ROCKFORD ICEHOGS GAME RECAP: Pain. CLE (6) RFD (3)
(Photo via Cleveland Monsters Flickr)
The Rockford IceHogs finally earned their first win of the season by defeating the Cleveland Monsters 3-2 on Tuesday night. On Saturday, they were back in action against that same Monsters team. They were hoping to build off of some momentum. Something tells me that this outcome wasn’t what they were aiming for.
Here’s the lineup that the Icehogs rolled with:
L1: #47 John Quenneville “A” - #58 MacKenzie Entwistle - #52 Reese Johnson
L2: #84 Andrei Altybarmakyan - #26 Evan Barratt - #76 Tim Soderlund
L3: #49 Mitchell Fossier - #14 Garrett Mitchell “C” - #57 Chris Wilkie
L4: #67 Matej Chalupa - #39 Dylan McLaughlin - #42 Gabriel Gagne
D1: #74 Nicolas Beaudin - #11 Cody Franson “A”
D2: #48 Wyatt Kalynuk - #75 Alec Regula
D3: #41 Isaak Phillips - #62 Cole Moberg
#60 Collin Delia
#31 Cale Morris
*Players the Blackhawks just sent down are bolded
On to the game!
After some roster moves on Friday, there were a few new faces in the IceHogs lineup. On paper, those additions should have made the team look a lot better. That seemed promising because the IceHogs were facing a very banged up Cleveland roster that only had 10 forwards and 6 defensemen playing.
Collin Delia was given the start in net. It wasn’t entirely surprising since he was just sent down, but I was hoping to see Cale Morris back in the blue paint after earning the first win of the season on Tuesday.
The IceHogs should have had all the momentum to start this game. But, once again, they didn’t start on time.
Monsters Goal #1: Nick Lappin - Carson Meyer
Nick Lappin scored first for Cleveland. Collin Delia’s goal stick broke on a simple pass to a teammate. The IceHogs couldn’t get a whistle to get him a new stick, and you could feel a goal coming. The shot went in on Delia’s glove side, but not having his stick threw everything off. You can’t fault him for that one. The IceHogs should have been able to, at the least, ice the puck. Shortly after the goal, it was Nick Lappin against Collin Delia again. Lappin had a breakaway, Delia threw a poke check his way, and he didn’t get a shot off. He did go crashing into the boards and went to the room. He didn’t return to the game which put Cleveland down another forward. You never want to see an injury. I hope Lappin is okay and it was precautionary.
The chaos was showing in that first period. Delia left the net to get the puck behind the net. It popped out front with a wide open Monsters attacker. Delia and Franson both went sliding to stop the shot. Then Garrett Mitchell became a part time goaltender, blocked the second shot, and there was no harm done.
On the scoreboard, at least. My heart may not have agreed.
The next shift, Delia again went to retrieve the puck and made the decision to do so while there were more monsters around than IceHogs.
Somehow, no harm done there either.
But I question the decision making.
The pain wasn’t over.
Monsters Goal #2: Brett Gallant - Carson Meyer, Connor McDonald
Exactly 4 minutes after Lappin got on the board, the IceHogs went down 2-0. Carson Meyer was allowed to hold onto the puck along the boards without too much pressure. He shielded it until he found Brett Gallant breaking down the center of the zone, centered the puck to him, and Gallant sent it over Collin Delia and into the net.
There were only 2 goals scored in the first, but it brought back awful memories from game number 1 against Cleveland on Monday, and it didn’t seem like it’d go well for the visiting team.
END OF 1:
IceHogs - 0
Monsters - 2
SOG: 10-9 RFD
The second period began by bringing some hope to IceHogs fans. Maybe it wouldn’t be a disaster this time!
IceHogs Goal #1: MacKenzie Entwistle - Cody Franson, Wyatt Kalynuk
MacKenzie Entwistle picked up his first goal of the season. Wyatt Kalynuk picked up an assist in his first game back from Chicago. Kalynuk and Franson played a little catch at the point. Cody Franson took the shot and got the puck to the net. The initial shot was stopped by the goaltender, but Entwistle was camped out in front and cleaned up the rebound.
