Chops Roast Hogs 6-3
December 29, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Rockford, Ill.- The Rockford IceHogs' late effort fell short in a 6-3 loss to the Iowa Chops on Monday at the Rockford MetroCentre. Four first period goals by the Chops were enough to bury the Hogs in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,812.
"I think everyone is upset and disappointed," Dowell said of giving up six goals in the first two periods. "But it's everyone's job here to get themselves mentally prepared. The mental part is the tough part. We have to bounce back and get over it."
The Chops manufactured a comfortable 3-0 lead during a span of 1:21 of game play in the first frame. The first goal came on an Iowa power play when T.J. Trevelyan chipped in a loose puck past Rockford goaltender Corey Crawford at 11:09. Adrian Veideman and Brian Salcido were credited with the assists.
Just 18 seconds later, Matt Caruana doubled the lead with assists from Francis Wathier and Eric Boguniecki. Salcido then drove in a shorthanded goal at 12:30 in the first stanza. The goal was unassisted.
Drew Miller solved Crawford yet again at 18:04, netting his 15th marker of the season. The power-play goal was assisted by Salcido and Petteri Wirtanen.
In the second, Iowa winger Francis Wathier lit the lamps at 6:38. Then Belesky made it 6-0 at 13:39, chasing Crawford from the game. Crawford ended the night with 11 saves on 17 shots.
"On the power play, we're obviously not scoring," Dowell said. "And on the penalty kill, we're not doing the job. We obviously need to do some soul searching and go back to the basics. We maybe got a little ahead of ourselves and maybe thought we were a little better than we are."
The Hogs finally found the back of the net thanks to a blue line blast from Evan Brophey on a Rockford power play. The Brophey drive was set up by Tim Brent and Danny Groulx at 6:13 in the third.
Moments later Mike Blunden flipped in a rebound off of a Rob Klinkhammer shot at 8:18 in the third. Andrew Archer was also credited with an assist.
A final goal from Pete MacArthur cut the lead to three for the IceHogs. MacArthur knocked in a Mike Radja pass at 17:19 in the final period. Petri Kontiola also helped on the goal as well.
"We showed that we had some character, but it was too little too late," Dowell said. "We need to find a way to get ourselves into the game early. I thought we were ready, but they got three quick goals. We tried hard in the third, but that's not going to win many games."
The Hogs finished the night 1-for-5 on the power play while the Chops took advantage of three of five advantages and have scored six goals on the power play against the Hogs in their last two games.
Niemi turned away nine shots in relief of Crawford. Iowa's Jean Phillipe Levasseur stopped 28 shots for Iowa.
Next Home Game: The Rockford IceHogs welcome the Quad City Flames in for a 7:05 p.m. game on New Year's Eve. Illusionist Jason Michaels will be performing and fans will be allowed on the ice after the game for a post-game skate.
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