ROCKFORD DEFEATS IOWA 3-1
Nov 22, 2017ROCKFORD, IL - The Iowa Wild (8-7-2-0; 18 pts.) suffered a 3-1 road loss to the Rockford IceHogs (11-7-0-0; 22 pts.) Wednesday night in front of 2,717 fans at BMO Harris Bank Center, ending their season-best, five-game winning streak.
IceHogs forward Matthew Highmore led the charge, scoring all three Rockford goals for his first professional hat trick as the home club earned its third straight win.
The hometown IceHogs scored first, connecting at 4:27 of the opening period. On the game’s first marker, defenseman Luc Snuggerud’s point shot was deflected by Highmore for an even-strength goal, his seventh of the season. Forward Luke Johnson grabbed the other assist.
That was the only goal in the first period. Shots favored the IceHogs, 14-6.
Rockford added to its lead just past the midway point of the second period, when Highmore found a rebound behind Wild goaltender Niklas Svedberg (37 saves) and tapped it in from the goal crease for a 2-0 advantage. Johnson once again picked up a helper, as did IceHogs winger Anthony Louis.
Highmore completed the hat trick at 15:28 of the third period, as he buried a chance off the rush. Winger Alexandre Fortin drew the only assist on his ninth goal of the year.
Wild winger Gerry Mayhew put Iowa on the board with 2:49 to play in regulation, banging home a loose puck that was centered by teammate Joel Eriksson Ek. Defenseman Alex Grant got the other assist.
The final shots favored Rockford, 40-24. Iowa went 0-7 on the power play, while the IceHogs finished 0-5.
After a day off for Thanksgiving, the two teams square off again on Friday at 7 p.m. in Rockford.
The Iowa Wild 2017-18 season is presented by Mercy Medical Center and runs from October through April. For more information, please contact the Wild office by calling 515-564-8700 or by visiting www.iowawild.com.