Rockford, Ill- A back-and-forth affair didn’t land in the Rockford IceHogs favor as they fell 4-2 to the Houston Aeros on Wednesday night at the Rockford MetroCentre.
Houston tallied first to take the 1-0 lead at 12:13 in the first period. Warren Peters won the faceoff in Rockford’s zone and kicked it to Justin Falk and he wristed one by Alec Richards top-shelf stick-side from 55 feet.
Rockford answered back at 13:50 to tie the game 1-1. Kyle Beach fired a shot on net and the puck ended up sitting in front of Matt Hackett. Rob Klinkhammer picked up the loose puck and chipped in his sixth goal of the season. Shawn Lalonde factored in on the play with a helper.
Moments later, the Aeros took a 2-1 lead at 16:55 in the opening frame. With Houston on a power play Robbie Earl found Peters in the slot and he slapped in the goal, his eighth of the season.
The IceHogs responded to open the third period and knotted the game at 2-2. Jeff Taffe intercepted an Aeros pass in the Houston zone and dished it to an open Ryan Potulny for the one timer at 2:39.
The Aeros answered back and regained the lead. Jarod Palmer passed the rubber to Chad Rau from the right corner and Rau one-timed it past Richards for the 3-2 lead at 7:18. Matt Prosser factored in on the play with an assist.
The IceHogs pulled Richards in favor of the extra attacker in the remaining minutes of the game, but couldn’t connect on any shots. Colton Gillies sealed the deal with an empty netter at 19:42 to give Houston a 4-2 win. Peters picked up his third point of the game with an assist.
Richards made 18 saves on 21 Houston shots while Hackett turned away 27 shots to earn the win. The IceHogs failed to connect on any of their power play attempts going 0-for-5. Meanwhile, the Aeros scored on one of their three power play chances.
Next Home Game: Friday, Jan. 14 vs. Texas Stars: Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m. The first 2,500 fans through the door will receive an IceHogs water bottle compliments of Rock Valley Culligan and 97ZOK.