Rockford falls 3-2 against UHL's top team
December 30, 2006 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Rockford, Ill.- In the club's final home game of the 2006 calendar year, the Rockford IceHogs coughed up a third period lead and fell to the Muskegon Fury 3-2 in front of 4,131 at the Rockford MetroCentre on Saturday night. The Hogs failed to capitalize on its four third period power-play opportunities and saw a three-game winning streak come to an end.
Trailing by a tally entering the final frame, Muskegon tied the contest at 2-2 with one-second remaining on a power play. At 6:53, winger Dave Noel-Bernier deflected home the equalizer off of a Philipe Plante blast. Then, at 12:33, winger Billy Collins sent an innocent snap-shot in on Hogs goalie Frederic Cloutier moments after another Fury power play had expired. The shot snuck by the Hogs puck-stopper to give Muskegon the lead and eventually the win.
After the Fury hopped on the board in the opening frame with a marker from Justin Kinnunen at 7:42, Rockford would chip in two markers to take the lead. Center Preston Mizzi tied the score at 1-1 on the short hand when he undressed Todd Robinson and blasted home his ninth tally of the season past Clayton Pool at 17:54. In the second period, winger Nicolas Corbeil put Rockford on top on the power play when he fired home a Robin Big Snake rebound at 12:33.
Rockford outshot Muskegon 40-31 in the contest, including 16-9 in the third period, Pool, however, was solid once again making 38 saves. Cloutier was given the loss after turning away 28 Muskegon shots.
Next Home Game: Friday, Jan. 5 vs. Bloomington PrairieThunder. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. The Hogs play their first game at the MetroCentre in 2007 and open a season long five-game homestand. The game also marks the final of three straight against Bloomington. The first 1,000 fans will receive IceHogs Poster #4 courtesy of Pepsi, Medicine Man, Johnson Press and the Rockford Register Star.
Game Time Change: Tomorrow's IceHogs-PrairieThunder game at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum will get started at 4:05 p.m. The game time was moved up to accommodate viewers of the Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers game.
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