After starting the month of December on a four-game win streak, the Rockford IceHogs have turned the wrong corner and dropped their last three games. All three contests came this week and saw the IceHogs muster-up just three goals during the current skid.
Rockford dropped a home game against the Chicago Wolves before heading South to San Antonio for a weekend series against the San Antonio Rampage, where they would lose both games and fall to 15-11-2 on the year.
Tuesday: Chicago Wolves def. Rockford IceHogs, 2-1
On Tuesday night the IceHogs hosted the Chicago Wolves in another installment of the Illinois Lottery Cup rivalry. Rockford and Chicago met three times prior to Tuesday’s contest with the Wolves holding a 2-1 advantage over the IceHogs.
The Wolves opened the scoring first with a goal just five minutes into the game from former IceHog Brandon Pirri. His eighth goal of the season game the Wolves the 1-0 lead and they would hold that all the way until the third period.
In the third period, the IceHogs would use a tip-goal from Anthony Louis to tie the game 1-1. It was Louis’ fifth goal of the season coming off a Carl Dahlstrom shot to extend his point-streak to five games (1G, 8A, 9pts). The game remained tied until the Wolves had one last push at the end of the game and with just 0.8 seconds remaining on the clock, Paul Thompson was able to get one past Jeff Glass to seal the victory for the Wolves. A heartbreaking way for the IceHogs to lose a game, especially to the rival Wolves. Glass made 30 saves on 32 shots in the loss.
Friday: San Antonio Rampage def. Rockford IceHogs, 2-1 (so)
Looking to shake off the loss to the Wolves earlier in the week, the IceHogs made a trip to San Antonio to take on the Rampage in a two-game weekend series. On Friday night, the IceHogs would be involved in another tightly contested game as it would take a period and a half for either team to get on the board. Nearing the mid-way point of the second period, the Rampage were able to break the scoreless tie as Julien Nantel netted his sixth goal of the season, giving the Rampage the 1-0 lead.
The lead would only last ten minutes for the Rampage as the IceHogs would tie it up at 1-1 on an unassisted goal from Andreas Martinsen, his fifth of the season. It would stay tied all the way through the third period and through the overtime period to send the game to a shootout. Jeff Glass made 34 saves on 35 shots during the regulation and overtime, making it 82 saves on 87 shots in his last three appearances since J.F. Berube went down with a lower-body injury.
In the shootout, David Kampf, Anthony Louis, and Luke Johnson would all fail to convert their chances, while Glass stopped Brendan Ranford and Tage Thompson before David Warsofsky would break through to give the Rampage the shootout win.
Sunday: San Antonio Rampage def. Rockford IceHogs, 4-1
Having dropped back-to-back games in the week, the IceHogs were looking to right the ship against the Rampage in a Sunday afternoon matchup. It would be another game where Rockford would have to play catch-up as the Rampage got on the scoreboard first with a first period goal from Andrew Agozzino. His eighth of the season came on a San Antonio powerplay and gave the Rampage the 1-0 lead after one period of play that saw the IceHogs be out-shot 15-7.
In the Second period, the IceHogs continued to be out-shot 13-6 in the period, but were able to get the game-tying goal from Andreas Martinsen. His sixth goal of the season and second in back-to-back games tied it up at 1-1 heading into the third period.
In the third period, the IceHogs would be out-chanced once again 13-11, making it a 41-24 shots on goal advantage for the Rampage and lead to three unanswered goals in the final frame from Chris Butler and Rocco Grimaldi to give the Rampage the 4-1 win. A third straight start and third straight loss for Jeff Glass as he made 37 saves on 40 shots faced with one empty net goal from the Rampage.
The offensive struggles have hit the IceHogs hard as Glass has been able to step in and do a great job in the absence of J.F. Berube, the defacto starter for Rockford so far this season. In the four appearances since the Berube injury, Glass has stopped 119 of 127 shots faced for a .937 save percentage, but has an 0-2-1 record in those four appearances.
What’s Next?
The IceHogs are off until Friday when they return home to face the Chicago Wolves in another installment of the Illinois Lottery Cup rivalry. This season, the Wolves hold the advantage over Rockford with a 3-1 record in the previous four meetings. Friday night’s game at the BMO Harris Bank Center is set for a 7pm CT puck drop.
Then on Saturday night, Rockford plays host to the Grand Rapids Griffins looking to improve on their 5-0-0 record against the Griffins this season. Puck drop is scheduled for 6pm CT for the IceHogs and Griffins.
The IceHogs will have defenseman Ville Pokka back in their lineup once the weekend rolls around as he was reassigned to Rockford from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday morning. Pokka has yet to make his NHL regular-season debut for the Blackhawks since joining the team via trade in 2014.
Looking at the standings, the IceHogs currently sit in a tie for second place in the AHL Central Division with the Iowa Wild. With a 15-11-2 record, Rockford has 32 points in the standings, good for a .571 points-percentage, but trails a red-hot Manitoba Moose team that has not lost in regulation in their last 14 games (13-0-1) and leads the Central Division with a 21-5-3 (45 pts, .776 pts%) record.