Rockford Hunts Down Mallards In Opener
Published on April 13, 2007 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Rockford, Ill.- The 2007 Colonial Cup Postseason began on the right foot for the Rockford IceHogs as they tripped up the Quad City Mallards 6-2 in front of 3,657 at the Rockford MetroCentre on Friday night. Center Preston Mizzi paced an offense that peppered the Quad City goalies with 47 shots on goal. Rockford grabbed a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Opening Round Colonial Cup Playoff series.
Mizzi cracked Mallards puck stopper Jason Tapp at 16:40 of the first period after Tapp had stymied the Hogs for the majority of the frame. Mizzi one-timed a Matt Gens pass and blew it past Tapp for the 1-0 lead. After going goaless in the postseason last season, Mizzi tallied in the first period this time around.
The first :32 of the second period contained more goals than the first 20 minutes of the hockey game. Just :12 into the middle period Quad City center Brett Pilkington tied the tilt at 1-1 beating IceHogs goalie Frederic Cloutier. Rockford responded with another Mizzi goal just :23 later after winger Bruce Watson set him up perfectly in front to give Rockford its lead back.
Hogs winger Nicolas Corbeil put his club up 3-1 with a short-handed tally. Defenseman Nathan Lutz drove the Mallards net and passed it off to Corbeil who backhanded the shortie past Tapp at 4:50. Winger Chaz Johnson, in his first game back after a stint with the Rochester Americans, finished off a pretty give-and-go with Mizzi at 16:51, poking in his own rebound to push the Rockford lead to 4-1. Quad City cut the lead back down to 4-2 after winger Blake Stewart flipped in a Dale Lupul rebound at 17:55.
Rockford nixed any Quad City ambitions of a comeback with a pair of third period goals mid-way through the third period. Center Kevin Ulanski potted the IceHogs fifth goal of the night, firing in a Corbeil rebound that bounced off of the back glass at 5:38. Watson finished the scoring and Tapp's night when he fired a pass from Benoit Doucet past the Mallards target at 7:49.
Rockford outshot the Mallards 47-29 and Cloutier picked up the win after turning away 27 Mallards shots. Goalie Brad Smith relieved Tapp and made nine saves while Tapp stopped 32. Power plays were non-factors as the Hogs went 0-for-7 and the Mallards went 0-for-5.
Next Home Game: Sunday, April 15 vs. Quad City Mallards. The game starts at 5:05 p.m. The IceHogs will look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead in the Opening Round of the Colonial Cup Playoffs at the Rockford MetroCentre before the series shifts back to the Quad Cities.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from April 13, 2007
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