On Saturday night, the Rockford IceHogs and Chicago Wolves opened their first-round Calder Cup Playoff matchup at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL. In a tightly contested game, because what else could be expected between these two teams, the IceHogs were able to hold on late in the game and come away with a 2-1 win to take a 1-0 series lead.
Game One Rockford IceHogs def. Chicago Wolves, 2-1
After splitting the season series 6-6 over 12 games, the IceHogs and Wolves opened up their first-round Calder Cup Playoff series at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont to begin the second ever postseason matchup between the teams after their first matchup in 2008. Rockford turned to rookie goaltender Collin Delia to start in net against Chicago, while the Wolves started Oscar Dansk in between the pipes, who also would be making his AHL postseason debt.
After the last two games between the clubs totaled 19 goals combined, Saturday night’s game would be a stark contrast in a tight 2-1 game, the kind IceHogs head coach Jeremy Colliton continues to say that the teams needs to be able to win at this point in the season.
Rockford was able to strike first against the Wolves around the mid-way point of the opening period. On the powerplay, the IceHogs were able to cycle the puck to defenseman Cody Franson who put a shot on net with Tyler Sikura providing traffic in front of Dansk. Sikura was able to re-direct the puck and find the back of the net for the 1-0 goal. Sikura finished second on the team in goals in the 2017-18 season with 23 and gave Rockford the lead on his first AHL playoff goal of his career.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS: Rockford IceHogs def. Chicago Wolves, 2-1
In the second period, the IceHogs were able to add to their lead with a second goal on the powerplay. Chris DiDomenico dropped a pass to defenseman Adam Clendening who put a shot on net with screens provided by Sikura and Luke Johnson in front of Dansk. No re-direction was needed for Clendening’s shot and the IceHogs took a 2-0 lead into the final 20 minutes of the game.
In the third period, the IceHogs were able to batten-down and hold their 2-0 lead clean for just about 15 minutes before the Wolves broke-through. On a Chicago powerplay, Teemu Pulkkinen was able to bat a puck into the back of the net off of a rebound given up by Delia and cut Rockford’s lead in half with just over five minutes to play. Pulkkinen led Chicago in goals in the 2017-18 season with 29 tallies and shows he is going to continue to be a player that will need to be keyed on to be stopped in the series. From then on, the IceHogs were able to hold the one-goal lead and get to the final horn for the 2-1 win, taking a 1-0 lead in the Best-of-Five series as it heads to Rockford for Game Two.
Delia made 31 saves in his first taste of professional playoff hockey and earned his first career playoff victory. Along with the solid performance in net from Delia, Cody Franson with two assists and Adam Clendening with a powerplay goal and an assist lead the IceHogs offensively. The tend of the regular season continued in Game One with Clendening, Franson, Sikura, and Delia putting in solid efforts to lead Rockford. If that continues into Game Two at home, the IceHogs could find themselves in a very favorable spot heading back to Chicago for Game Three.
What’s Next?
After a win in Game One for the IceHogs over the Wolves, the series shifts to the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford. Here is the full first-round schedule for Rockford and Chicago:
- Game One – Rockford IceHogs def. Chicago Wolves, 2-1 (RFD leads series 1-0)
- Game Two – at Rockford, Sunday, April 22 – 4pm
- Game Three – at Chicago, Thursday, April 26 – 7pm
- Game Four * – at Rockford, Sunday, April 29 – 4pm (if necessary)
- Game Five * – at Chicago, Monday, April 30 – 7pm (if necessary)
Winner of the Rockford-Chicago series will go on to face the winner of the Manitoba Moose-Grand Rapids Griffins series in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.