At the beginning of the AHL season, the Rockford IceHogs had no trouble starting games on the right foot, usually outshooting their opponents in the first period and scoring the game’s opening goal in the first six games of the season. It was finishing games that was the difficult part for the IceHogs. This weekend, the roles reversed, as Rockford found itself in deep holes against the Iowa Wild and Chicago Wolves on Saturday and Sunday. But, contrary to previous results, the IceHogs found ways to finish games strong, completing late-game comebacks in both contests to extend themselves to a three-game win streak.
IceHogs perfecting art of the comeback
Starting on Saturday night, the IceHogs were coming off a 6–2 win over the San Antonio Rampage in a “great-right” effort from a disastrous weekend prior. It would be the first game for Rockford since the recall of rookie defenseman Adam Boqvist to the Chicago Blackhawks. Special teams would not be in favor of the IceHogs, as they allowed power play goals in the first and second periods to fall to a 2–0 hole heading into the third period.
Rockford would attempt to power their way out of the deficit, outshooting the Wild 28–21 in the second and third periods combined. Late in the final frame came the first breakthrough with Lucas Carlsson‘s first goal of the season, scoring on a slap shot from the top of the right circle. Just 28 seconds later, with Kevin Lankinen pulled, the IceHogs tied it up thanks to Tyler Sikura tipping a shot from Carlsson to tie the game at 2–2.
Sikura’s fifth of the season sent the game into overtime, where Matthew Highmore found the game-winning goal on a two-on-one break to give the IceHogs the 3–2 win in extra time.
Lankinen stopped 30 of 32 shots faced in Saturday’s contest to notch his second win of the season. Lankinen is now 2–1–0 on the year in three appearances with a 2.31 goals against average and a .926 save percentage for Rockford, leading the team in both categories.
After the thrilling overtime win over the Wild, the IceHogs turned their attention to their Illinois Lottery Cup rivals, the Chicago Wolves, on Sunday afternoon for the third meeting between the teams in the season series. Rockford came into Sunday’s contest already with two wins over the Wolves in their first two meetings of the year and had never started a season with three consecutive wins over Chicago in the Illinois Lottery Cup rivalry series history.
Much like Saturday’s start, the IceHogs were flat out of the gate and found themselves down 2–0 after 20 minutes of action. As the game approached the midway point, Rockford had surrendered a third goal before Jacob Nilsson stopped the bleeding for the moment with a rare power play goal to make it a 3–1 game in the second period. The Wolves would add a second goal in the middle frame to extend their lead to 4–1.
From that point on, the IceHogs would respond in a big way, outscoring the Wolves 6–0 on their way to a 7–4 win. MacKenzie Entwistle cut the Chicago lead in half at 4–2 just over a minute after the 4–1 goal to give the IceHogs life heading into the third period.
In the third period, that life turned into a five-goal onslaught for Rockford. Just over 10 minutes into the period, Dylan Sikura pulled the IceHogs within one, scoring the 4–3 goal while on the power play. Nearly a minute and a half later, Brandon Hagel tallied his first professional goal to tie the game up at 4–4. Another minute and a half would go by before the younger Sikura would net his second goal of the period to give the IceHogs the 5–4 lead, marking his fourth multi-goal game in his AHL career. Three minutes after that, Sikura would complete the hat trick with a goal assisted by his older brother, Tyler, to give Rockford the 6–4 lead, capping a stretch of four goals in six minutes of the third period for the IceHogs. The hat trick is the first in Sikura’s professional career and gives him the team-lead in goals with six on the year.
Reese Johnson would finish the goal frenzy for the IceHogs with a shorthanded empty-net tally to seal the win for Rockford 7–4 over Chicago, giving the IceHogs their first ever three-game win streak to begin a season over the Wolves. Collin Delia backstopped the IceHogs in the win, making 21 saves on 25 shots faced and improving his record this season to 2–3–0. The win also pulled the IceHogs to an even .500 record this season at 5–5–0 through 10 games, good for sixth in the Central Division.
Hot Hogs through 10 games
After a rough start to the 2019–20 season, the IceHogs have balanced themselves out with impressive efforts over their last three games, albeit the last two had to be pulled from behind, but wins nonetheless. Through the first 10 games of the season, these are a few players who have been driving the IceHogs.
- Dylan Sikura — Forward
- Leads team in goals (six)
- Leads team in points (nine)
- Leads team in shots on goal (34)
- First career four-point game vs. Chicago on Nov. 3
Dylan Sikura of the Rockford IceHogs carries the puck up ice. (Photograph courtesy of the Rockford IceHogs)
- Tyler Sikura — Forward
- Second on the team in goals (five)
- Tied-second on the team in points (seven)
- Leads team in plus/minus (+4)
- Currently on three-game point streak (Oct. 30–Nov. 3)
Tyler Sikura of the Rockford IceHogs prepares for a game during warmups. (Photograph courtesy of the Rockford IceHogs)
- Matthew Highmore — Forward
- Tied for second on the team in points (seven)
- Game-winning goal vs. Wild (Nov. 2)
- Five points in last three games (Oct. 30–Nov. 3)
Matthew Highmore of the Rockford IceHogs skates with the puck against the Chicago Wolves. (Photograph courtesy of the Rockford IceHogs)
- Anton Wedin — Forward
- Tied for second on the team in assists (four)
- Third on the team in points (six)
- Third on the team in shots on goal (21)
- Recorded three assists vs. Wolves on Nov. 3 to snap five-game point drought
Anton Wedin of the Rockford IceHogs carries the puck. (Photograph courtesy of the Rockford IceHogs)
- MacKenzie Entwistle — Forward
- Tied for first on the team in rookie goals (four)
- Tied for first on the team in rookie points (four)
- Three points in last three games (Oct. 30–Nov. 3)
MacKenzie Entwistle of the Rockford IceHogs skates up ice against the Chicago Wolves. (Photograph courtesy of the Rockford IceHogs)
- Philip Holm — Defenseman
- Leads defensemen, tied for third on the team in points (six)
- Leads defensemen, second on the team in shots on goal (23)
- Currently on three-game point streak (Oct. 30–Nov. 3)
Philip Holm of the Rockford IceHogs breaks out of his own zone. (Photograph courtesy of the Rockford IceHogs)
What’s next?
The Rockford IceHogs are back in action on Wednesday, as they host the Toronto Marlies for the first of two meetings this season. It is the first time since the 2014–15 season that the IceHogs and Marlies have faced each other, with Rockford holding an all-time series record of 8–5–3 against Toronto since joining the AHL in the 2007–08 season. Puck drop for Wednesday’s contest is set for 10:30 a.m. CST at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford. It is a ‘School Day’ game, as the start time would tell.