On Wednesday night, the Rockford IceHogs began a six-game road stretch of their schedule that sees them with three games against the AHL Pacific Division before returning to the Midwest for three crucial AHL Central Division games. Starting with the Ontario Reign, the IceHogs got off on the right foot on the road with a 5-2 win behind a solid performance in net from Collin Delia and a hat-trick from William Pelletier.
Wednesday: Rockford IceHogs def. Ontario Reign, 5-2
Wednesday night began the tough middle stretch of the month of January schedule for the IceHogs, which includes 13 games and the current six-game road trip that Rockford is on. First would be a matchup against the Ontario Reign in California.
Collin Delia got the start in net for Rockford, his seventh start for the IceHogs this season, in a “hometown” game for the rookie goaltender. Delia, originally from Rancho Cucamonga in California, made his first start within six miles of his hometown in years and did not disappoint. Making 33 saves on 35 shots, Delia put in one of his best performances of the season. It marked the first time Delia had a single-game save percentage above .910 this season for Rockford and the two goals allowed are tied for his fewest in his seven starts. While his stats leave much more to be desired (3-4-0, .869 save percentage, 3.31 GAA), Delia has shown improvement over his last two starts in the absence of Jeff Glass and J.F. Berube.
While the IceHogs would trail the Reign after one period, 2-1, Rockford would fight back in the remaining two periods to show a bit of resilience that had lacked in recent contests. The IceHogs’ opening goal of the game came on the penalty-kill from William Pelletier, his fourth of the season, and wouldn’t be the only one from him on the night. Pelletier would tie the game in the second period with his fifth goal of the year, and his first multi-goal game since April 1, 2017.
Viktor Svedberg and Tyler Sikura opened up the IceHogs’ lead in the third period to 4-2, Sikura scoring his sixth goal in an eight-game span. Both goals tallied primary assists from the newest faces on the Rockford roster as John Hayden and Cody Franson got helpers on the goals. With the goalie pulled in the third period, Pelletier completed his first professional hat-trick with an empty-net goal in the final minute of the game. Pelletier’s empty-netter marked his second three-point night in the last eight games.
With the win, the IceHogs improved to 20-15-3 on the season with 43 points and a .566 points percentage, good for a tie with the Chicago Wolves for third in the AHL Central Division. The Wolves and IceHogs trail the Milwaukee Admirals (19-13-4, 42 pts, .583 pts%) for second place in the Central Division.
Rockford Roster Shakeup Welcomes Familiar Face
Also going down on Wednesday night was a major shakeup to the Chicago Blackhawks and Rockford IceHogs rosters. Prior to Rockford’s game against the Reign and Chicago’s game against the Minnesota Wild, the organization pulled the trigger on a trade that sent Richard Panik and Laurent Dauphin to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Anthony Duclair and Adam Clendening.
For Dauphin and Clendening, the trade marks returns to their former clubs as Dauphin was drafted by and played for the Coyotes organization from 2014-17 before being acquired by the Blackhawks this summer. Clendening was drafted by the Blackhawks in 2011 and played with the IceHogs and Blackhawks from 2012-2015 before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks in January of 2015.
Dauphin played in 33 games for the IceHogs and tallied 14 points prior to the trade, never really getting a chance to show the potential many believed he had with the Blackhawks organization to be a potential Marcus Kruger replacement. In return, the Blackhawks and IceHogs welcome back a player they are very familiar with in Clendening. In his career, Clendening has played in 185 games for the IceHogs with 118 points and four games with the Blackhawks. His career has been rife with travel as Clendening has played with four different AHL teams and six different NHL teams since making his professional debut in 2012.
What’s Next?
The road trip continues for the IceHogs on Friday night as they continue the West coast portion of their road schedule, taking on the San Jose Barracuda. The Barracuda come into Friday night’s game sitting in sixth place in the AHL Pacific Division. The West coast portion of the road trip concludes Saturday night in Bakersfield as the IceHogs take on the Pacific Division’s seventh place Condors. Both games are scheduled for 7pm PT (9pm CT) puck drops.