The Rockford IceHogs completed their second three-games-in-three-days stretch of the season on Saturday night with a 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Admirals to salvage two points in the standings after dropping games to the Iowa Wild and San Antonio Rampage.
After the weekend’s action on Sunday night, Rockford sits third in the Central Division with an 8-6-0 record, good for 16 points in the standings and a .571 points percentage, behind the Manitoba Moose and Milwaukee Admirals.
Thursday: Iowa Wild def. Rockford IceHogs, 5-3
It was the second three-in-three of the season for the IceHogs and started with a 10:30am CT start against the Iowa Wild on Thursday for the Wild’s ‘School Days’ promotion. Iowa got on the board early with a goal from Cal O’Reilly and then went up 2-0 in the first period with a goal from Zack Mitchell, both goals coming on the Wild powerplay. It was the first start of the season for Rockford goaltender Collin Delia, but wasn’t the kind of start he or the IceHogs were looking for. Luc Snuggerud would cut the Wild lead in half with his first goal of the season mid-way through the period and it would finish the first 20 minutes, 2-1 Wild.
Laurent Dauphin would tie the game up at 2-2 in the second period with his fourth goal of the season, coming on the powerplay, but the Wild would take the lead back for good with a goal from Mario Lucia.
Early in the third period, Ryan Murphy put the Wild up 4-2 with his first goal of the year, coming on the Powerplay. Vince Hinostroza would make it 4-3 just passed the mid-way point of the third but the IceHogs wouldn’t have enough, even though out-shooting the Wild 36-17, as Iowa would add an empty net goal to take the win 5-3.
Friday: San Antonio Rampage def. Rockford IceHogs, 6-0
This was one to forget for the IceHogs. One of those games you burn the tape and move on. Quick stats on the game include six different goal-scorers for the Rampage, including four powerplay goals on nine powerplay opportunities for San Antonio. The IceHogs out-shot the Rampage 39-33, but it was 20-9 in shots on goal and 3-0 on the scoreboard for the Rampage after the first period.
Spencer Martin earned his first shutout of the season for the Rampage, stopping all 39 shots faced and improved to the AHL’s fourth-best GAA (1.93) and third-best Save percentage (.934) with his fifth win of the year.
Saturday: Rockford IceHogs def. Milwaukee Admirals, 5-2
The IceHogs were able to bounce back after the ugliness of Friday night’s 6-0 loss to the Rampage with a much needed win against the Admirals in Milwaukee. Snapping a four-game losing streak and getting points against a division opponent were much needed points of emphasis for the IceHogs.
Even after playing back-to-back games, the IceHogs jumped out in the first period and were the faster team, getting on the board first thanks to David Kampf. But the early start and first period lead would end quickly in the second period when former IceHog P.C. Labrie would finish a breakaway chance to tie the game at 1-1. Late into the second period, the Admirals took the lead on a powerplay goal from Pontus Aberg, only to have the IceHogs tie it up at 2-2 just 16 seconds later when Tyler Sikura put a rebound home to send it to the third period tied at 2-2.
The third period was almost all IceHogs, jumping on the Admirals with a 17-8 shots on goal difference in the period, 44-25 difference in the game, and just 24 seconds into the period, Hinostroza put one home to give the IceHogs the 3-2 lead and what would be the game-winning goal. In his 100th AHL game, Vince Hinostroza would get on the board a second time, finishing a breakaway chance mid-way through the third period to put the IceHogs up 4-2. Hinostroza now has 15 points (7G, 8A) in 14 games this season, good enough for a tie for fifth in the AHL in scoring. Luke Johnson would add the IceHogs’ fifth goal of the game and put the exclamation point on the 5-2 win over division rival Milwaukee.
Highlights from the IceHogs’ victory over the Admirals:
After the win on Saturday night, Rockford head coach Jeremy Colliton spoke with The-Rink.com:
What’s Next?
The IceHogs will play their next five games at home, starting on Wednesday morning for their version of the ‘School Days’ promotion. A 10:30am CT puck drop at the BMO Harris Bank Center as they return the early morning start favor against the Iowa Wild.
Following that, the IceHogs host the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday and then close the week with a 4pm CT Sunday puck drop against the Chicago Wolves.