ROCKFORD — The IceHogs scored three goals in an eight-minute stretch of the second period to set up a 4-2 victory Friday against the Wolves.
Forwards Ben Jones and Brandon Pirri scored for the Wolves (9-13-1-0), and forwards Jermaine Loewen and Valentin Zykov earned their first points in a Wolves uniform.
The IceHogs (10-8-0-1) broke on top at 15:25 of the first period when forward John Quenneville skated into the slot and banged a shot off the inside of the post and into the net.
They bumped their lead to 2-0 at 3:50 of the second when forward Alexandre Fortin scored on a rebound. Defenseman Dennis Gilbert hustled down the right wing and fired a wrist shot at Wolves goalie Oscar Dansk, who made the save but directed the puck right at Fortin coming down the left circle.
After each team took a minor penalty, the IceHogs took advantage of the four-on-four situation to make it 3-0 at 6:01 of the second. A long pass off the boards by Lucas Carlsson set up Philipp Kurashev and Dylan Sikura for a two-on-one rush. Kurashev passed the puck ahead to Sikura, who did the rest.
The Wolves tried to get back into the game with a goal at 9:27 of the second. Loewen collected the puck while crossing into the offensive zone and flicked a pass off the skate of an IceHogs player. The puck bounced right to Jones, who fired from the right circle and beat goalie Mark Tomkins to the blocker side.
After the IceHogs’ Brandon Hagel scored on a breakaway to give the hosts a 4-1 lead at 11:27 of the second, Pirri took advantage of a power play to cut the Wolves’ deficit to two again. Zykov, who was making his debut with the Wolves after being loaned to them Thursday by the parent Golden Knights, backhanded a pass across the slot to Pirri, who launched a one-timer from the left circle that beat Tomkins at 15:42 of the second.
Dansk made 22 saves for the Wolves and Tomkins 31 for the IceHogs.
The Wolves host the Moose at 7 p.m. Saturday at Allstate Arena.
