HOGS START 2014 WITH A SHOOTOUT LOSS

Rockford, Ill.- Generating shots has not been a problem for the Rockford IceHogs, but unfortunately as of late those shots have not translated into goals. The trend continued on Friday at the BMO Harris Bank Center as the Hogs were defeated by the Iowa Wild 3-2 in a shootout.

Down 1-0 to begin the second period, the IceHogs continued to apply pressure in the Wild zone and finally broke through on Wild goaltender Johan Gustafsson at 11:10 of the middle frame. Adam Clendening and Jeremy Morin set up Joakim Nordstrom for his ninth goal of the season to tie the game up at 1-1. The Hogs outshot the Wild 15-2 in the period to gain momentum heading into the final frame.

That momentum carried over into the third for Rockford and they were able to capitalize. Brad Winchester fired a shot that ricocheted off Gustafsson and Alex Broadhurst was there to tap in the rebound 6:16 into the third period. The goal for Broadhurst was his sixth goal of the season and it gave the Hogs’ their first lead of the game, 2-1.

Less than a minute later however, the Wild responded to tie the game back up at 2-2. Tyler Graovac picked up a Jake Dowell pass from behind the net and snuck it by Carruth 7:08 into the final frame.

After a scoreless overtime period, Gustafsson only allowed Nordstrom’s shootout attempt to find the back of the net while the Wild converted on three of their chances to take the extra point. The IceHogs finished the contest outshooting Iowa 39-25.

The Wild opened the scoring first with a late first period power play strike. Just five seconds into an Iowa man advantage Jonathan Blum connected on a blast to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at 18:38 of the first period.

Next Home Game: Saturday, Jan. 4 vs Grand Rapids Griffins. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. when the Hogs battle the defending Calder Cup Champion Grand Rapids Griffins at the BMO Harris Bank Center.