The Rockford IceHogs needed extra periods of hockey and the shootout, twice, but were able to take all four points over the weekend with wins over the Grand Rapids Griffins and Chicago Wolves. With the victories, the IceHogs move into third place in the AHL Central Division with a 10-7-0 record (20 points, .588 pts%) and trail only the Manitoba Moose in total points in the Central Division.
Saturday: Rockford IceHogs def. Grand Rapids Griffins, 3-2 (SO)
The IceHogs were coming off of a disappointing result against the Iowa Wild on Wednesday and needed a fast start against the Griffins to get out of their recent funk. Late in the first period, Andreas Martinsen got Rockford on the board first, potting home a rebound from a Robin Norell shot. Martinsen netted his first of the year and the IceHogs held a 1-0 lead into the second period.
The Griffins responded quickly in the second period with two goals in the first five minutes of the middle frame, making it a 2-1 Griffins lead. Mid-way through the period, Matthew Highmore was able to knot the game back up at 2-2 with a turnaround shot that found it’s way through Tom McCollum. The teams wouldn’t be able to break the tie through the rest of regulation or the overtime period so a shootout would be needed.
In the shootout, IceHogs goalie Jeff Glass was able to stop all three Griffins attempts as Vince Hinostroza put Rockford on the board and was enough for the shootout victory. Glass notched his fourth win of the season with a 32 save performance.
Check out the highlights from Saturday:
Sunday: Rockford IceHogs def. Chicago Wolves, 4-3 (SO)
On the second day of a back-to-back weekend series, the IceHogs welcomed their Central Division rivals the Chicago Wolves in the first Illinois Lottery Cup matchup of the season. Looking to get off to a fast start again, Hinostroza netted the first goal of the game with a Goal of the Year candidate effort. Hinostroza’s eighth goal of the season gives him 17 points (8G, 9A) in 17 games this season and gave the IceHogs the early 1-0 lead.
The Wolves would tie it up late in the first period, but with just seconds remaining in the opening frame, Rockford’s Luke Johnson was able to tip-in Alexandre Fortin‘s shot for the 2-1 goal, his fourth of the season.
No scoring in the second period would make for an eventful third period. The IceHogs would take a 3-1 lead as Fortin setup Johnson again for a tap-in goal early in the third period. Johnson with his first multi-point game since Oct. 21, gave him his fifth goal of the year. The IceHogs wouldn’t be able to close the door on the Wolves, though, as Chicago would pull even with two goals in the final seven minutes of the game.
Once again, Rockford would need extra hockey to try and get the victory. No goals in the overtime period, Hinostroza and David Kampf would score in the shootout as Glass would stop both Wolves shooters and the IceHogs closed the weekend with a second shootout win in as many days, Glass records his fifth win of the season with a 34 save performance.
Check out the highlights from Sunday afternoon’s action:
By The Numbers
While the victories, no matter how they come, are good for the IceHogs, a troubling trend continued over the weekend. Rockford was 0-5 on the powerplay against the Griffins and 0-4 against the Wolves. Over the last eight games, the IceHogs powerplay is only 1-32 and has fallen to 21st in the AHL at a 14.8% success rate.
On the flip-side, the IceHogs have killed off their last 10 powerplays faced dating back to Nov. 11, and rank 26th in the AHL with at 77.6% kill rate. A much better performance since their Nov. 10 game against the San Antonio Rampage, giving up four powerplay goals against.
Six IceHogs skaters have notched double-digit point totals so far this season, led by Hinostroza’s 17 points, and besides defenseman Robin Norell, every skater has notched one goal this season.
What’s Next?
The IceHogs are off until Wednesday night when they play host to the Iowa Wild for the first of two games against Iowa this week. Wednesday night’s puck drop is slated for 7pm CT. Wednesday’s game will be a hairy situation as the IceHogs and fans attempt to break a Guinness World Record for most beards and mustaches in one place. The world-record attempt caps off the IceHogs’ month-long initiative to support Brovember Inc., a local non-profit which raises awareness about prostate cancer and men’s health. More information can be found here.
Then, they do it all over again on Friday night in Rockford for the second of two matchups in a row between the Wild and IceHogs with another 7pm CT puck drop. Rockford closes the weekend with a Saturday night game on the road as they travel east to take on the Chicago Wolves in another Illinois Lottery Cup rivalry game. Saturday night’s puck drop in Chicago is at 7pm CT.