Over the weekend, the Rockford IceHogs and Iowa Wild played in a home-and-home series on Friday in Iowa and Sunday in Rockford. Both home teams took regulation victories as the Wild won on Friday, 3-0, and the IceHogs won on Sunday, 6-2, marking the first multi-goal win for Rockford since November 4. Heading into Monday, the Wild lead the AHL Central Division with 47 points, while the IceHogs sit in sixth-place with 39 points, five points behind the Milwaukee Admirals in fourth-place.
IceHogs Finally Get A Multi-Goal Win
On Friday night in Des Moines, the IceHogs fell to the Wild, 3-0, behind a 30-save performance from starter Anton Forsberg. The loss marked the sixth loss in a row, at the time, for the IceHogs (0-5-1) and the fifth regulation/overtime loss for Forsberg this season where he recorded a 0.900 save-percentage or better. The IceHogs also suffered their second shutout of the six-game losing streak and fell further behind in the AHL Central Division, looking to still break the 40-point season barrier.
With Sunday’s home game came a bit of reinforcements as the Chicago Blackhawks reassigned Dylan Sikura and Andreas Martinsen. Sikura returned to the IceHogs as the third-highest point scorer and Martinsen would make his IceHogs season debut after playing 64 games with Rockford last season as well as all 13 Calder Cup Playoff games.
Rockford IceHogs forward Dylan Sikura. (Courtesy: Rockford IceHogs)
With the Blackhawks this season, Martinsen has skated in 24 games with four points (G, 3 A) while Sikura has skated in 11 games with three assists. Sikura entered Sunday night’s contest tied for third in scoring on the team with 18 points (9 G, 9 A).
Looking back at a comment made by IceHogs interim head coach Derek King following a 2-1 loss to the Admirals on January 2, King stated the following about his team’s lack of goal production:
#IceHogs HC Derek King postgame on low-scoring offense: "I'd love somebody to get 4-5 goals & run away w/a game so we can cruise into the 3rd. I don't think that's going to happen here w/our team the way we have it. We gotta work hard every game. We did that tonight."#RFDvsMIL
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) January 3, 2019
Well, his wish was granted on Sunday night as the IceHogs had four players record multi-points games, including a hat-trick from Jacob Nilsson, his first in the AHL. The 6-2 win over Iowa also marked the first time the IceHogs have won a game by more than one-goal since November 4,also against the Wild.
Kevin Lankinen got the start in net and responded with a solid 31-save performance on 33 shots faced. Lankinen improved his record to 2-4-2 on the season with a 2.47 GAA and a 0.910 save-percentage. In his last three starts for the IceHogs, the Finnish rookie has a 1-1-1 record with a 2.00 GAA and a 0.940 save percentage.
The IceHogs offensive outburst was powered by a pair of three-point nights coming from Jacob Nilsson’s hat-trick and Anthony Louis recording a goal and two assists. It marked the third three-point game for Nilsson this season and the first three-point night for Louis of his AHL career. With their efforts, Nilsson takes over the lead for the team’s leading goal-scorer with 10 goals on the year and Louis takes extends his team-lead in points to 24 (9 G, 15 A). Jordan Schroeder tallied two assists and Luke Johnson had an assist and his fifth goal of the season to add to the IceHogs’ multi-point efforts against Iowa.
Rockford IceHogs forwards Anthony Louis (left) and Jacob Nilsson (right) celebrate Nilsson’s hat-trick against the Iowa Wild. (Courtesy: Rockford IceHogs)
The offensive outburst from the IceHogs was a LONG time coming. Heading into Sunday night’s games against Iowa, Rockford’s last nine wins had all come by just one-goal margins. This season, the IceHogs hold a 9-5-7 record in games decided by one goal, holding a 7-10 record in games with a multi-goal difference. The IceHogs remain one of the lowest-scoring teams in the AHL with 86 goals-for, which ranks 30th out of 31 teams. Also of note, both Martinsen and Dylan Sikura tallied assists in the first games back with the IceHogs on Sunday.
What’s Next?
The Rockford IceHogs return to action on Friday as they begin a three-game road trip to Texas. Starting on Friday night, the IceHogs head South to take on the Texas Stars. Puck drop on Friday is set for 7pm CT at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park. Following Friday night, the IceHogs take on the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday night in San Antonio. Puck drop is also at 7pm CT on Saturday night at the AT&T Center. The IceHogs hold a 1-1-1 record against the Stars this season and a 2-1-1 record against the Rampage this season.