Rampage Game Thread: Rockford 1/25/17

The beloved Rampage had a satisfactory weekend with a bad loss, a good win and squeaking by with an exciting OT victory against the IceHogs, who are once again in town for a game tonight. They’re still a couple games under .500 and the playoff cut is 6 games over right now.

Roster/Injury Report

- Jim O’Brien was called up to the Avs late Tuesday. Colorado played with a short lineup Monday because the front office has no idea what they are doing. Tomorrow is their last game before the ASG so OB will be back for the weekend. I like this. I’d rather see one of the youngsters get the call but for a one-game deal OB is deserving of a shot.

- Spencer Martin was pulled out of the AHL ASG with his spot going to Jack Campbell. I guess we’re not expecting him back anytime soon.

- Mason Geertsen was called up from the Eagles on Monday. My guess at the time he was sent down was that it was for conditioning and logging minutes to prep for playing in San Antonio again, which seems to be the case.

- Going the other way were Cody Corbett & Alex Belzile. First time with the Eagles for both. Belzile didn’t get any time on ice because he was recalled last night due to O’Brien heading to Denver.

- We got some news on the injury front last weekend. Trent Vogelhuber is out for the season with LBI, so no further updates needed there unless something miraculous happens. He’s signed for next season so we will see him again at some point. Turner Elson had surgery in December and could be available in March but there’s no guarantee he returns at all.

Fast Facts: Manitoba/Rockford

MAN 2 - SA 0

Shots: 25-39 (39.1%) 4 guys had 3 apiece
Special Teams: PP 0/4, PK 2/3
Jeremy Smith stopped 37/39 (.949)
Goals: None

SA 4 - MAN 2

Shots: 28-29 (49.1%) Rocco had 4, a bunch had 3 again
Special Teams: PP 0/2, PK 3/4
Jeremy Smith stopped 27/29 (.931)
Goals: Grimaldi (13), Bigras (3), Greer (12), Girard (1)

SA 3 - RFD 2 (OT)

Shots: 29-39 (42.6%) Grimaldi had 5, Nunn 4
Special Teams: PP 0/1, PK 1/1
Kent Simpson stopped 37/39 (.949)
Goals: O’Brien (7), Nunn (7), Grimaldi (14)

Preview: IceHogs, part 2

The Hogs are 7 games under .500 and at the bottom of the Western Conference. They played the Rampage tough on Sunday but considering they were rested and SA was on the back end of a 3-in-3 says all you need to know. With the teams on equal footing this should be a win.

Lineup from Sunday

Whitney - O’Brien - Nunn
Greer - Compher - Sislo
Bourque - Girard - Grimaldi
Henley - Bourke - Petryk

Bigras - Clark
Lindholm - Boikov
Siemens - Young

Simpson
Smith

Scratched: Nantel, Belzile, Corbett

Who knows what the lines are going to look like. I’d put Rocco back with the kids and call that the 1st then blender the rest. The cynic in me sees Girard centering the 1st and Nantel moving into his spot. I’m also going to speculate that Duncan & Boikov get paired back up with Mason and Lindholm together. With OB gone and a weak opponent this is a good opportunity for Coach Veilleux to try out some things if he chooses to. Scoring has been pretty weak on this homestand, sooner or later they’ve got to hit on something that works.

Schedule

Rampage vs IceHogs 8pmET on Ticket 760

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This game semi-conflicts with the Avs/Vancouver showdown unfortunately.