The Rockford IceHogs are the Central Division’s hottest team at the moment. Winners of eight of its last ten games, Rockford paid a visit to Rosemont’s Allstate Arena for a Saturday night tilt with the Chicago Wolves. A blistering first period provided all the IceHogs would need to defeat Chicago. The 4-1 victory extends Rockford’s season-high win streak to six games.
The IceHogs (25-21-5-2) remain in fourth place in the division standings with 57 points. They keep pace with Texas, who are just two points in front of Rockford. The IceHogs continue their road trip with back-to-back games in Texas this week. The affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks seems to be peaking at a key point of the playoff push.
Fast Start For The IceHogs
It didn’t take long for Rockford to establish dominance over the Wolves on Saturday. Jackson Cates skated into the low slot to tip in a long shot by Ethan Del Mastro just 1:02 into the contest. As an encore, Cates would give the IceHogs a 2-0 lead at the 5:27 mark when he followed up a drive to the net by Rockford defenseman Wyatt Kaiser.
The IceHogs power play put Chicago in a three-goal hole a few minutes later after Max Comtois was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking. Cole Guttman got the play started by digging the puck out of a scrum along the right boards. Rem Pitlick took possession and skillfully threaded a pass to a wide open Brett Seney at the inside of the left circle. Wolves goalie Adam Scheel was no match for Seney, who picked up his team-leading 18th goal at 9:48 of the opening period for a 3-0 Rockford advantage.
Guttman would pick up his own goal late in the first. He was the recipient of a pretty series of passes from Seney, to Pitlick, to Kaiser, to Cates, and finally to Guttman at the left dot. The one-timer at 16:51 made it 4-0 and ended Scheel’s evening in net.
Rockford would not score again, as Julian Junca came on in relief of Scheel and stopped 19 shots. However, the IceHogs defense and goalie Drew Commesso had more than enough offensive to prevail. Commesso allowed just one shot to get by him, a Josh Melnick power-play tally early in the second period. The Rockford rookie made 23 saves on the night to pick up his third straight win and his twelfth of the season.
Piglet Points
- Cates, with two goals and an assist, was voted the game’s First Star. He was followed by Guttman (1 G, 1 A) and Kaiser (2 A). Cates has 15 points (9 G, 6 A) in 32 games since joining Rockford in mid-December.
- Guttman has had a hot hand in the IceHogs streak. He has five goals and three helpers in his last five games. Seney is on a five-game point streak, during which he has four goals and six assists.
- Saturday saw the return of a host of players to the Rockford lineup. Defensemen Issak Phillips and Louis Crevier were in action following their assignment Friday by the Chicago Blackhawks. Forwards David Gust (12 G, 22 A) and Colton Dach (8 G, 9 A) were also back from injuries.
- Del Mastro (7 G, 23 A) is fourth among AHL rookie blueliners in scoring.
- The IceHogs take their win streak into Texas for a pair of crucial games. The action on both Tuesday and Wednesday will start at 7:00 p.m. CDT.
- The Wolves (20-28-3-2) close out a three-in-three weekend Sunday afternoon by hosting Milwaukee at 3:00 p.m. CDT.
