Morin leads three goal comeback as Rockford falls 4-3 in overtime
Toronto, Ont.- Road comebacks have been the norm for the Rockford IceHogs in 2012 and the club nearly pulled themselves out of a 3-0 deficit at the Ricoh Coliseum against the Toronto Marlies.
Rockford, however, couldn’t snag the extra point and fell 4-3 in overtime, but are now 4-1-1-1 in 2012 when trailing after two periods on the road.
Jeremy Morin and the IceHogs would get the comeback started late in the second period. Morin picked up a Brian Fahey pass in the final seconds of a penalty kill and fired his tenth goal of the season over the shoulder of Mark Owuya at 18:16 to make it 3-1 at the intermission.
In the third period, Peter LeBlanc closed the gap to 3-2 with his 17th goal of the season. Rostislav Olesz found LeBlanc in front and the center flipped the marker over Owuya at 7:06 to make it a one-goal game.
Morin would then tie the game at 3-3, 12:50 into the final frame in regulation. Olesz fired a pass from the right point in front for Morin to tip past Owuya for his 11th goal of the season.
But in overtime, Joe Colbourn buried a rebound past a sprawled out Alexander Salak off of a Philippe Dupuis shot 2:13 into overtime to deny Rockford the extra point and another come-from-behind victory on the road.
Toronto struck first on Friday in transition. Matt Frattin led a two-on-one break and fed Marcel Mueller who beat Salak for his 12th goal of the season at 9:28 of the opening frame.
That lead was stretched to 2-0 in the second as the Marlies tallied while shorthanded. Ryan Hamilton picked up a pass from Josh Engel and deeked out Salak on a breakaway at 7:05 for his 19th goal of the season.
Moments after a Toronto power play expired later in the second frame, Frattin pushed Rockford into a 3-0 hole. Colborne’s shot from the right wing was turned away by Salak, but Frattin cleaned up the rebound for his 12th goal of the season.
Salak made 23 saves in the overtime loss while Owuya blocked 25 Rockford shots in the win.
Next Home Game: Saturday, Feb. 25 vs. Milwaukee Admirals. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m. Rockford returns home to face the Admirals at the BMO Harris Bank Center. The first 1,500 fans to the game will receive an IceHogs Sock Monkey courtesy of BMO Harris Bank. Don’t forget to follow the IceHogs on Twitter (@goicehogs) and Facebook.
For every goal that the Rockford IceHogs score in 2011-12, IceHogs head coach Ted Dent will make a donation to children’s cancer research. BMO Harris Bank will also make a donation for every goal to the “BMO Harris Bank Goals For Grades”