EARLY LEAD HOLDS UP FOR ROCKFORD

Crawford holds up Rockford’s 4-0 advantage

Des Moines, Iowa- Up 4-0 midway through Saturday’s game, one wouldn’t have thought that Corey Crawford would have to bail out the Rockford IceHogs. A third-period rally from the Iowa Stars was staved off by Crawford who made 33 saves to win his league leading 21 game. Rockford tied a season high winning their fifth straight game.

Hogs struck twice quickly in the opening frame. Winger Derek Nesbitt picked up a Martin St. Pierre pass and shelved it over Iowa goalie Steve Silverthorn 41 seconds into the contest. The goal was Nesbitt’s sixth of the season.

St. Pierre later lit the lamp to move Rockford’s first period lead to 2-0. St. Pierre picked up a deflected Adam Berti pass and fired home his 15th goal of the campaign at 2:51. Winger Adam Hobson also helped on the marker.

The Hogs netted two more tallies in the second period. Center Gavin Morgan potted his second goal of the year at 2:57 after his shot from the point deflected off of a Stars back-checker and over the head of a stunned Silverthorn. Troy Brouwer later made it 4-0 when he snuck in a St. Pierre centering feed at 10:57 for his team leading 20th tally of the season.

Iowa countered with a goal from Marius Holtet at 14:14. Holtet picked up a loose puck behind the Rockford goal, skated it front of Crawford and beat the Hogs puck stopper short side for his seventh goal of the season. Janos Vas and Tommy Wandell helped out on the goal for the Stars.

In the third period, the Stars cut the Hogs lead in half. Winger Richard Clune knocked in his first career AHL goal at 3:17 to make it 4-2 Rockford. That’s as close as Iowa would get however, as Crawford was solid the rest of the way.

Rockford finished the game 0-for-4 on the power play and held the Stars to 0-for-3. Domish tied an IceHogs season high with a plus/minus rating of +4.

Next Home Game: Wednesday, Jan. 23 vs. Peoria Rivermen. Game time is 7:05 p.m. The Hogs and Rivermen meet for the first time in Rockford at the MetroCentre. The game is presented by Jose Cuervo. Wednesday’s match-up is the fourth of eight on the season.