Teply Makes It Rain Bears; Pesky Wild Slip By Hogs In OT

Rockford, Ill. — Playing their third overtime period in three games, the Rockford IceHogs dropped the weekend series to the Iowa Wild after falling 3-2 in the extra session on Saturday night at the BMO Center. For the third straight game against Iowa, including a shootout loss on Friday, Rockford couldn’t hold a third period lead, eventually falling all three times after regulation.

Forward Michal Teply scored the first goal of the game and unleashed the Teddy Bear Toss, presented by the YWCA of Northwestern Illinois. Green-lighting the Teddy Bear Toss 5:11 into the first period, Teply snapped the loose puck past Iowa goaltender Zane McIntyre from the right circle and scored his fourth goal of the season to take a 1-0 lead. IceHogs fans generously donated 4,839 stuffed animals.

Tying the match in the final stanza on back-to-back nights, Iowa forward Steven Fogarty snuck the loose puck in front of the Rockford crease past Dylan Wells 0:31 into the third period and evened the score 1-1.

Neither team allowed a power play goal until the middle of the third frame when forward Cole Guttman tapped in a rebound off McIntyre in the slot to take a 2-1 lead at 9:39. However, with the puck bouncing around in front of Wells, Iowa forward Kevin Conley answered back on the advantage at 13:57 to tie the score 2-2 and force the contest to overtime.

In the overtime period, Iowa forward Ty Ronning scored on a rebound that went in and out of the glove of Wells at 1:47 to slip past the IceHogs and snag the 3-2 win. Rockford is now 0-0-1-2 against the Wild in three games.

Similar to Friday night, there was no shortage of penalties in the highly physical game. The two clubs had 34 combined penalty minutes, and 8-17 penalties came in the second frame alone despite neither team lighting the lamp.

Wells faced 24 shots and totaled 21 saves, but McIntyre turned away 27 of 29 Rockford shots and earned the win.

Box Score

Start off the weekend with $2 beers on our next $2 Bud Friday on Dec. 16 when the IceHogs take on the Toronto Marlies at 7 p.m.! The $2 beers include Bud Light, Budweiser, and Busch Light and can be purchased at most concession stands on the concourse through the end of the second intermission.

Tune In LIVE on the IceHogs Broadcast Network Presented by BMO
Watch and listen to every game this season on the IceHogs Broadcast Network presented by BMO! Listen from your favorite device, at home, or on the road at IceHogs.com and on the IceHogs app and watch LIVE on AHLTV and selected games on 23.3 Circle TV! Fans can also tune in on all of Mid-West Family’s local stations including 104.9 The X, B103, 95.3 The Bull, and Rockford Greatest Hits 100.5 and featured on Rock River Current, the Stateline’s premiere source for local events, news and culture.