Hogs Top Wolves in Come-From-Behind, Six Round Shootout

While the IceHogs never led in regulation, Rockford came from behind Friday night to beat the Chicago Wolves 4-3 in a six-round shootout at Allstate Arena.

The Wolves took an early lead when forward Josh Melnick fired a shot from the high slot that got past Rockford goaltender Jaxson Stauber at 4:44 in the first period to put Chicago up 1-0.

Chicago then extended their lead when defenseman William Lagesson found the back of the net just over a minute later at 5:51 in the opening frame.

But the IceHogs clawed back in the second when forward Buddy Robinson scored his seventh goal of the season on a pass from forward Brett Seney at 4:17 in the middle frame to cut Chicago’s lead 2-1.

The Wolves however quickly regained a two-goal lead when forward Malte Stromewell, on the power play, fired a shot that ripped off of the boards and ricocheted behind Stauber and over the goal line at 8:15 in the period.

In the third period it was Robinson who once again put the Hogs within one when he deflected in a shot from defenseman Alec Regula at 2:21 in the period to cut the Wolves lead to 3-2.

Later in the period, forward Dylan Sikura tied the game 3-3 with a wide open back door goal at 15:00.

IceHogs forward Michael Teply started the shootout with a goal, but Rockford’s Lukas Reichel and David Gust were denied the next two rounds. Forwards Cole Guttman and Luke Philp scored the next two goals for the Hogs.

Stauber gave up goals to Jack Drury and Alexander Pashin in the second and fourth rounds, but stopped Vasily Ponomarev in the sixth and final round to seal the win for Rockford.

The IceHogs and Wolves will meet again in less than 24 hours and close out 2022 with a 4 p.m. New Year’s Eve matchup tomorrow at the BMO Center.

Watch and listen to every game this season on the IceHogs Broadcast Network presented by BMO! Listen from your favorite device, at home, or on the road at IceHogs.com and on the IceHogs app and watch LIVE on AHLTV and selected games on 23.3 Circle TV! Fans can also tune in on all of Mid-West Family’s local stations including 104.9 The X, B103, 95.3 The Bull, and Rockford Greatest Hits 100.5 and featured on Rock River Current, the Stateline’s premiere source for local events, news and culture.