Friday night, the Rockford IceHogs had victory snatched away from them in San Diego in the closing seconds of regulation. Fortunately, the IceHogs snatched it back.
Rockford got the game-winner from David Gust 1:24 into overtime to spoil the Gulls late comeback. The IceHogs picked up their first-win of the season against the San Diego. In fact, the 3-2 triumph was Rockford’s first-ever victory over the Gulls in the sixth meeting between the two teams.
In a penalty-filled affair, it was the IceHogs who managed to capitalize on their time on the man advantage. Each team was awarded six power plays on the evening. Following a scoreless opening period, Rockford got on the board early in the second frame. It came following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on San Diego’s Travis Howe.
Jackson Cates sent a one-timer from the top of the right circle past Gulls goalie Calle Clang 3:49 into the second period. It was the third goal in five games for Cates, who signed a PTO with the IceHogs back on December 10. Ethan Del Mastro and Gust picked up the assists on the play.
Rockford gained a 2-0 advantage at the 8:46 mark, with the Gulls Drew Helleson in the box for tripping. Boris Katchouk did the honors, taking a pass from Brett Seney, skating to the high slot and firing past Clang. Like Cates, Katchouk has three goals in his first five games with the IceHogs.
San Diego quickly responded. Nikita Nesterenko forced a turnover in the Rockford zone following the faceoff. He eventually scored after getting the puck from Ben King and beating IceHogs goalie Drew Commesso to the glove side at 8:59 of the middle frame.
The equalizer took a bit longer, but the Gulls broke though with twenty seconds remaining in regulation. Trevor Carrick slid in a long-distance attempt past a screened Commesso with Clang on the San Diego bench for the extra skater.
Overtime Glory
The game-winner came after Gust forced a turnover as the Gulls attempted to enter the Rockford zone. Nolan Allen hauled in an errant pass and flipped it up the ice. Gust chased it down as it crossed the San Diego blueline and caught up with the puck in time to deke Clang as he made his way to the right post.
The IceHogs win comes against a Gulls team that had won four of their last five games. Conversely, Rockford had dropped four of its previous five games, including a 2-1 loss to San Diego on Wednesday.
Commesso earned his sixth win of the season while stopping 29 shots. Clang also played well, with 23 saves of his own after defeating Rockford on Wednesday.
The IceHogs can savor the win over the holidays before hosting Grand Rapids at the BMO Center December 27 at 7:00 p.m. CDT. San Diego will close out its four-game homestand Saturday night when it hosts Tucson at 6:00 p.m. PDT.
