ROCKFORD, Ill. – Chicago surrendered four goals in the opening 20 minutes in dropping a 6-0 contest to Rockford in Illinois Lottery Cup action Friday night from the MetroCentre. The rough-and-tumble affair resulted in 26 penalties for a combined 98 penalty minutes. The teams square off again tomorrow night at the Allstate Arena.
The shutout loss was the first of the season for Chicago (20-19-1-2), which averaged 4.25 goals over its previous four road games. Jordan Caron finished with four shots on goal while Jeremy Welsh and Danny Kristo had three shots each.
Rockford (27-10-2-4) scored four times in the opening period, building a lead they would never relinquish. Vince Hinostroza took advantage of a turnover deep in the Wolves’ zone, firing a wrister past goaltender Jordan Binnington. Marko Dano followed at 11:45, one-timing a puck that caromed off the boards. The IceHogs’s Garret Ross and Kirill Gotovets added late goals, scored 1:28 apart.
Rockford added an insurance goal in the second period on Hinostroza’s second goal of the night, a power play tally netted with 10:11 elapsed. Tanner Kero closed scoring with a power play goal at 15:09 of the third period.
Binnington (9-7-2) recorded three saves before being replaced with Pheonix Copley, who finished with 14 saves. Rockford’s Michael Leighton (23-4-4) turned away all 20 shots he faced to tie the AHL record for career shutouts (45).
Tickets are still available for Saturday’s Illinois Lottery Cup clash between the Wolves and IceHogs. For more information, visit ChicagoWolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
ICEHOGS 6, WOLVES 0
Chicago 0 0 0 — 0
Rockford 4 1 1 — 6
First Period—1, Rockford, Hinostroza 9 (unassisted), 6:09; 2, Rockford, Dano 3 (Labrie, Schilling), 11:45.; 3, Rockford, Ross 7 (Schilling, McNeill), 18:01; 4, Rockford, Gotovets 2 (Hartman, Labrie), 19:29.
Penalties—Doty, Chicago (fighting), 2:57; Haggerty, Rockford (fighting), 2:57; Hartman, Rockford (boarding), 3:36; Valleau, Rockford (holding), 6:52; Hayes, Chicago (roughing), 9:43; Veilleux, Chicago (roughing), 13:42; Hartman, Rockford (interference), 14:07; Doty, Chicago (fighting, game misconduct), 17:25; Liambas, Rockford (fighting), 17:25.
Second Period—6, Rockford, Hinostroza 10 (Bickell), 10:11, pp.
Penalties—McNeill, Rockford (tripping), 0:11; Valleau, Rockford (roughing), 2:14; Haggerty, Rockford (slashing), 8:10; Benoit, Chicago (slashing), 9:24; Butler, Chicago (slashing), 10:11; Liambas, Rockford (slashing), 13:03.
Third Period—6, Rockford, Kero 9 (Hinostroza, Bickell), 15:09, pp.
Penalties—Lindbohm, Chicago (fighting), 5:06; Robertson, Rockford (fighting), 5:06; Torquato, Chicago (fighting), 7:22; Hartman, Rockford (fighting), 7:22; Barbashev, Chicago (fighting), 12:29; Ross, Rockford (instigation, fighting, misconduct), 12:29; Lindbohm, Chicago (slashing), 14:34; Dano, Rockford (cross checking), 17:39.
Shots on goal—Chicago 9-3-8—20; Rockford 7-9-7—23. Power plays—Chicago 0-9; Rockford 2-5. Goalies—Chicago, Binnington (3-7), Copley (14-16); Rockford, Leighton (20-20). Referees—Ryan Hersey and Evgeny Romasko. Linesmen—Ryan Daisy and Ian McCambridge.
