The Rockford IceHogs continue to sweat-out wins as they take a five-game point streak and a three-game winning streak into the AHL Holiday break. With a back-to-back overtime wins, the IceHogs find themselves in a three-way tie for third place in the AHL Central Division with the Chicago Wolves and Grand Rapids Griffins.
The IceHogs finish their pre-holiday break portion of the schedule going 4-0-1 over their last five games and hold a 15-10-6 record.
Rockford IceHogs def. Milwaukee Admirals, 4-3 (OT)
On Wednesday, Rockford concluded a four-game homestand with an overtime win over the Milwaukee Admirals. Jan Rutta netted the game-winner in overtime, his first goal with the IceHogs, to seal the four-goal comeback, 4-3 over Milwaukee.
Milwaukee opened the game with three first period goals, two coming on the powerplay, to put the IceHogs in a hole early in the game. After a Dennis Gilbert-Duncan Siemens fight later in the opening period, the IceHogs offense was sparked and got on the board late in the period thanks to Jacob Nilsson. Rockford would cut the game to 3-2 in the second period with Tyler Sikura‘s sixth goal of the season, assisted by Gilbert and William Pelletier, making his season-debut with Rockford.
The Rockford IceHogs celebrate and overtime victory over the Milwaukee Admirals. (Courtesy: Rockford IceHogs)
The game-tying goal would come in the third period from Darren Raddysh. His sixth of the season, giving him a share of the team-lead in points with 18 at that time. The game would head to overtime, signalling the fifth time in seven games that Rockford would need the extra period and eight of their last ten games since Nov. 24 that have been decided by one-goal. In overtime, Alexandre Fortin would intercept an Admirals offensive-zone pass, carry the puck into the IceHogs’ zone and complete a tic-tac-toe passing play with Anthony Louis to feed Jan Rutta for the game-winner.
Both Louis (2 A) and Tyler SIkura (G, A) nothced multi-point games while Anton Forsberg got the win, making 27 saves on 30 shots faced.
Rockford IceHogs def. Chicago Wolves, 5-4 (OT)
The IceHogs entered Friday night’s contest against the Chicago Wolves on a four-game point streak, having won three of those four games. With a chance to jump into the top-three of the Central Division, Rockford took yet another game down to the wire, coming out on top in overtime, 5-4 over the Wolves.
Anton Forsberg started in net for the IceHogs and was challenged early on. Less than two minutes into the opening frame and the Wolves had already pout four shots on net against him. It would finally break for the Wolves with a 1-0 goal coming mid-way through the period. But, just under three minutes later, the IceHogs would tie the game on a powerplay goal from Jacob Nilsson. His sixth goal of the year tied the game at 1-1 heading into the second period.
After being out-shot 13-6 in the first period, the IceHogs jumped out of the gate in the second period and took a 2-1 lead less than a minute in. Alexandre Fortin threw a puck on net that deflected off a Wolves defender and into the net. Fortin’s first of the year was shortly followed up with his second of the year just about three minutes later. Fortin was able to put home a scramble-rebound chance and give the IceHogs a 3-1 lead early in the period. But the Wolves would respond with two goals of their own in the period and tie the game at 3-3 heading into the third period.
In a tightly contested third period, it looked as if the IceHogs were headed to another overtime game, but late in the period, Lucas Carlsson would net his fifth goal of the year to give Rockford the 4-3 lead late in the period. With a chance to ice the game on an empty-net chance, Graham Knott battled for the puck but couldn’t get enough space to put home the game-sealing goal. On the ensuing rush, the Wolves tied the game on Gage Quinney‘s eighth goal of the year. Yet again heading to overtime.
In the overtime period, the Wolves out-shot and out-chanced the IceHogs but were shutdown by Forsberg at every turn. Late in the extra frame, Nilsson got the puck to Anthony Louis with a head of steam, Louis drove to the net and laid the puck off for Darren Raddysh who buried it in the back of the net for the 5-4 game-winning goal. Raddysh’s seventh of the year gave the IceHogs their third straight win, fourth in their last five games.
Nilsson, Carlsson, Fortin, and Jordan Schroeder all tallied multi-point nights, with Nilsson having a three-point night (G, 2 A). Anthony Louis’ assist on the game-winner marked his fifth game in-a-row with a point. Louis has six assists over his last five games.
Anton Forsberg finished with 32 saves on 36 shots, moving his record to 7-3-1 (5-0-0 on the road) with a 2.76 GAA and a 0.912 save-percentage.
Andrew Campbell Named AHL All-Star Captain
On Thursday, AHL President and Chief Executive Officer David Andrews announced that Lehigh Valley Phantoms forward Colin McDonald and Rockford IceHogs defenseman Andrew Campbell were selected as the playing captains for the 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic to be held January 27-28 in Springfield, Mass. It will be Campbell’s first AHL All-Star appearance.
Captains for the American Hockey League All-Star teams are selected by the league president each year in recognition of their outstanding leadership and service.
Campbell is in his 11th AHL season and his first in the Chicago Blackhawks organization. He has skated in 679 AHL games with Rockford, Tucson Roadrunners, Toronto Marlies, Portland Pirates and Manchester Monarchs, totaling 142 points (34 G, 108 A) while serving as either captain or an alternate for all five teams. Campbell has played 42 games in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, and Toronto Maple Leafs, tallying two assists in his time.
Andrew Campbell of the Rockford IceHogs. (Courtesy: Rockford IceHogs)
In 25 games with the IceHogs this season, Campbell has one goal and a minus-one rating with 14 penalty minutes.
What’s Next?
The IceHogs are off through the holidays and return to action on Wednesday Dec. 26 against the Chicago Wolves. Beginning back-to-back road games, puck drop on Wednesday is set for 7pm CT at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. Following that, the IceHogs are on the road taking on the Iowa Wild on Friday, Dec. 28. Puck drop is set for 6pm CT at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.