Rockford earns weekend split in Lake Erie
March 5, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Cleveland, Ohio- No overtime was needed on Saturday night as Hannu Toivonen and the Rockford IceHogs held on to knock off the Lake Erie Monster 3-2 at the Quicken Loans Arena.
With Rockford up a goal late in period three, Lake Erie made one last attempt to tie the game when Greg Mauldin's point shot was redirected into Toivonen who made the save as time expired. Overall, Rockford's puck stopper made 36 total saves to earn the win.
For the second straight game rookie winger Ben Smith found the score sheet. Smith picked up a Rob Klinkhammer pass in the slot and fired home his 11th goal of the season 2:25 into the opening period to start the scoring.
Klinkhammer then extended Rockford's lead to 2-0 in the second period while shorthanded. Kilnkhammer carried the puck over the Monsters line from the left wing and sniped his 12th marker of the season under the cross bar at 2:01.
A nice individual effort by Justin Mercier put Lake Erie on the board mid-way through the second period. Mercier outworked three IceHogs skaters in front of Toivonen and flipped in his own rebound at 10:11 for his tenth goal of the season making it 2-1 Rockford.
The Monsters outworked Rockford again in front of their own goal to tie the game later in the second frame. Mauldin's initial shot was turned away by Toivonen but David Van der Gulik split a pair of Hogs skaters and swiped in his tenth goal of the season at 17:23.
Evan Brophey put Rockford back on top early in the third period. On a two-on-one breakaway, Brophey held the puck and picked the top corner over the right should of Jason Bacahihiua at 1:59 for his ninth lamp lighter of the year, the game winner.
Rockford held Lake Erie to 0-7 on the power play while Rockford was blanked on six chances.
Next Home Game: Sunday, March 13, vs. Chicago Wolves. Puck drop is at 4:05 p.m. It's the IceHogs 12th Annual Jersey Auction game. The Hogs will be wearing special jerseys commemorating first responders. After the game, the jerseys will be auctioned off to fans. Also, the first 2,500 fans to the game will receive a Jersey Auction T-Shirt compliments of WXRX.
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American Hockey League Stories from March 5, 2011
- Aeros fall 3-1 - Houston Aeros
- Admirals Fall to Moose 4-2 - Milwaukee Admirals
- Same Score But Different Result As Monsters Fall To IceHogs - Cleveland Monsters
- Wolves Dropped By Rivermen, 6-5 In Shootout - Chicago Wolves
- Stars outshine Aeros - Texas Stars
- Whale beat Falcons in OT - Connecticut Whale
- Rampage fall to Crunch - San Antonio Rampage
- Francis Beyond Com-Pare in Griffins' 5-2 Win - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Moose Sink Admirals 4-2 On Saturday Night - Manitoba Moose
- Crunch Roll Over Rampage, 4-1 - Syracuse Crunch
- Rockford earns weekend split in Lake Erie - Rockford IceHogs
- Pirates Offense Erupts Against Sound Tigers - Portland Pirates
- Buffalo Sabres Recall Mark Mancari From Portland - Portland Pirates
- Machesney makes 34 saves to earn second shutout in five games - Charlotte Checkers
- Pirates Down Sound Tigers 8-3 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Pare's Three Goals Power Griffins Over Amerks, 5-2 - Rochester Americans
- Admirals Fall to Bears 3-2 - Norfolk Admirals
- Sharks Earn Check-Mate Over Charlotte, 2-0 - Worcester Sharks
- Devils Skate Past Phantoms 5-2 - Adirondack Phantoms
- Vasyunov, Devils Unload on Phantoms - Albany Devils
- Bulldogs Blanked 2-0 by Marlies - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Aeros Sign Chris Lawrence to PTO - Houston Aeros
- Atlanta Assigns Maxwell to Wolves - Chicago Wolves
- Rivermen Sign Chris Langkow to PTO - Peoria Rivermen
- Anaheim Assigns Ray Emery and Recalls J.P. Levasseur from Syracuse - Syracuse Crunch
- Pirates Sign Jakaitis - Portland Pirates
- Carrozzi Heads Back to Gwinnett - Chicago Wolves
- Gameday Preview - Houston at Texas - Texas Stars
- Oilers Recall Barons Forward Alex Giroux - Oklahoma City Barons
- Danis-Pepin Recalled, Sarauer Released from PTO - Rockford IceHogs
- Senators Re-Assign Forward Colin Greening to Binghamton - Binghamton Senators
- Helmer Inks Two-Year Deal with the Barons - Oklahoma City Barons
- Falcons Host the Whale Tonight - Springfield Falcons
- Preview: Aeros at Stars - Houston Aeros
- Away Game Watch Party on Saturday - Houston Aeros
- Monsters Come Back For Overtime Win And Regain First Place - Cleveland Monsters
- Rivermen Rally Late to Earn Point Against Moose - Peoria Rivermen
- Rallo lifts Stars past Rampage - Texas Stars
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