The Rockford IceHogs entered Saturday night’s contest against the Iowa Wild with little more than a hope and a prayer to keep their Calder Cup Playoff hopes alive, needing a non-shootout win and regulation losses from the Milwaukee Admirals, Manitoba Moose, and Texas Stars. When the night was complete, it was Rockford’s loss, paired with Milwaukee’s win, that put the final nail in the coffin of the IceHogs’ postseason dreams. The IceHogs will not get a chance to build upon last season’s AHL-Franchise best postseason run in Rockford.
Iowa Wild def. Rockford IceHogs, 3-0. Rockford eliminated from postseason contention
The IceHogs began the night controlling most of the pace and action against the Wild, seemingly in the offensive zone at will for the opening few minutes. Anton Forsberg was the Rockford starter on Saturday, took a few tests early on, but was up to the task. At the 8:40 mark of the first period, the Wild were able to get on the board first, capitalizing on a net-front scramble goal. Mason Shaw‘s eighth goal of the season put Iowa up 1-0. At that point of the night, Rockford trailed 1-0 and the Milwaukee Admirals had taken a 3-0 lead over the Griffins on their first three shots of the game.
Rockford finished the first period strong, re-gaining the control of the pace, but couldn’t find the equalizing goal before the end of the opening frame. The Wild would extend their lead in the second period on Gerald Mayhew‘s 27th goal of the season, making it a 2-0 lead for the home side early in the middle frame. Rockford’s postseason fate went from bad to worse at that point of the night, as Milwaukee scored a pair of goals on their first three shots of the second period of their contest against the Grand Rapids, leading 5-0 at that time.
Rockford IceHogs goaltender Anton Forsberg makes a save against the Iowa Wild. (Courtesy: Iowa Wild)
Rockford began the third period with 1:36 of powerplay time, which would come up fruitless. Less than a minute after killing off the Rockford powerplay, the Wild would take a 3-0 lead thanks to Will Bitten‘s 13th goal of the season. The Wild were able to keep the door shut on the IceHogs from there on out and the game would end, as would the IceHogs’ hopes of playing in the postseason, with Iowa coming out on top, 3-0 the final. Rockford starter Anton Forsberg made 27 saves on 30 shots faced as his record this season fell to 15-15-2 with a 2.64 GAA and a 0.919 save-percentage. Dylan Sikura led the IceHogs in shots on goal with six, followed by William Pelletier and Henri Jokiharju with three each.
The Admirals finished off the Griffins, 5-0 in Milwaukee to not only eliminate the IceHogs, but also putting the Texas Stars on the outside looking in at the Calder Cup Playoff race. Grand Rapids finishes their regular season on a nine-game losing streak, going 0-8-1 over that stretch and will need the IceHogs to defeat the Admirals on Sunday night. I wouldn’t say that the IceHogs will intentionally lose to spite the Griffins, but then again, Grand Rapids did no favors for Rockford or Texas down the stretch of the season.
Joking of course.
Rockford could find a bit of solace to end the season knowing they could end the Admirals’ current 13-game points streak (10-0-3) with a win in the season finale on Sunday night.
Calder Cup Playoff Race
For the IceHogs, it’s over.
#Moose losing to the #Wolves 3-0 in the 3rd
A loss by Manitoba will lock in the 4 teams in the #AHL Central Division as Chicago, Grand Rapids #Griffins, Milwaukee #Admirals, and Iowa #Wild. Seeding still to be ironed out. #IceHogs #Rampage and #Stars already out of contention— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) April 14, 2019
For the rest of the Central Division, this is how the four teams will fill out the Calder CUp Playoff positions.
What’s Next?
The Rockford IceHogs are back in action, for the final time this season, against the Milwaukee Admirals on Sunday night in Rockford. Although the IceHogs will not be going to the Calder Cup Playoffs, they have a chance to play spoiler against the Admirals in the season-finale. Rockford is 5-5-1 this season against the Admirals. Puck drop for the last game of the 2018-19 season for the IceHogs is at 6 p.m. Central Time at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford.