The Rockford IceHogs ended the calendar year with a weekend home-and-home series against the Milwaukee Admirals. Despite some highs and lows against the second-place team in the Central Division, Rockford came away with three important standings points.
The IceHogs rallied to force overtime in Milwaukee Saturday night before falling 5-4 in a shootout. At the BMO Center the following afternoon, Rockford came out on top of a back-and-forth affair, besting the Admirals 4-3.
December was not kind to the IceHogs. Rockford finished the month with a 3-8-1-1 mark. However, a successful weekend with Milwaukee has the Hogs (12-13-3-1, 28 points) in a tie with Grand Rapids for third place in the Central Division standings.
Saturday Rally
Rockford fell behind 4-1 late in the second period at UW-Panther Arena Saturday. The Admirals broke open a 1-1 game with goals by Marc Del Gaizo, Jasper Weatherby, and Denis Gurianov. All three goals came in the final four minutes of the period and seemed to signal an end to the competitive portion of the evening.
However, the IceHogs were far from finished. Nolan Allan picked up his first professional goal 1:28 into the final frame. This energized Rockford, who would add goals by Antti Saarela and Logan Nijhoff to tie the game. The IceHogs killed off three penalties in the final minutes of regulation and overtime to get to the shootout before Egor Afanasyev ended the game with a third-round shootout goal.
Sunday Satisfaction
Rockford kept the momentum going on Sunday, taking the lead three times in the contest only to have the Admirals respond each time. The IceHogs got lamp-lighters from Brett Seney, Ethan Del Mastro, and Mike Hardman. Milwaukee tied the game each time with goals by Anthony Angello, Del Maizo, and Gurianov, who tipped in a shot by Jordan Gross 14:40 into the third period.
This time, it was Rockford’s turn to respond. Seney slipped a stretch pass out of the IceHogs zone to David Gust. Rockford’s leading scorer (9 G, 14 A) skated to the top of the right circle and fired past Admirals goalie Gustavs Davis Grigals for Sunday’s game-winner. It was Gust’s third game-winning goal of the season, leading the IceHogs.
Weekend Notes
- After the game, the IceHogs NHL affiliate, the Chicago Blackhawks, recalled Seney. Injuries and call-ups have impacted Rockford over the past few weeks. Seney follows Boris Katchouk, who the Blackhawks recalled on December 29.
- Anders Bjork, who had missed eight games with a facial injury, returned this weekend. He had a pair of assists in Sunday’s victory.
- Rookie Colton Dach (7 G, 9 A) was placed in the league’s concussion protocol Sunday. Dach was engaged from behind by Milwaukee’s Zach L’Heureux in the first period of action Saturday night. L’Heureux was assessed a match penalty and subsequently given a two-game suspension by the AHL.
- In response to Dach’s injury, Rockford recalled forward Kale Howarth from the ECHL’s Indy Fuel on Sunday morning. Howarth skated for the IceHogs in that afternoon’s game. Howarth missed two months of the season in the concussion protocol after a hit in San Jose on October 13.
- Forward Jackson Cates had five points in six games with Rockford after being signed to a PTO on December 10. On Friday, he inked a standard AHL contract with the IceHogs for the remainder of the season.
- Davis Grigals made his AHL debut with the Admirals Sunday, making 22 saves. In the Rockford net was Mitchell Weeks, who made his first start for the IceHogs this season after being recalled Saturday. Weeks was 5-2-3 with a 2.72 goals against average and a .906 save percentage in 12 games with Rockford last season. Weeks stopped 22 shots and picked up the secondary assist on Gust’s game-winner.
After a tough pair of games with Milwaukee, Rockford flies down to Texas for two games with the Central Division leaders this weekend. The Hogs and Stars play on Friday and Saturday nights at 7:00 p.m. CDT.
