Calder Cup Playoffs: IceHogs 3, Wild 2 (OT) Recap

The Rockford IceHogs scored 3:59 into overtime to defeat the Wild 3-2 in Game 1 of the First Round of the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs Wednesday night. The series is a best-of-three, so the IceHogs could punch their way into the next round with a victory Friday.

Game Recap:

The Wild opened the scoring 3:26 into the first period as Mitchell Balmas cleaned up a post-created rebound of Dakota Mermis into an open net.  

The IceHogs responded just 18 seconds later to tie the game 1-1. Luke Philp won the faceoff after an Iowa icing and forward Brett Seney cycled around before setting up Gust in the high slot.

The IceHogs made it 2-1 with 2:05 left in the first period after Senay knocked in Isaak Phillips’ rebound. Credit to Phillips with his persistence prior to his shot to get in close and find an open shooting lane.

The Wild tied the game 2-2 about four minutes into the second period. Nic Petan found the puck that popped loose from battle along the boards and got the puck to Steven Fogarty, who scored with a wrist shot from the slot.

After no scoring in the third period, the Wild and IceHogs headed to overtime – the eighth of 13 meetings this season the two teams required extra hockey.

The IceHogs scored around four minutes into overtime courtesy of Rocco Grimaldi. Grimaldi scooped up a turnover by Petan in the IceHogs’ offensive zone and beat Jesper Wallstedt with a shot from the right dot, securing the 3-2 victory for the IceHogs.

Prospect Notes:

• Lukas Reichel is obviously the star of the Blackhawks prospects in Rockford, and while he didn’t score last night, he had a ton of great moments throughout the game.

• Michal Teplý is the one of the only other Blackhawks forward prospects in Rockford still, and he had a couple of good moves throughout the game. Here is just one of them:

• Phillips was a standout from the blueline, showing how well-rounded and poised he is as a defender. Here is an extended look at Phillips on the Senay goal – the puck handling and chip-to-self off the boards on the zone entry is stellar – as well as an example of how he defends the blue line:

• Alex Vlasic and Alec Regula also showed off their own skills during the game. Interestingly, the clips below are the reverse you’d expect from the two: the first illustrates how defense-first Vlasic can help generate offensive opportunities while the second is all about how the more-offensive skewed Regula has above-average defensive abilities, especially one-on-one where his reach is such an advantage.

• As the most offensive defensemen in Rockford, it’s not surprising Galvas had a few moments throughout the game where he shined in the OZ. It’s unfortunate that that Galvas doesn’t really fit into the Blackhawks plans for the future, because he is versatile, but Scott Powers of The Athletic reported that it sounds like Galvas will return to Europe this off-season.

• Both goalies were impressive in this game, but Arvid Söderblom got the win by stopping 29 of 31 shots for a .935 save-percentage. Considering Wallstedt is one of the highest rated prospective goalies in the league, it’s cool to see Söderblom play as well (if not better) than him.

• Lastly, listen to head coach Anders Sorensen discuss the IceHogs win over Iowa:

Note: Credit @Chi_Prospects for his work in getting the types of videos above together. Highly recommend following him on twitter – and he covers more than just Rockford when it comes to Blackhawks prospects.

What’s next

The IceHogs head to Iowa Friday night to face the Wild in Game 2 at Wells Fargo Arena for a 7 p.m. start.