HOGS BLOWN OUT BY BARONS

Rockford falls 7-3 to Oklahoma City at the BMO

Rockford, Ill. – What started out promising turned ugly quickly for the Rockford IceHogs Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bank Center as the Hogs dropped a 7-3 decision to the visiting Oklahoma City Barons.

Rockford was the first to get on the board in the first period. From behind the net of Barons netminder Yann Danis, Rostislav Olesz hit Brandon Svendsen with a quick pass that Svendsen backhanded in to give Rockford a 1-0 lead. Olesz shows points in all five games he has skated in with Rockford this season.

The IceHogs jumped ahead 2-0 less than four minutes later. Byron Froese knocked down a rebound with his skate before Brad Mills cleaned up the loose puck for his fifth tally of the season. The primary assist marked Froese’s first point with the IceHogs on the campaign.

But Oklahoma City came roaring back with seven unanswered goals, beginning with Anton Lander’s first goal of a three goal, three-assist night. At the 16:37 mark, Brandon Davidson’s shot from the point was knocked down and the rebound was banged home by Lander to make the score 2-1 of the first period.

Early into the second period, the Barons knotted the score at 2-2 when Teemu Hartikainen’s crafty stick-handling in front of the net resulted in a top-shelf finish.

Ten minutes later, the Barons rattled off four more goals within a 7:14 span to close out the middle period.

At 12:27, Anton Lander gave the Barons their first lead of the game on an unassisted wraparound that squeaked under Hutton.

Less than two minutes later, Jonathan Cheechoo redirected Fedun’s shot from the blue line into the back of the net, which would chase Hutton from the game and gave the Barons a 4-2 lead.

Henrik Karlsson came in to replace of Hutton, however Hartikainen solved him less than a minute into his relief and upped the Oklahoma City advantage to 5-2.

Fedun would increase the Barons lead to 6-2, converting the game’s first power-play goal with nine seconds remaining in the frame. Lander sent a pass to the defenseman at the blue line who fired a shot through traffic and past Karlsson. It marked Lander’s third assist and fifth point of the contest.

Lander capped his six point night with his hat-trick goal, just 11 seconds into the Barons’ fifth power play opportunity to finish off the Barons’ scoring effort.

Shawn Lalonde ceased Oklahoma City’s scoring when he fired in his fifth goal on the campaign on a rebound from a Mills shot to end the scoring for a 7-3 final.

Rockford sent 27 shots on Danis, while the Barons fired 34 shots on goal. The Hogs failed to convert on their two man-advantages, while the Barons finished 2-for-5 on the power play.

Next Home Game: Tuesday, April 2 vs. Milwaukee Admirals at 7:05 p.m. for Misery Never Thrilled So Many Fans Night! The IceHogs have teamed up with the RACVB for Misery Night as fans can take advantage of $3 tickets, $3 food deals and $3 merchandise specials. The game is the 10th of 12 on the season between Rockford and Milwaukee and the final showdown between the two at the BMO Harris Bank Center.