Rockford,
Ill. - In their first bout in nearly
two months, the Rockford IceHogs hung on to nab a 3-1 win over the visiting
Peoria Rivermen Friday evening at the BMO Harris Bank Center.
Rockford's
penalty kill unit was put to the test during the first frame, committing four
penalties. However the special teams were able to kill off each of the four Peoria power play
opportunities.
Nonetheless, IceHogs captain Martin
St. Pierre broke a
scoreless stalemate 15 minutes into the first frame. In his Rockford debut, Kenndal McArdle dug the puck
out of the corner and delivered a cross-ice pass to Ryan Stanton at the right
faceoff circle. Stanton wristed the puck on net
and found St. Pierre on the doorstep, who tipped
it past Peoria
goaltender Jake Allen, giving the IceHogs a 1-0 lead.
In the second frame, Rockford
extended their lead to 2-0 at the 6:59 mark. Dylan Olsen took a shot from the
point for Brandon Pirri to deflect past Allen and for his 11th goal of the
season. Philippe Paradis also assisted on the play.
Seven minutes later, Pirri lit the lamp again. Paradis poked the puck out from
the corner and found Pirri in front, who backhanded a top-shelf tally to give Rockford a 3-0 advantage.
Peoria would
solve IceHogs goaltender Carter Hutton at the 2:34 mark of the third period
when Stefan Della Rovere took a shot that trickled over Hutton's right shoulder
and into the back of the net to trim the IceHogs lead into the eventual 3-1
final.
Hutton finished the night with 31 saves, while the special teams unit killed
off all five Peoria
man-advantages, and have limited the Rivermen to 1-for-20 on the power play
thus far this season.
