Quad-City Flames @ Rockford IceHogs ... 12-31

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AHL/Game Stats -
http://stats.theahl.com/stats/text-game-re...game_id=1005266 (http://stats.theahl.com/stats/text-game-report.php?game_id=1005266)

Quad City Flames-2 at Rockford IceHogs-3 (SO) - Status: Final SO

Dec 31, 2008 - Rockford MetroCentre

1st Period:
Scoring - 1. Rockford, R. Klinkhammer (5) (D. Bertram, T. Hambly) 19:44
Penalties - D. Van der Gulik Qc (delay of game) 3:03, J. Watt Qc (fighting) 14:01, B. Bickell Rfd (fighting) 14:01, N. Hjalmarsson Rfd (delay of game) 14:42, D. Groulx Rfd (interference) 19:58

2nd Period:
Scoring - 2. Quad City, M. Pelech (2) (P. Vandermeer, A. Cracknell) 7:16
Penalties - D. Bertram Rfd (hooking) 3:24, W. Peters Qc (delay of game) 8:27, B. Cole Qc (interference) 16:26

3rd Period:
Scoring - 3. Quad City, R. Wilson (4) (A. Cracknell, D. Van der Gulik) 4:23 PP
4. Rockford, D. Groulx (3) (T. Hambly, R. Klinkhammer) 13:49
Penalties - B. Brown Qc (interference) 2:17, P. Pelletier Rfd (tripping) 3:26, B. Cole Qc (hooking) 6:00, J. Skille Rfd (tripping) 7:03, M. Pelech Qc (tripping) 7:53, J. Skille Rfd (hooking) 16:54

OT Period:
Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - C. Germyn Qc (tripping) 2:07, D. Van der Gulik Qc (hooking) 4:51

Shootout:
Round 1 - QC - Carsen Germyn - No
Round 1 - RFD - Tim Brent - No
Round 2 - QC - Kyle Greentree - No
Round 2 - RFD - Pascal Pelletier - Yes
Round 3 - QC - John Armstrong - No
Round 3 - RFD - Petri Kontiola - Yes
Round 4 - QC - Kris Chucko - Yes
Round 4 - RFD - Mike Radja - No
Round 5 - QC - Jamie Lundmark - No

QC Shots: 13 11 6 0 0 TOTAL: 30
RFD Shots: 11 5 13 5 1 TOTAL: 35

Power Play Conversion:
Quad City Flames 1-6
Rockford IceHogs 0-8

Goaltenders:
Quad City Flames -
Irving 7-6-1 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 64:54 SV: 32 GA: 2 [SOL]
Rockford IceHogs -
Niemi 8-9-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 64:51 SV: 28 GA: 2 [W]

Attendance: 3451

Referee I: Frederic L'Ecuyer (48)
LINESMAN I: Aaron Mills (23)
LINESMAN II: Chris Woodworth (17)

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IceHogs Website -
http://www.icehogs.com/news/index.html?article_id=939

GROULX TIES GAME LATE, HOGS WIN 3-2 IN SHOOTOUT

Rockford ends three-game slide

12/31/2008

Rockford, Ill.- The Rockford IceHogs ended 2008 with a win, beating the Quad City Flames 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday at the Rockford MetroCentre.

"We've been struggling the last ten games or so," said #1 star of the game Rob Klinkhammer. "We've been really lacking confidence. It was really important for us to get a win tonight."

Down 2-1, defenseman Danny Groulx sent the game to overtime with his third goal of the season at 13:49 in the third period. Groulx blasted a Tim Hambly feed after Rob Klinkhammer won a face-off deep in the Quad City zone past Leland Irving.

After a scoreless overtime, Pascal Pelletier and Petri Kontiola tallied during the shootout to take two points away from Rockford's oldest rival. Only Kris Chucko could solve Antti Niemi on the other side of the ice.

In the first period, the Hogs took the lead with a goal from Klinkhammer with 16 seconds left before the first intermission. The winger lit the lamp for his fifth goal of the season at 19:44 on a rebound of a shot by Dan Bertram. Hambly recorded an assist on the goal as well.

Quad City's Matt Pelech tied the score at one by sniping the corner of the net at 7:16 in the second period with an assist by Peter Vandermeer and Adam Cracknell.

Then Ryan Wilson capitalized on a Pascal Pelletier penalty to give Quad City it's first lead of the night at 4:23 in the third period with assists from Cracknell and David Van der Gulik.

"I think when we gave up that second goal, the boys were thinking 'Oh no, here we go again,' " Klinkhammer said. "But Groulx' goal just took the weight off our shoulders and gave us a lot more confidence."

