Peoria, Ill.– It looked like it might be a bad night for the Rockford IceHogs after giving up two goals in the first six minutes of their preseason game Friday against the Peoria Rivermen, but the Hogs rallied with to take the game 4-2.
Peoria's Adam Cracknell found the back of the net from assists by Lars Eller and Chris Morehouse just 42 seconds into the game. Then Jason Ryznar put the puck past rookie goalie Alec Richards at 5:25 with assists from Danny Richmond and Jack Combs to double Peoria's lead.
But then the IceHogs settled down in front of Richards.
Rockford's Bracken Kearns shot one into the cage at 7:11 with a helper from Derek Nesbitt to make the score 2-1 after one.
In the second frame, Justin Hodgman tipped in a shot from the point by Simon Danis-Pepin at 19:32 to even the score at two. Bryan Ewing also had an assist.
And then in the third period, Akim Aliu capped the comeback off when he beat Hannu Toivonen between the legs off of a solid pass from Nathan Davis at 15:20. Nesbitt added an empty-net goal at 19:09 assisted by Mark Cullen.
Toivonen had 36 saves in the game, while Richards finished with 28 saves. The Hogs were 0-for-4 on the power play, while holding Peoria 0-for-3 on the advantage.
Next Regular Season Home Game: Friday, Oct. 16 vs. Chicago Wolves. Game time is 7:05 p.m. After five-straight road tilts to open the 2009-10 regular season the IceHogs return home to face the Wolves. The first 5,000 fans to the game will pick up an IceHogs wall calendar from Maverick Media and 23 WIFR.