The Rockford IceHogs will begin the month of December the same way they began November. Namely, a weekend in Winnipeg. The IceHogs are hoping things go as well as their last jaunt to the Great White North.
Rockford (9-5-2-0, 20 points) sits in second place in the Central Division standings through sixteen games. The IceHogs are right in the hunt for the division lead with Texas (21 points) and Milwaukee (19 points). Rockford, along with the Stars and Admirals, have created a bit of separation at the top of the Central. The Hogs aim to stay in the upper echelon; the first step toward that goal are waiting for them up in Manitoba.
Repeat Performance In Manitoba?
Rockford kicked off November with back-to-back victories over the Moose on the 4th and 5th. The IceHogs own a 3-0 mark over Manitoba this season. Most recently, Rockford defeated the Moose 6-2 at the BMO Center on November 22.
Rookie forward Nikita Chibrikov (8 G, 9 A) has three goals against Rockford. However, the IceHogs have outscored Manitoba 14-6 in the three meetings. David Gust (6 G, 10 A) and Brett Seney (6 G, 7 A) each have two goals and a helper against the Moose this season.
Rockford will likely start rookie Drew Commesso in net on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. CDT in Winnipeg. Commesso stopped 26 shots in a 4-1 IceHogs victory in Manitoba November 5. The teams have a day off before completing the weekend’s action Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. CDT.
Streakin’
Following a November 12 clunker in Rosemont in which the last-place Chicago Wolves dealt Rockford a 5-0 defeat, the IceHogs finished the month strong. They enter this weekend’s action on a six-game point streak. Rockford has gone 4-0-2 over the past two weeks to finish November with a 6-3-2 mark.
New Faces Step Up
Following Rockford’s 6-2 win over Manitoba, the Chicago Blackhawks recalled Joey Anderson and Cole Guttman. In two defensive standoffs with Milwaukee over the weekend, the IceHogs had some players who helped replace the output of two of the team’s top scorers.
Rookie Colton Dach (5 G, 5 A) continued his strong recent play after missing the opening of the season with an injury. Friday night in Rockford, Dach factored in both IceHogs goals in a 2-1 overtime win over the Admirals.
The next night in Milwaukee, two recent call-ups from the ECHL’s Indy Fuel helped Rockford salvage a point. Ryan Gangier scored his first AHL goal in the second period. Zach Jordan potted his first goal for the IceHogs this season, though the Admirals prevailed 3-2 in overtime.
Power Outage
Despite the six-game point streak, the IceHogs power play has stalled over the past couple of weeks. In 25 opportunities in that span, Rockford has just three goals on the man advantage. Overall, the IceHogs are still fifth in the AHL with a 22.6 percent success rate.
The recall of Anderson, who had four goals and five assists on the power play, doesn’t help moving into December. Seney also has four goals and five helpers on the power play this season. Gust (1 G, 6 A) and Anders Bjork (2 G, 4 A) have also been top performers for the IceHogs man-advantage unit.
