WILD THIRD CAN�T DIG HOGS OUT OF HOLE

Morin nets a pair in 5-3 loss to Wolves

Rosemont, Ill. – It took the Rockford IceHogs over five periods to find their offense, but when they did, they were down 3-0. The IceHogs couldn’t overcome that deficit and fell 5-3 in Rosemont at the Allstate Arena.

The IceHogs and Wolves didn’t register a goal during regulation over their last two meetings but Chicago put an end to the streak to take a 1-0 lead at 7:46 in the first period. Brett Sterling found Andrew Ebbett above the right faceoff circle and he ripped a shot over Carter Hutton to put the Wolves in front. Kevin Connauton also factored in with an assist.

Chicago extended their lead to 2-0 when Nathan Longpre took advantage of a turnover in the IceHogs zone and slipped in a short-handed marker at 7:45 in the middle frame.

The Wolves added to their lead to open the third period. Brett Sterling fired a shot in on Hutton and it bounced off a skate in front of the net and trickled past to put the score at 3-0.

Rockford was finally able to solve Wolves netminder Eddie Lack as Jeremy Morin scored the IceHogs first goal of the season. Martin St. Pierre dished a pass for Morin to wrist in on the power play and bring the Hogs down a pair at 3-1.

Then, 1:52 later, the IceHogs took advantage of another power play. Marcus Kruger sniped a shot over Lack’s shoulder at 7:28 to make it 3-2.

Moments later, however, the Wolves were on a power play of their own and extended their lead back to a pair. Steve Pinizotto found Longpre in the slot and winger fired his second goal of the game past Hutton at 9:46.

Rockford didn’t let the goal slow their momentum. Just 29-seconds later Morin sniped his second of the night past Lack at 10:15 to make it a 4-3 game.

After more Rockford pressure, the Wolves countered and pushed their lead back to two. Zack Kassian slipped a pass to Bill Sweat in the slot and the winger beat Hutton at 17:16 to put the game out of reach.

After a shutout on Saturday, Hutton made 14 saves on 19 shots while Lack turned away 25 Rockford attempts.

Next Home Game: Saturday, Oct. 20 vs. Charlotte Checkers. Game time is 7:05 p.m. The IceHogs open the home portion of their regular season slate against the Checkers at the BMO Harris Bank Center. The first 5,000 fans to the game will pick up an IceHogs “It All Starts Here” calendar. Don’t forget to follow the IceHogs on Twitter (@goicehogs) and Facebook (/RockfordIceHogs).