AEROS SLIP BY THE ICEHOGS 3-2

Hogs split weekend set with Houston

St. Paul, Minn.- A pair of two-goal deficits were too much for the Rockford IceHogs to overcome on Sunday as they fell 3-2 to the Houston Aeros at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Houston scored first on Sunday on a power play. Justin Fontaine picked up a Kris Foucault pass and fired his fifth goal of the season past Carter Hutton at 12:35.

In the second period Houston extended their lead to 2-0. Johan Larsson swiped a loose puck under Hutton at 5:12 for his fifth marker on the campaign.

In the third, the IceHogs and Aeros combined to score three goals in a 1:32 span. On a power play, Rockford made it a 2-1 game when Ben Smith cleaned up an Adam Clendening rebound for his fifth goal of the season at 9:21.

Then just 26-seconds later, Rockford found themselves on another power play. Off the face-off, Clendening lost an edge in behind the Rockford goal and coughed up the puck to Larsson in front of Hutton where the winger knocked in his second goal of the night, this one short-handed at 10:01.

Clendening redeemed himself, however, to pull Rockford back within a goal. The rookie d-man picked up a Martin St. Pierre pass and blasted in his second goal of the game at 10:53.

Rockford pulled Hutton in the final stages of the game, but couldn't solve Matt Hackett the rest of the way. Hackett made 34 saves in the win, while Hutton turned away 18 in the loss.

Next Home Game: Wednesday, Nov. 21 vs. Peoria Rivermen. Game time is 7:05 p.m. Thanksgiving Eve is another WXRX Dollar Day as fans can kick off their holiday weekend with $1 beers, hot dogs, soft drinks and companion tickets.