Rockford's offense rolls on
October 27, 2004 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Rockford, Ill.- Coming into Week 3, the Rockford IceHogs led the United Hockey League with a 5.25 goals per game average. Wednesday night Rockford continued their offensive out burst in a 5-3 win over the Fort Wayne Komets before 2,273 at the Rockford MetroCentre.
Rockford jumped out to the 1-0 lead in a sea-saw game at 13:46 of the first period. The Komets later tied the contest on a power play when defenseman Tom Nemeth beat Hogs goalie Michel Robinson. Rockford grabbed the lead right back however, at the 18:17 when rookie winger Miguel Lafleche scored his first career goal on a delayed penalty on Fort Wayne.
The Komets capitalized first in the second frame when winger Dustin Virag poked home a loose puck under Robinson to tie the game at 2-2. The IceHogs grabbed the lead right back at 11:29 when Eric Labelle fired home a perfect pass from Vince Malts to make the contest 3-2. Fort Wayne would not go away and tied up the back-and-forth game on another power play when forward Kevin Kotyluk knocked home a rebound at 14:08.
After being stopped on three straight power plays, the IceHogs regained the lead in the third period on a power play marker when Hogs defenseman Nathan Lutz blew one by Komets goalie Kevin St. Pierre 5:19 into the final frame. Then after a short-handed goal was disallowed, winger Jason Ralph netted one that did at the 17:39 mark to put the game away for Rockford, 5-3.
Robinson turned away 39 Fort Wayne shots, while St. Pierre stopped 23 of Rockford's 28 attempts. The IceHogs had five skaters with multi-point games including Ralph (1g-1a), Dufour (1g-1a), Lafleche (1g-1a), Lutz (1g-1a) and Malts (2a).
Next Game: Friday, October 29 vs. Kansas City Outlaws. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. Another expansion team makes their first appearance in Rockford. The IceHogs will try to restore order when the Outlaws come to the big orange box. Friday night, the IceHogs will host a costume contest for fans of all ages for a pair of season tickets! Also, come dressed up and you can trick-or-treat with the IceHogs following the game.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from October 27, 2004
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