Klinkhammer finished with his first multi-point game since Oct. 17 at Iowa.

Niemi picked up his first win in six starts with 28 saves. Leland Irving finished with 32 saves. The Hogs ended their streak of five straight games with a power-play goal, going without one in eight opportunities. They held the Flames to 1-for-6 on the power-play.

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Flames Website -
http://www.qcflames.com/news/fullstory.php?id=430

HOGS OUTLAST FLAMES TO EARN SHOOTOUT WIN

2008 ENDS WITH REGULATION POINT IN ROAD SHOWDOWN

Date: 12/31/08

The Flames wrapped up 2008 with a 3-2 shootout loss in Rockford on Wednesday. Two defensemen, Matt Pelech and Ryan Wilson, provided the regulation goals for Quad City.

The Hogs captured a 1-0 lead with just 44 seconds left in the first period. Dan Bertram took a shot off the rush that deflected well wide of the Quad City net. Rob Klinkhammer scooped up the rebound off the end wall at the mouth of the Flames crease before lifting the puck past Quad City netminder Leland Irving for his fifth goal of the season. The tally stood up as the only goal of the opening frame and the Hogs skated off with a 1-0 lead.

Matt Pelech netted the only goal of the middle period when his shot from the right wing half wall eluded Rockford netminder Antti Niemi. Peter Vandermeer earned the only assist on the goal, Pelech’s second of the season.

The teams traded third period goals en route to the extra session. Ryan Wilson scored on the power play for Quad City at 4:23 of the frame. Danny Groulx answered for the Hogs with just 6:11 left in the contest. Groulx’s point shot tied the game and forced the extra session.

After a scoreless overtime, the Hogs hopped in front when Pascal Pelletier scored in the second round of the shootout. Petri Kontiola scored in the third round to put the Hogs in front 2-0. Kris Chucko responded for Quad City with a goal in the fourth round, but the Flames could pull no closer before falling in the shootout.

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Quad-City Newspaper -
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=419749

FLAMES CONTINUE POST-REGULATION STRUGGLES

Posted Online: Dec 31, 2008

ROCKFORD -- Four-on-four hockey isn't the Quad City Flames game, and QC coach Ryan McGill didn't pause long to explain why Wednesday night.

"We're not very good," QC coach Ryan McGill said. "We're not overly skilled, and we're not overly smart. For us to get into a four-on-four when you lack skill and smarts, it's pretty tough to play four-on-four. We have lots of guys that think they can play it, but nobody that has shown us they can play it, and that's the difference."

In their second game against Rockford (17-14-0-3) in two nights, the Flames (12-15-4-3) fell 3-2 in a shootout at Rockford's MetroCentre after a another four-on-four overtime period dominated by their opponent. The Flames have not won a contest outside of regulation this season, and have never in team history won in overtime.

Though QC goalie Leland Irving managed to preserve a shootout, Rockford continued its three-period domination by out-shooting the Flames 5-0 in OT, leaving no chance for QC to reverse it's four-on-four misfortune.

In seven overtime periods this season, QC has been outshot 18-5. In their last three overtime sessions, QC has not managed a shot.

A 2-1 shootout effort gave the IceHogs the eventual win, but McGill said Rockford had played harder than QC the entire night. He said the indication of that lies with who scored QC's two goals -- Matt Pelech the first at 7:16 in the second, and Ryan Wilson the next at 4:23 in the third -- both QC defensemen.

Those two defensemen scores came after Rockford's Rob Klinkhammer potted the game's first goal 16 seconds before the end of the first period.

QC brought the 2-1 lead deep into the third period before Danny Groulx tied the game at the 13:49 mark.

Another defenseman, Gord Baldwin, also saw some time on the wing.

"Our best line was (Aki) Seitsonen between (J.D.) Watt and Baldwin," McGill said. "That tells you how prepared our big time players were tonight. We'll give them credit. They were tremendous for us."

Rockford's Pascal Pelletier and Petri Kontiola scored the shootout goals ahead of Kris Chucko's lone shootout tally for QC. Jamie Lundmark then came up empty on the Flames' fifth, and final, attempt, handing Irving a loss in the first shootout of his pro career. It soured an otherwise decent night for Irving who stopped 32 shots. He still has not lost in regulation since Oct. 24.

The QC penalty kill that shined in a 3-1 win over the IceHogs Tuesday night did so again Wednesday, killing all eight Rockford power plays -- a small silver lining.

"We had guys sacrificing on defense," McGill said, "but there's not enough guys sacrificing going the other way and paying the price to get in front of the net."