Over the weekend, the Rockford IceHogs had a great opportunity to grab points with a back-to-back set of games against the Cleveland Monsters and Manitoba Moose, both at home. Unfortunately, the IceHogs were only able to muster-up two goals over the two game stretch, coming away with just one point in the standings with a 2-1 loss to the Monsters on Saturday, and a 2-1 shootout loss to the Moose on Sunday.
Rockford IceHogs Struggle To Score In Weekend Slate
Coming off of a 5-2 win over the San Antonio Rampage on Wednesday, the IceHogs had a decent amount of offensive momentum heading into their weekend slate against the Monsters and Moose. With the 5-2 win, the IceHogs had scored three or more goals in five-straight games, notching five goals three times over that stretch, and having a five-game point-streak going as well. But Rockford wasn’t able to continue that hot-stretch as Cleveland and Manitoba were both able to hold the IceHogs to just one goal a piece, and just one point out of a possible four over the weekend.
After being scratched against the Tucson Roadrunners on Oct. 20, Victor Ejdsell has been able to find his way back into the IceHogs lineup and back onto the score-sheet. Ejdsell tallied two goals against the Rampage and followed that up with the IceHogs’ lone goal against the Monsters on Saturday, coming on the powerplay.
The lone Ejdsell goal wasn’t enough to help Anton Forsberg on Saturday night as he was making his IceHogs debut. Forsberg, facing his former team that he helped win a Calder Cup with, made 25 saves on 27 shots faced in his first game with Rockford since joining the Blackhawks organization.
Hoping to get back on track to close out the weekend, the IceHogs were able to force extra time against their Central Division foe Manitoba Moose on Sunday. Thanks to a second period goal from Andrew Campbell, his first goal of the season, the IceHogs were able to tie up the Moose 1-1. Collin Delia got the start in net for the IceHogs against the Moose, making 36 saves on 37 shots faced in his sixth appearance of the season, helping back-stop Rockford into the shootout.
Rockford would go scoreless in the shootout with attempts from Ejdsell, Anthony Louis, and Dylan Sikura all denied by Moose goaltender Mikhail Berdin. Manitoba’s Seth Griffith was able to get the only shootout goal past Delia for the 2-1 win.
The weekend slate didn’t turn the results that the IceHogs would have wanted, especially dropping three of four possible points early-on in the season. With the regulation loss on Saturday and shootout loss on Sunday, the IceHogs now sit at 4-3-2 on the season, with 10 points in the standings and a 0.556 point-percentage, tied with the Texas Stars for 4th in the AHL Central Division.
Anton Forsberg Makes Rockford IceHogs Debut
In his first AHL action since the Spring of 2017 and his first full game of the season, Anton Forsberg returned to an AHL net on Saturday night with the Rockford IceHogs. After being sent down from the Chicago Blackhawks due to the return to health by Corey Crawford, Forsberg was put into the starting role on Saturday and gave the IceHogs a better than decent chance to get a win, making 25 save son 27 shots. For his career, Forsberg has a 73-36-10 record in the AHL with a career 2.22 GAA and 0.923 save-percentage.
With Crawford returning to health, Forsberg and the Blackhawks organization find themselves in a bit of an odd situation with three goalies in the system who are all NHL-caliber players. There just isn’t room in net for all three, given the fact that Cam Ward was given a no-movement clause in his one-year deal with Chicago. For now, Forsberg finds himself in Rockford spliting time with Collin Delia.
Kevin Lankinen Assigned, Brett Welychka Recalled
Speaking of the goalie situation in Rockford, the IceHogs announced on Monday that they had recalled forward Brett Welychka from the Indy Fuel of the ECHL and assigned goaltender Kevin Lankinen to the Fuel.
Two AHL/ECHL moves announced. #Icehogs #IndyFuel pic.twitter.com/KN5YNXhAf2
— The Rink – Hockey coverage (@TheRinkOfficial) October 29, 2018
Lankinen was 0-1-1 with a 3.39 GAA and 0.825 Save-percentage with the IceHogs this season and will now split time with Matt Tomkins in net for the Fuel. Welychka, a former two-time OHL champion with the London Knights and Summer signing from Carleton University in Canada, joins the IceHogs after five games with the Fuel. In his first professional season, Welychka has four points (2 G, 2 A) in five games in the ECHL.
Injury Woes?
While the losses on the scoreboard hurt the IceHogs early in the Central Division standings, the losses on the ice may hurt Rockford even more in the short-term. On Sunday night against the Moose, both defenseman Carl Dahlstrom and forward Matthew Highmore exited the game with injuries.
Carl Dahlstrom left today's #IceHogs game with a groin injury. Matthew Highmore's injury is a shoulder, per Jeremy Colliton. He gave no timetable on either player at this point. #Blackhawks
— ChrisBlock (@ChrisBlock) October 28, 2018
Highmore helps lead the team in points, tied with the Sikura brothers with seven points through nine games, while Dahlstrom is a major minutes-eater for Rockford and plays in all situations on the ice.
Two major contributors to the IceHogs on both ends if the ice, losing both Dahlstrom and Highmore could put Rockford in a bind early on in the season. Luckily for the IceHogs and head coach Jeremy Colliton, the depth of both the forward and defensive groups should provide some relief when looking down the bench for replacements.
Rockford IceHogs After 9 Games
With a nearly week-long stretch between games for the IceHogs, here is how the team shapes up after the first nine games of the season.
Standings
AHL Central Standings 10-29-18
Points Leaders
- Matthew Highmore: 7 points (3 G, 4 A)
- Tyler Sikura: 7 points (4 G, 3 A)
- Dylan Sikura: 7 points (2 G, 5 A)
Goaltenders
- Collin Delia: 6 GP, 4-1-1, 2.64 GAA, 0.925 Save%
- Anton Forsberg: 1 GP, 0-1-0, 2.07 GAA, 0.926 Save%
Special Teams Ranks
- Powerplay: 13th in AHL, (9-42, 21.4%)
- Penalty-Kill: 5th in AHL, (33-38, 86.8%)
What’s Next?
The Rockford IceHogs are off until Friday when they travel to Milwaukee to take on the Milwaukee Admirals. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm CT at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee.
Friday night’s game is the first of three games in three days for the IceHogs next weekend as they face the Admirals and Iowa Wild. Rockford plays a home-and-home series with the Wild over the weekend with Saturday’s game at home in Rockford and Sunday’s game in Iowa.