Three-goal deficit to big to overcome for IceHogs Rolling Meadows, Ill.-A late game comeback wasn’t in the fold for the Rockford IceHogs on Wednesday night as the American Hockey League club dropped a 5-3 preseason contest to the Chicago Wolves at West Meadows Ice Arena.
A night after tying the game in the final minute en route to a shootout win over the Peoria Rivermen, Rockford’s three-goal third-period deficit was too much to overcome.
Down 4-1, Kyle Hagel pulled Rockford within two when he beat Edward Pasquale at 7:27 of the final frame, helped by Scott Fletcher and Josh Beaulieu.
Then Peter Leblanc made it a one-goal contest at 19:02 of the third, when he shot in his first preseason goal, assisted by Zach Torquato.
But with Jeremie Dupont on the bench for Rockford in favor of an extra attacker, Chicago iced the game with an empty net goal from Michael Davies at 19:26.
Up 2-1 entering the third period, Chicago tacked on two early goals to put the Hogs in a 4-1 hole. Akim Aliu lit his first lamp of the preseason at 2:15 before Dan Kissel notched his first marker at 3:40.
Mauro Juri put Chicago on top late in the opening frame to start the scoring. Juri knocked the game’s first marker past Rockford goalie Danny Battachio at 18:15 with assists from Aliu and Maxime Tanguay.
Rockford got the goal back at 10:41 of the second period on the power play. Winger Andy Bohmbach tallied his first goal of the preseason, helped by Scott Kalinchuk and Battachio.
The Wolves reclaimed the lead with a power-play goal of their own. Matt Krug found the back of the net at 16:05 past Dupont, assisted by Dan Kissel, making the score 2-1 heading into the second intermission.
Dupont was handed the loss after allowing three goals on 14 shots. Battachio blocked 17 of 18 Chicago shot attempts during his stint in net.
Chicago outshot Rockford 33-29 and the IceHogs finished the game 1-8 on the power play while holding the Wolves to 1-5.
Next Home Game: Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 vs. Manitoba Moose. The puck is set to drop at 4:35 p.m. The IceHogs begin the 2010-11 season against the Manitoba Moose and the first 5,000 fans will receive a 2010-11 IceHogs Magnet Schedule courtesy of U.S. Cellular, Dental Dimensions, Guerilla Graffix and the Illinois Pork Producers. Before the game on Saturday there is a fan festival from 1-4 p.m. where fans can enjoy music, food and entertainment.