On Wednesday night, the Rockford IceHogs will begin a three-game home stretch of their schedule with a game against the San Antonio Rampage. It marks the first of eight meetings between the IceHogs and Rampage this season.
Rockford IceHogs Welcome Rampage To Town
The IceHogs return home from back-to-back games against the Tucson Roadrunners over the weekend to host the San Antonio Rampage on Wednesday night. The game against the Rampage marks the first of three home games this week for Rockford as they will take on the Cleveland Monsters and Manitoba Moose later the week.
The IceHogs welcome Anton Forsberg to the team this week, after clearing waivers on Tuesday. Forsberg is not expected to start against the Rampage on Wednesday as Collin Delia is expected to get the starting nod instead. Delia has a 3-1-0 record after four starts this season with a 3.26 GAA and 0.910 save-percentage.
Goaltender Anton Forsberg is on the ice for his first workout with the @goicehogs. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/2zv6Y2RFw6
— Joseph Zakrzewski (@JoeyZRadio) October 24, 2018
Also being welcomed into the IceHogs roster ahead of Wednesday night’s game is defenseman Gustav Forsling. Forsling is expected to factor into the already crowded defensive core for Rockford after being assigned by the Blackhawks on Tuesday afternoon. Forsling is coming off of off-season wrist surgery, he played with the IceHogs last season for 18 regular season games and all 13 Calder Cup Playoff games.
Rockford enters the week having taken points in their last four games, going 3-0-1 over that span. Rockford boasts a stellar special teams resume heading into their game against the Rampage with the fifth-best powerplay unit in the AHL with a 29.6-percent success rate, and the tenth-best penalty-killing unit in the league with a 84.0-percent successful kill-rate.
The IceHogs are paced in scoring by both Tyler Sikura and Dylan Sikura, both with a team-high six points in the first six games of the year. Tyler Sikura leads the team in goals with four, while Dylan Sikura leads the team in assists with five. Not far behind the Sikura’s in scoring with five points is Jordan Schroeder while three IceHogs are tied for third on the team in scoring with four points each.
San Antonio Rampage Report
The Rampage come to town having lost six of their first seven games this year, riding a six-game losing streak after winning their opening night game against the Grand Rapids Griffins. On Tuesday night, the Rampage were shutout in Milwaukee against the Milwaukee Admirals, 3-0. San Antonio is playing their fourth straight road game coming into Wednesday night’s contest, and fourth game in six days.
The Rampage had Jordan Binnington in net against the Admirals on Tuesday night, making 38 saves on 41 shots faced, so it is expected that San Antonio’s Ville Husso will be starting for Wednesday night’s game. Husso made five starts for the Rampage this season with a 1-4-0 record, 3.24 GAA and a 0.893 save-percentage.
San Antonio is paced in scoring by Brian Flynn with three points this season, all assists. Ten other players are behind Flynn in scoring, all tied with two points each. On special teams, as a 1-6-0 record and a -9 goal differential would assume, the Rampage rank 28th in the AHL on the powerplay with an 11.5-percent success rate. While the powerplay lacks for San Antonio, their penalty-killing unit ranks eighth in the league with an 84.6-percent kill-rate.
Puck drop for Wednesday night’s contest is scheduled for 7:00p pm CT at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford.