Rockford, Ill.- The Rockford IceHogs needed offense and got it on Wednesday from five different shooters as the Hogs took a 5-3 win over the San Antonio Rampage at the Rockford MetroCentre.
"There are tons of ups and downs through the season," said winger Rob Klinkhammer. "But hopefully that bad luck is behind us."
The Hogs took a 3-1 lead into the third period, but the Rampage would not go away, as the two teams traded a couple of goals in the last four minutes of the game. Defenseman Jassen Cullimore finally closed the door with an empty-netter from the neutral zone at 19:26 to give Rockford the win.
In the first period, Klinkhammer found a loose puck behind the net, bounced it off Josh Tordjman and into the net at 3:30 to put the Hogs up 1-0. Mark Cullen and Richard Petiot were credited with the assists.
Then Chad Kolarik evened the score at 10:41 with assists from Brett MacLean and Kevin Porter to end a San Antonio scoreless stretch that spanned four games.
But then just a short time later, Bracken Kearns found a wide-open Akim Aliu in front of the net to give Rockford the lead back at 11:46. Daryl Boyle also has an assist.
In the second period, Bryan Bickel added some insurance on the power play with his fourth goal of the season at 3:29. Klinkhammer and Cullen had the assists.
The third period was quiet until San Antonio struck with a goal at 16:31 by Kyle Turris, with assists by Viktor Tikhonov and Matt Beleskey. Turris stole the puck in the Rockford zone, made a great move on Corey Crawford and posted his fifth goal of the season.
Rockford quickly answered with a goal of their own at 18:03. Cullen took the team lead in goals with his sixth of the season, a drive past Tordjman to give Rockford a more comfortable lead. Jack Skille was credited with the assist.
The Rampage fought back with yet another goal at 18:48 by Kevin Porter with assists from Sean Sullivan and Jeff Hoggan. But then Cullimore closed the door unassisted with his first of the season.
Rockford ended a streak of 18 straight power plays without a goal in the second frame, finishing the contest 1-for-6 on the advantage. San Antonio was without a power play goal in five attempts.
The Rampage out shot the IceHogs 33-31, with Crawford finishing with 30 saves. Tordjman had 26.
