IceHogs Blow Past Aeros 5-1

Rockford's Corey Crawford was stellar in net on Friday night against the Houston Aeros.

IceHogs' netminder Corey Crawford put in his best performance so far this season with this game, saving 34 out of 35 shots on goal. For his efforts, he was awarded the first Star of the Game and rightly so. For you trivia buffs, he was also named the first Star of the Game for Wednesday's game against Houston also. This was his fourth start in net since returning from two months off for a lower body injury. He was seeing the puck excellently and for once the defense in front of him didn't let him down.

The time clock showed 0:24 in the first frame when Mark Cullen for Rockford lit Wade Dubielewicz up, assisted by Pete MacArthur and Matt Keith. Then just a very short 27 seconds later Jack Skille chased Dubielewicz from net, scoring at 0:51. He was assisted by Brian Connelly and Kyle Greentree. Immediately Anton Khudobin was sent in to replace Dubielewicz, hoping to change the momentum for Houston. At the 2:30 mark Houston's Matt Kassian asked Rockford's Ryan Flinn for a dance. Flinn accepted and fists flew furiously with the match ending in a draw. But even Khudobin couldn't stop Rockford's drive as Kyle Greentree got the puck past him late in that fateful first frame, assisted by Bracken Kearns and Jack Skille.

Rockford appeared to shutdown Houston's efforts during the second frame, not allowing any of their ten shots on goal find the back of the net. the game stats don't reflect how well Rockford played that frame as they only got one shot on goal. But, if you are going to only get one shot, might as well make it count. That shot resulted in a goal for Richard Petiot, assisted by Mark Cullen and Simon Danis-Pepin.

In the third frame, Houston finally got on the board with a goal scored by Jamie Fraser. He was assisted by J.P.Testwuide and Trent Campbell. Rockford's Akim Aliu nabbed a empty netter at 19:44 to make the final score 5-1.

Rockford will spend this weekend on the bus, as they play in Peoria on Saturday night and then make a quick run up to Grand Rapids for a afternoon game against the Griffins.

Houston's Matt Kassian appears to give Rockford's Mike Brennan a leg up onto the boards.

Blizzard conditions prevailed inside the MetroCentre as the snow flew while Corey Crawford and David Phillips defend the net.

These girls appeared to be having a great time watching the game from glass level in the club lounge. Giggles, squeeks and squeals could be heard in reaction to the action happening just a few feet in front of them.