Lankinen Resilient, But Walman’s Late Dagger Seals It For Rampage

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Kevin Lankinen made 37 stops but Jake Walman cashed in on a turnover late in the third period to send the San Antonio Rampage to a 3-2 win over the Rockford IceHogs Tuesday night at AT&T Center.

Lankinen kept Rockford in the contest with a fantastic outing that featured several key saves throughout the evening and standing tall against a pair of late power-play opportunities. However, as the IceHogs pushed the pace up the right side with just under seven minutes remaining in the game, Walman poked the puck free, skated in on Lankinen and blasted a shot past the Hogs netminder for what proved to be the game-winning tally.

The IceHogs and Rampage swapped goals during both the first and second period of Tuesday’s matchup. After Mike Vecchione opened the scoring 3:47 into the opening frame, Reese Johnson answered with a snipe past Ville Husso for his fourth goal on the season.

Jacob Nilsson then continued Rockford’s recent hot stretch on the power play when he received a cross-ice feed from Dylan Sikura, hesitated for a moment and buried the puck top shelf to boost the IceHogs to a 2-1 advantage. With the goal, the IceHogs have now scored seven power-play goals over their last nine games.

Jordan Kyrou responded with just six seconds remaining in the second period to knot the score and Walman struck in the third for the game-winner.

Lankinen turned aside 37 pucks while snapping a five-game point streak (4-0-1). Husso earned the win with 27 saves on 29 shots.

Rockford capped its three-game Texas swing with three of six possible points (1-1-0-1).