Isn’t it wild how, when standing in front of the net, the IceHogs skaters have been able to find rebounds and put them in behind the goaltender? Maybe they should do that more often . . .
Just a thought.
Game to game, some things do remain consistent.
Monsters goal #3: Zach Jordan - Evan Polei, Wyatt Newpower
9:35 into the middle frame, Zach Jordan took the first penalty of the game and sent the IceHogs to the power play. They weren’t able to make anything out of it. Immediately after coming out of the box, Jordan received a pass from Evan Polei sending him on a partial breakaway. He beat Collin Delia clean from the right circle.
Consistency? To recap:
IceHogs can’t score on the power play
Opponent gets a breakaway
IceHogs goaltender not stopping a shot from the right circle
It’s formulaic at this point.
Adding to said formula — that wasn’t the end of the second period horror.
Monsters Goal #4: Tyler Sikura - Connor McDonald, Nathan gerbe
Tyler Sikura scored. Again. Because of course he did. Sikura was right in tight to the goaltender. Collin tried to cover the puck with his glove.
Collin thought he had it.
He didn’t.
END OF 2:
IceHogs - 1
Monster - 4
SOG: 21-18 CLE
They opened up the third period down 4-1. That’s a big mountain to climb, but it’s not impossible. Early in the period, Rockford gave the fans hope -- once again.
IceHogs Goal #2: Matej Chalupa - Dylan McLaughlin, Wyatt Kalynuk
Matej Chalupa picked up his second goal of the season 3:20 into the final frame. As you see, Kalynuk picked up another assist. It’s certainly good to have that kid back in the lineup.
McLaughlin and Chalupa were in the attacking zone on a 2-on-2 rush, McLaughlin drove to the net, lost the puck, and Chalupa was able to send the loose puck to the back of the net.
Go to the net, good things happen.
Unfortunately, just as quickly as the IceHogs gave us hope, they took it away.
Monsters Goal #5: Trey Fix-Wolansky (PP) - Gavin Bayreuther, Nathan Gerbe
Instead of gaining momentum from the early goal, Alec Regula took a tripping penalty 14 seconds later.
8 seconds after that, the puck was behind Collin Delia.
Bayreuther sent the puck to Fix-Wolansky for the one-timer from above the left circle.
Roughly a minute and a half later, Regula redeemed himself.
IceHogs Goal #3: Alec Regula - Nicolas Beaudin
On a delayed penalty, Regula received the pass and danced around a few defenders before mailing home a backhand shot.
He must have been watching some Patrick Kane highlights. Or he didn’t want to watch another IceHogs power play. I don’t blame him. I didn’t want to watch one either.
Regula’s goal put the IceHogs within 2 with just under 15 minutes remaining.
It was a good goal, but it was too little too late.
Monsters Goal #6: Trey Fix-Wolansky (PP) - Carson Meyer, Tyler Sikura
Of course Trey Fix-Wolansky had to have a big game. I mentioned I was tired of hearing his name because he’s always involved in plays all over the ice. That came back to bite me on Saturday.
With 5:09 left in the game, he put it further out of reach. He was wide open at the left circle -- again. He received the pass and put it past Collin Delia’s glove.
The IceHogs allowed too many goals and just couldn’t pull it together to outscore their mistakes.
END OF 3:
IceHogs - 3
Monsters - 6
SOG: 30-30
So, the Rockford IceHogs couldn’t beat the incredibly shorthanded Cleveland Monsters. They were supposed to play the second half of a back-to-back on Sunday, but that game was postponed due to COVID protocols making Cleveland unable to play — once again.
So, the IceHogs next drop the puck back at home on Wednesday, March 3, against the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Puck drop is at 6:00 pm CST. Let’s see if they can bounce back.