Leddy, Connelly tally two points in 3-2 loss
San Antonio, Tex.- Defensive zone turnovers were costly for the Rockford IceHogs on Friday night as they dropped a 3-2 decision to the San Antonio Rampage at the AT&T Center. Two miscues led to a pair of second period Rampage goals.
San Antonio first capitalized on a Rockford turnover in the second period to grab a 1-0 lead. Mikkel Boedker picked off a Jeremy Morin pass in the Rockford zone and found Brett MacLean all alone in front of Alec Richards and the winger flipped in his eighth goal of the season at 8:06.
Rockford tied it on the power play at 9:37 of the middle stanza. Nick Leddy’s slap shot from the point deflected off of Hugh Jessiman and past Al Montoya for his second goal of the season. Brian Connelly also figured in on the scoring with an assist.
But San Antonio struck twice more before the period ended. Just as a power-play expired, Alexandre Picard found Mathieu Beaudoin on the backdoor and the winger buried his ninth goal of the season at 16:57.
Another defensive-zone turnover cost Rockford at 18:04 of the second period. Chris Summers picked off a pass and found Boedker between the circles and the winger beat Richards glove side for his third goal of the campaign and a 3-1 lead.
Leddy made it a 3-2 game at 3:20 of the third period. Connelly found Leddy after a face-off win by Ryan Potulny and the first-year d-man blasted his second goal of the season past Montoya.
That’s all that Rockford could muster on Montoya and the Rampage despite accumulating a team season-high 38 shots on goal. Richards took the loss for the second straight night after making 26 saves.
Rockford held San Antonio off the power play on six chances while the IceHogs converted 1-5 on the advantage.
Next Home Game: Wednesday, Nov. 24 vs. Lake Erie Monsters. Puck drop is at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday nights are Taco Bell Dollar Days at the MetroCentre, which includes dollar hot dogs, beers, sodas and companion tickets. The first 2,500 fans will receive Stanley Cup bottle holders courtesy of Bud Light and WXRX.