Hot Hogs Sweep New England
Hartford, Conn. — Bagging their second win on the East Coast and fifth win in six games, the Rockford IceHogs topped the Hartford Wolf Pack 3-2 at the XL Center on Saturday night. Forward Dylan Sikura extended his point streak to five games with his fifth multi-point game of the season.
For the second game in a row, the IceHogs scored the lone first period goal. Coming off a four-game point streak, Sikura snagged a turnover from Hartford netminder Louis Domingue and did a 360 turn to sling the puck into the empty net from the edge of the right circle at 13:19 to set the 1-0 Rockford lead.
IceHogs forward Cole Guttman caught a cross-ice pass from Adam Clendening and ripped a one-timer past Domingue at 6:14 from the right circle and tallied the only lamp lighter of the sandwich frame. Rockford goaltender Jaxson Stauber made plenty excellent saves tonight, but the best arguably came in the second period when he denied a wraparound shot and then a flurry of quick shots in the final seconds of the frame.
Stauber secured his third win of the season after facing 30 shots and totaling 28 saves; Domingue faced 27 shots and marked 24 saves, getting tagged with the loss.
Heating up after the middle intermission, forward Lukas Reichel extended the IceHogs’ lead to 3-0 with a wraparound goal at 1:58 to kickstart the final stanza. While Stauber was able to hold off the Wolf Pack’s attacks so far on Saturday night, Bobby Trivigno stole a turnover and scored a 2-on-1 breakaway goal at 6:06 and cut Rockford’s lead back to two goals.
With 2:35 left to play, the Hogs denied Hartford’s third power play opportunity; but with an empty Wolf Pack net and extra attacker, Brandon Scanlin punched a one-timer past Stauber with five seconds left in the period to make it 3-2. The IceHogs backstopped the Wolf Pack’s Hail Mary attempt and bagged their fifth win in six games.
Join the Screw City IceHogs on Friday, Dec. 9 against the Iowa Wild!
To honor the region’s rich manufacturing history and the uniqueness of the “Screw City” nickname long associated with Rockford, the Rockford IceHogs will become the Screw City IceHogs on Friday, Dec. 9. Preorder a Screw City IceHogs replica jersey online now, and an additional line of Screw City merchandise will be available to purchase in the IceHogs team store at the BMO Center starting at the Dec. 9 game. Get tickets for the Screw City IceHogs game and learn more about the Screw City IceHogs at IceHogs.com/ScrewCity.
Tune In LIVE on the IceHogs Broadcast Network Presented by BMO
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.