On Tuesday night, the Rockford IceHogs opened up a three-game homestand with the first of two games against the Cleveland Monsters this week. Trying to snap out of back-to-back losses, the IceHogs failed to convert on five powerplay chances and lost 3-1 to Cleveland, falling further behind in the AHL Central Division standings.
Tuesday: Cleveland Monsters def. Rockford IceHogs, 3-1
Making his second start since returning from a lower-body injury, J.F. Berube would be between the pipes for Rockford as they faced the bottom of the Central Division Monsters. His 27-save effort would be squandered by the IceHogs, though as the Monsters were able to get on the board first with a short-handed goal from Terry Broadhurst just under five minutes into the opening period. The eight short-handed goal allowed by the IceHogs this season put them in a hole early, but they would be able to rebound. With just over three minutes to play in the first period, newly signed Henrik Samuelsson finished a nice feed from Matthew Highmore to tie the game 1-1 after the opening 20 minutes. Samuelsson, who signed a PTO agreement with Rockford on Monday, scored his first AHL goal of the season after playing 49 games with the Idaho Steelheads in the ECHL.
After out-shooting the Monsters 13-6 in the opening period, Cleveland responded with a 16-7 second period shot-advantage that culminated in a late period goal from Carter Camper to give the Monsters a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. While the IceHogs made several pushes in the final period to find an equalizing goal, their efforts would go empty. J.F. Berube made 27 saves on 29 shots faced as the Monsters added an empty-net goal with under a minute to play to seal the 3-1 victory.
With the loss the IceHogs now sit in sixth-place in the AHL Central Division with a 25-21-6 record, 56 points, and a .538 points-percentage. Rockford trails the second-place Iowa Wild by .062 percentage points, but with Iowa on a three-game win streak, the Milwaukee Admirals on a four-game win streak, and the Grand Rapids Griffins with points in their last nine games (7-0-2), the IceHogs need to find a win-streak or a point-streak of their own to avoid falling out of Calder Cup Playoff contention.
What’s Next?
The IceHogs and Monsters will do it all over again on Saturday night in Rockford. Puck drop on Saturday night is scheduled for 6pm Central Time. After that, the IceHogs complete their three-game homestand with a Sunday late-afternoon contest against the San Antonio Rampage. Puck drop for Sunday’s home game is scheduled for 4pm Central Time.