT: The win over Milwaukee was the eighth win for the IceHogs this season in overtime, the single-season franchise record. Rockford is tied for the most overtime games this season with 17.
WILD STAT: With the 5-2 win over the Wolves and the 3-2 (OT) win over the Admirals, the IceHogs improved their record when scoring at least three goals this season to 19-1-2.
Roster Update: Forward Matheson Iacopelli has been assigned to the Indy Fuel. In 27 games with the IceHogs this season, Iacopelli has 2 goals and 2 assists.
What’s Next?
The Rockford IceHogs take their four-game winning streak up against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday night in Rockford. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm CT at the BMO Harris Bank Center for the first of two meetings this month between the IceHogs and the Penguins. Wednesday night’s home game also is the first of a six-game homestand for the IceHogs that sees them face the Penguins, Tucson Roadrunners (twice), Texas Stars, Iowa Wild, and San Antonio Rampage over a 12-day span.