Sikura’s Hat Trick Propels Hogs Past Wild

Des Moines, Iowa – The Rockford IceHogs battled for their first regulation win since Dec. 31 and toppled the Iowa Wild 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena. Forward Dylan Sikura registered his first hat trick of the season, including two goals in the third period.

The IceHogs scored first on Sunday afternoon, taking an early 1-0 lead in the first period when Sikura tallied his 11th goal of the season. Stealing the puck on Rockford’s blue line, Sikura hustled down the ice on a clean breakaway and sniped a shot from the low slot past Iowa netminder Zane McIntyre at 12:34.

Rockford successfully killed two back-to-back penalties late in the stanza; however, right as the Wild’s second power play of the first frame came to an end, Iowa tied the contest 1-1 with 30 seconds left in the period. Iowa forward Nic Petan lifted a wrister from the slot over the blocker of IceHogs goalie Arvid Soderblom, netting the equalizer before heading into the first intermission.

Despite plenty of back-and-forth action to start the middle period, neither team could produce real scoring opportunities, totaling 14 combined shots. The Hogs finally broke through halfway through the frame when Lukas Reichel punched in his 17th goal of the season and extended his point streak to four games. Defenseman Adam Clendening dropped a pass back to Reichel in the right circle, and the 20-year-old forward rocketed a one-timer behind McIntyre at 10:48 to give Rockford a 2-1 lead.

Sikura netted his second goal of the game early in the third period and extended the Hogs’ lead to 3-1. Defenseman Alex Vlasic fired a wrister from the left point that deflected off a Wild defender in the crease, and Sikura was waiting in the right circle to knock the loose puck into the open net at 6:08.

Iowa rookie forward Sammy Walker brought the contest back to a one-goal game at 3-2 at the midpoint of the final frame. An errant Rockford pass set up a breakaway for the Wild, and Walker chipped a shot from the slot over Soderblom’s glove at 10:12.

After fending off Iowa’s crucial power play at 12:31, Sikura bagged his first hat trick of the season when forward David Gust shuttled a short pass to the left circle, and Sikura launched a quick shot over the shoulder of McIntyre at 16:17 to give the Hogs a 4-2 lead.

The Wild would not go quietly, and with McIntyre pulled for the extra attacker, Iowa forward Steven Fogarty knocked in a loose puck from Petan’s one-timer at 18:40, shortening Rockford’s lead to 4-3. IceHogs forward D.J. Busdeker put the stamp on the match with an empty-net goal at 19:55 and sealed the Hogs’ 5-3 win.

Soderblom earned his fifth win of the season, marking 22 saves on 25 Iowa shots, and McIntyre was tagged with the loss, turning away 11 of 15 Rockford shots.

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