HOGS FALL 2-1 TO HAMILTON AT HOME

Hogs could not bounce back from New Year's Eve loss, Bulldogs sweep season

Rockford, Ill.- A late comeback ended in the same result as earlier this week as the Hogs fell to the Hamilton Bulldogs 2-1 on Wednesday at the Rockford MetroCentre.

The Hogs made it interesting again when Troy Brouwer punched through his team-leading 16th goal of the season at 18:46 in the third, with helpers from Martin St. Pierre and Colin Fraser. The goal ended Hamilton's bid to give the IceHogs their first shutout of the season.

On Monday, Rockford pushed through two goals in the third period to bring the score to 4-3 before eventually falling to the Milwaukee Admirals 5-3 to end their franchise record streak of 16-straight games without a regulation loss.

After a quiet first period, the Bulldogs' Matt D'Agostini put the Bulldogs up 1-0 with an unassisted goal at 10:54 in the second past IceHogs netminder Corey Crawford. Mathieu Carle added a second marker at 13:11 with an assist from D'Agostini.

And a low-scoring game is exactly what you would expect from two of the top goalies in the league.

Jaroslav Halak was dominant between the pipes. The Bulldogs goalie stopped 35 shots en route to his eighth win of the season. Crawford took his second consecutive regulation loss to fall to 15-6-2-5. He saved 16 shots.

This combined with Monday's game is Crawford's first two-game regulation losing streak of the season and his first two-game losing streak since Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

Next Home Game: Friday, Jan. 4 vs. Chicago Wolves. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Hogs and Wolves tangle at the MetroCentre for the first time this season and fourth overall. The first 1,000 fans to the game will pick up an IceHogs Fleece Hat from Mega Truck Rental and BOB FM.