Crawford, IceHogs hold off Toronto 1-0
January 10, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Rockford, Ill.- The Rockford IceHogs end the week with five out of six points on the heels of a 1-0 win over the Toronto Marlies at the Rockford MetroCentre. The first period goal by IceHogs winger Evan Brophey was enough for Rockford to escape with their second win in two days.
"I'm very pleased with how we've played in the last seven or eight games," said Rockford coach Bill Peters. "We had a little bit of a hiccup in Grand Rapids and recovered from it. Since then we've been quite good."
Since allowing five goals in the first period on Wednesday, the IceHogs have given up just one goal to Chicago and Toronto.
"We're taking care of the details and we have a group of forwards that are very committed defensively away from the puck," Peters said. "That's made all the difference in the world."
After earning a hard-fought 3-1 win against the Chicago Wolves a night before, the IceHogs hung on to another slim lead on Saturday. Corey Crawford put together a strong performance in his first shut out of the 2008-09 season. The netminder has allowed just three goals in his last 160:00 minutes of ice time. On Saturday, Crawford had 24 saves.
"We talked to both goalies and we want to go with the situation where if a guy gets hot we're going to ride him," Peters said. "And were in the middle of doing that with Corey right now."
On the other side of the ice, Justin Pogge put together a strong performance in the third game of Toronto's nine-game road swing. The puckstopper had 21 saves.
Brophey was the only one to solve Pogge. The center jumped on a breakaway with Pascal Pelletier and finished off a rebound by Pelletier's shot at 5:20 in the first period.
"(Brophey)'s a good player," said Peters. "I didn't see him last year, but the people in the organization tell me he's taken a big step. He's got what the game is all about. He's got great speed and he's a powerful player."
Jack Skille was also credited with an assist. The helper gives Skille seven points (3g-4a) in his last four games. Toronto went 0-for-4 on the power play and held Rockford to 0-for-6 on the man advantage.
Next Home Game: Tuesday, Jan. 13 vs. San Antonio Rampage. The game begins at 7:05 p.m. In a game rescheduled from Feb. 21, the IceHogs and Rampage mix it up at the MetroCentre for a second time this season. All fans in attendance can register to win a pair of Toby Keith concert tickets or a set of Blackhawks tickets that will be given away at the game.
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