On Thursday night, the Rockford IceHogs and Chicago Wolves faced-off for Game Three of their Best-of-Five opening round series in the Calder Cup Playoffs. With a 2-0 series lead and a chance to sweep the reigning Central Division Champions, the IceHogs pulled out a 4-3 win that took nearly three full overtime periods and goes down as the longest game in both Rockford’s and Chicago’s franchise histories.
Game Three: Rockford IceHogs def. Chicago Wolves, 4-3 (3OT)
Buckle up.
The IceHogs turned, once again, to Collin Delia in net after his stellar performances in the first two games of the series propelled Rockford to their 2-0 series lead heading into Game Three, while the Wolves went to Max Lagace in net, pulling their starter from games one and two, Oscar Dansk.
The game began on Thursday, and from the drop of the puck, had a different pace than the previous two, with both teams creating their fair share of stoppages early on. The start and stop forced both teams to work hard to find their groove in the opening frame. That would be until mid-way through the first period, with David Kampf retrieving a new stick from the Rockford bench, Philip Holm was able to find the back of the net through a screen and put the Wolves ahead 1-0.
Chicago was able to mount a bit of momentum after scoring the opening goal of the game, but Delia was able to come up with a number of saves on high-quality chances from the Wolves. the game could have been 3-0 or even 4-0 in favor of the Wolves through the first 20 minutes of the game. Rockford and Chicago would head to the dressing rooms after the first period with the Wolves holding a 1-0 lead.
The second period began with both sides trading powerplay chances in the first eight minutes of the middle frame, but both teams were able to kill off the penalties. Right off the IceHogs’ man-advantage, the Wolves were able to make it a 2-0 game as Keegan Kolesar found space between Delia’s pads to add to Chicago’s lead. It wouldn’t last long, though, as the IceHogs would get their third powerplay chance and Cody Franson would bury one on the man-advantage to cut the Chicago lead in half. Chris DiDomenico put it on a plate for Franson and he put it away on Max Lagace for his first goal of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The momentum would completely swing in Rockford’s favor from there in the period as just minutes later, DiDomenico would tie the game with a great top-shelf goal. His second goal of the playoffs made it a 2-2 game, but even that score wouldn’t last long. Just moments later, Victor Ejdsell would make nifty move on Lagace, set up by Anthony Louis, and he would make it a 3-2 IceHogs lead on his first AHL goal with six minutes remaining in the period. Rockford’s three unanswered goals forced Chicago to take their timeout to try to regroup as the period would end with Rockford up by one goal.
20 minutes separated the IceHogs from sweeping the series against the Wolves, but Chicago was not going to go away easily. Just over three minutes into the third period, Wade Megan would stuff in a wraparound attempt and tie the game at 3-3. While the goal would go under review, the puck crossed just enough before Delia could make the save and we would be tied.
The Wolves found momentum after tying the game, but Rockford would regroup and weather the Chicago push as the third period progressed. Both teams would have solid chances down the stretch of the final period and the game would head to overtime tied 3-3. The Wolves entered the third period with 13 shots on goal and finished the period with 25. Rockford did what they had to do after the Chicago tying goal.
The next goal decided the game.
The Overtimes
We headed to overtime knotted up at 3-3 with the IceHogs leading the Wolves in shots on goal, 42-25. Lagace and Delia were doing enough to keep their teams alive through the first 60 minutes of action, Lagace by quantity and Delia by quality.
In overtime, The Wolves thought they had converted on a rebound chance, but the goal was waved off due to an IceHogs penalty. Rockford would kill the ensuing penalty and the game would continue on. With plenty of tense moments and quality chances in the first overtime period, the IceHogs had multiple opportunities to find the game-winner, but Lagace and Delia did their parts to send the game to a second overtime period.
In the second overtime period, the IceHogs would get a great opportunity to close the game on their fifth powerplay of the night, but couldn’t get the winner on the chance. The game would continue on long enough to become the longest game in Rockford’s franchise history, surpassing the mark set in 2008 against the Houston Areos. The Wolves would have to play on the back heel for much of the second overtime, with Rockford having the better of the chances to close the game out, including a Franson slap shot that rang off the post late in the period. But it would go to a third overtime period.
HIGHLIGHTS: Rockford IceHogs def. Chicago Wolves, 4-3 (3OT)
So, we would head to the third overtime period still in search of the game-winning goal. Much like the two overtime periods before it, the third period saw it’s fair share of back and forth, but with the tired legs on both sides of the ice, finishing plays was a hard task. With 4:30 to play in the third overtime, the IceHogs would get their sixth powerplay chance of the night. With just eight seconds remaining on the man-advantage, Victor Ejdsell would find the back of the net for the second time in the game and bring an end to the eight-longest game in AHL history, 4-3 for the IceHogs.
A few notes on the craziness that was this Game Three, series-clinching win for Rockford:
- 8th-longest game in AHL history (117:22)
- Longest game in both the Wolves and IceHogs franchise history.
- Max Lagace sets Chicago Wolves franchise record with 72 saves on 76 shots faced.
- Collin Delia saved all 30 shots he faced in the nearly three full overtime periods, 52 total saves in the game.
- 76 shots on goal is the most for the IceHogs in franchise history.
- IceHogs went 2-for-6 on the powerplay in Game Three, bringing their total to 7-for-18 in the series.
- The IceHogs also killed off all four penalties they took in the game, going 4-for-4 on the night and 12-for-14 in the series.
- With the win, Rockford gets its first series win over rival Chicago in the Calder Cup Playoffs and second-ever series sweep.
For both teams, whoever won this game was going to know they earned it. For Rockford to come out on top, they showed the kind of character and resilience a Championship caliber team needs to have this time of year.
Postgame Reaction
Following their sweep of the Wolves, hear from IceHogs head coach Jeremy Colliton, Chris DiDomenico, and game-winning goal-scorer Victor Ejdsell:
Head Coach Jeremy Colliton
Chris DiDomenico
Victor Ejdsell
What’s Next?
With the completion of the three-game sweep of the Chicago Wolves, the IceHogs advance to the Western Conference Semi-Finals for the third time in the club’s AHL history. Rockford will play the winner of the Manitoba Moose-Grand Rapids Griffins series, which plays Game Five on Monday, April 30.
Once the opponent is known, the AHL will release the schedule for the second-round series between the IceHogs and the Moose/Griffins. They will host, no matter the opponent, a game on Wednesday, May 9 in Rockford.
What a game. What a series. IceHogs adavnce.