HOGS TRIPPED UP BY PEORIA 6-1

Rockford can't pad lead in race for home-ice advantage

Rockford, Ill.- The Peoria Rivermen gave the IceHogs a little bit of their own medicine Wednesday at the Rockford MetroCentre. The Hogs fell 6-1 after coming off a blowout win on Saturday.

Chris Porter put in his 12th goal of the season at 7:35 in the first period with assists from Jean-Guy Trudel and Roman Polak to get the scoring started.

The IceHogs responded with a power-play goal, however, from Petri Kontiola at 10:08, with assists from Derek Nesbitt and Justin Fletcher, to tie the contest.

But then the Peoria floodgates opened up. Ryan Reaves came back with a lamp-lighter on a feed from Trudel at 11:06, beating Corey Crawford in traffic to make the score 2-1.

Mike Glumac doubled Peoria's lead at 19:07 in the first with assists from Nikolay Lemtyugov and Tyson Strachan.

Nicholas Drazenovic picked up his 14th goal at 14:38 in the second with an assist from Glumac. Charles Linglet made the score 5-1 with a goal at 19:28 in the second and then added another final tally at 11:04 in the third.

Crawford took the loss after sitting between the pipes for the first two periods. He had 20 saves on 25 shots. Mike Brodeur relieved Crawford for the final period and made seven saves on eight shots.

For Peoria, Hannu Toivenen took home the win in his eighth game this season. He improved to 5-3-0 and had 30 saves.

With the loss from the Houston Aeros in Quad City, the Hogs remain in sole possession of second place. But they are only two points ahead of the Houston Aeros, Milwaukee Admirals and San Antonio Rampage.

In the Peoria-Rockford series this season, the home team has won only one of the eight contests in regulation. Rockford topped Peoria 3-2 at the MetroCentre in their last meeting on March 5.

Next Game: Friday, April 11 vs. Chicago Wolves. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Rockford takes on the Wolves for the final time in the regular season at the Rockford MetroCentre. It is also the first game of a home-and-home series with the I-90 rivals. The first 2,500 kids 12 and under to the game will get a lunchbox from McDonald’s.