ROCKFORD EDGES IOWA 5-3
Feb 19, 2023
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Wild and Rockford IceHogs battled through a back-and-forth third period Sunday afternoon, but Dylan Sikura completed a hat trick to help Rockford edge Iowa by a 5-3 score. Steven Fogarty and Nic Petan each had a goal and an assist for the Wild.
Sikura started the scoring for Rockford at 12:34 of the first period when he beat Zane McIntyre (11 saves) along the ice on a breakaway.
Petan tied the game at 1-1 with 30 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Marco Rossi and Fogarty combined to set Petan up in the slot, who snapped a wrister past the blocker of Arvid Soderblom (22 saves).
The teams entered the first intermission tied at 1-1. Iowa outshot Rockford 11-4 in the first period.
Lukas Reichel restored a one-goal lead for the IceHogs at 10:48 of the second period when Adam Clendening intercepted a breakout pass and set Reichel up for a one-timer over McIntyre.
Rockford held a 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes. The Wild outshot the IceHogs 19-10 through two periods.
The IceHogs took a 3-1 lead 6:08 into the third period. A point shot from Alex Vlasic bounced off traffic in front of the net directly to the stick of Sikura, who finished off his second goal of the game.
Iowa responded with 9:48 to play. Sammy Walker picked up a neutral zone turnover, streaked in on Soderblom, and buried his 22nd goal of the season under the glove of Soderblom.
The back-and-forth scoring continued with 3:43 to play when Sikura completed the hat trick with a wrister over the glove of McIntyre to make the score 4-2.
The Wild pulled back within a goal again when Fogarty buried a rebound chance at 18:40 with assists from Petan and Hicketts.
D.J. Busdeker added an empty-net goal with five seconds left to cap the scoring at 5-3.
Iowa outshot Rockford 26-15. The Wild went 0-for-4 on the power play while the IceHogs were 0-for-3 on the man advantage.
The Iowa Wild continue a three-game homestand on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. against the Chicago Wolves.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by MercyOne. For more information, please visit www.iowawild.com. Fans can purchase single-game tickets through the team’s website at www.iowawild.com. Group tickets (10 or more), suites, Wild 365 memberships or premium tickets can be purchased by contacting the Iowa Wild Ticket Department at 515-564-8700 or tickets@iowawild.com. Season tickets for 2023-24 are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets for the upcoming season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365.
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