Rockford IceHogs Finish Road Trip 2 and 2

Rockford IceHogs finish road trip 2 and 2, with plenty of action. A high scoring hockey game last Thursday between the IceHogs and the Adirondack Flames ended 4-2 with Rockford prevailing. The score was tied 1-1 until the third period. TJ Brennan fired the first tying goal in the second frame assisted by Peter Regin and Teuvo Teravainen giving him his 200th career AHL point. The second tying goal to make it 2-2 was when Viktor Svedberg received a pass from Garret Ross. It was also Regin, along with Stephen Johns, who set up blueliner Klas Dahlbeck to score for the Hogs’ 3-2 lead and Regin again racking up points with an empty net power play goal in less than a minute to play making the final score 4-2. The IceHogs defensemen are credited with three of the four goals. Goaltender Scott Darling made his IceHogs debut stopping 21 of 23 shots and earning his first win.

Saturday, Hamilton the Hog’s Rockford IceHogs went to Hamilton, Ontario to meet the Bulldogs. Once again the opponents had a 1-0 lead until Joakim Nordstrom knocked in a loose puck two minutes into the second period making it his first goal of the season and a 1-1 tied game. Goalie Scott Darling is credited with extending the game past regulation. Darling made 34 saves picking up his second win, even after the Bulldogs had a 35-28 lead in shots on goal. After a scoreless third period, it was Peter Regin’s late goal in the final minutes of OT under the new AHL overtime rules that once again put the Hogs on top beating the Dogs 2-1.

Rockford IceHogs travelled to Toronto to challenge the Marlies in a Sunday matinee. After a scoreless regulation and overtime, the teams headed into a shootout. Joakim Nordstrom and Teuvo Teravainen tallied in the first two rounds but the Hogs were unable to beat the Marlies and dropped the contest leaving a 0-1 score in the fifth round of the shootout. Netminder Michael Leighton had 28 saves in 67 minutes earning his first 2014-15 shutout and 37th of his AHL career. Another positive note here focuses on Rockford’s penalty kill. The Hogs are going 15 for 15 so far in this season’s first four games.

The news isn’t so good for the IceHogs from Rochester, NY. The Americans’ comeback with two third period goals within one minute won the game 3-2 while putting an end to the IceHogs shutout streak and breaking the series of penalty kill successes. Mark McNeill and Teuvo Teravainen, with an assist from Joakim Nordstrom, were credited with the points and two goals for Rockford. This was TT’s first of the year. Goalie Michael Leighton stopped 30 of 33 shots.