Five consecutive goals sealed the deal for the Rockford IceHogs as they toppled the Manitoba Moose 5-1 on Sunday afternoon. Jaret Anderson-Dolan was the lone scorer for the Moose while Rockford has three players record multi-point games.
The Moose jumped early in the game, but Rockford netminder Drew Commesso kept Manitoba off the board for the first frame. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby drove the puck from the neutral zone and crashed the net, Parker Ford got the rebound but could not beat Commesso.
As a bit of time passed, Nikita Chibrikov found himself hauled down by a stick to the knees and retaliated with a cross-check to the face area of a Rockford player. Gerry Mayhew jumped to the defence of his teammate, but the Moose were quick to jump to the defence of Chibrikov. Nine seconds into four-on-four action, Rockford’s Cole Guttman scored on a nice touch-and-go play by Colton Dach and Austin Strand.
Manitoba would push throughout the period but kept stuck in the game’s transitional side. Rockford pounced and on another great passing sequence, Guttman fed Samuel Savoie with a great pass who found Landon Slaggert who beat Thomas Milic’s low glove side to get the insurance marker.
Later in the period, Manitoba found themselves in the offensive zone for an extended time, but Commesso showed his strong play as he kept Manitoba at bay. Manitoba continued this pressure as the minutes winded down and Rockford felt the pressure.
With the period coming to a close, Brandon Baddock clipped Dylan Anhorn with what appeared to be an attempted slewfoot. Tyrel Bauer took exception to his defensive partner getting clipped and both Baddock and Bauer engaged in a lengthy tilt.
Manitoba found themselves down two goals to end the first period but led in shots with 14 to Rockford’s eight.
The second period didn’t get easier for the Moose as Rockford kept pushing. Manitoba matched the IceHogs’ intensity but kept getting caught trying to be too flashy in simple plays.
Jalen Luypen scored the first goal of the second period to put the IceHogs up 3-0 in a goal caused by poor communication. Simon Lundmark tried to clear the puck from behind the net but hit Brad Lambert with the puck and Luypen picked up the loose puck and scored unassisted on Milic.
Manitoba wouldn’t record a shot on goal until 10:15 into the second period, but they managed to get 10 shots on goal even though they were held off the shot count for half the period.
Commesso continued to keep the Moose off the board, even when faced with intense pressure. Commesso’s calmness continued to ripple down the IceHogs lineup which was obvious in their play.
Later on, Kevin Conley would lay a huge hit on Colton Dach who was caught with his head down. Conley would not be penalized on the play and a scrum would ensue well after the whistle. No players were penalized for the post-whistle antics, but another scrum ensued seconds later as temperatures continued to rise and both teams headed back to four-on-four action.
Like the four-on-four sequence in the first period, Rockford struck nine seconds into the play. Jalen Luypen fed a cross-crease pass to Landon Slaggert for Slaggert’s second of the game. Not even a minute after Slaggert’s second, Cole Guttman scored his second of the game to extend the game to 5-0.
As the period slowly came to an end, it was clear this game was getting more out of hand after each post-whistle scrum that ensued.
The second period ended as Manitoba led in the shots category 24 to Rockford’s 17, but Rockford remained ahead 5-0.
The third period wasn’t any less intense as the Moose had to empty the tank against a Rockford team that seemed to have this one all but settled.
Manitoba would get a chance to end Commesso’s shutout bid, and they did just that on a five-on-three power play opportunity. Jaret Anderson-Dolan scored the lone goal for Manitoba to cut the lead down to 5-1 as the Moose locked down the offensive and neutral zones in the third period.
The antics wouldn’t end after the final buzzer as Mark Liwiski laid a high hit on an IceHogs player. Rockford responded accordingly and both teams exchanged words as they left the ice.
Drew Commesso, the first star of the game stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced while second star Landon Slaggert scored two goals and third star Cole Guttman added three points (2G, 1A) in the IceHogs victory.
The Manitoba Moose are back in action on Sunday, December 29th for a 2:00 pm CST puck drop as they welcome the Texas Stars to Manitoba for a two-game series.
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