Chase Dafoe Scores Twice in Pro Debut, Powers IceHogs Past Wolves 4-2

Chase Dafoe had been a professional hockey player for exactly one week when he stepped onto the ice at Allstate Arena on Saturday night. He left it with two goals, a 4-2 Rockford IceHogs victory over the Chicago Wolves, and one of the more memorable debut performances the Central Division rivalry has seen this season.

Dafoe, a 24-year-old Beverly, Massachusetts native who signed a two-year AHL contract with Rockford on March 13 after finishing his college career as captain of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks, wasted no time announcing himself. He scored twice in the first period, both on net-front deflections, staking the IceHogs to a 2-0 lead they carried into the intermission. His father, Byron Dafoe, spent 12 seasons as an NHL goaltender and won the 1994 Calder Cup with Portland. Chase converted from the other end of the ice.

The second period produced nothing on the scoresheet, but Brett Seney made the outcome feel settled just 19 seconds into the third, burying a goal to push Rockford's lead to 3-0. Chicago responded on the power play with 7:18 remaining, as Noel Gunler crashed the net and cleaned up a loose puck in the crease for his 13th goal of the season, assisted by Justin Robidas and Felix Unger Sorum. Rem Pitlick's empty-net goal, with Skyler Brind'Amour drawing the assist, restored the three-goal cushion before Wolves captain Josiah Slavin raced in on a breakaway and beat Drew Commesso for a shorthanded marker, his sixth of the year, to set the final at 4-2.

Commesso was the backbone of the win, stopping 36 of 38 shots and allowing only those two third-period goals. Cayden Primeau made 18 saves in the loss for Chicago.

Slavin acknowledged the early damage was decisive. "It's tough, we gave up a couple of goals early and then we were chasing the rest of the game," he said. "Analytically, we probably dominated the game but we just have to bear down on some chances and make sure the puck goes in the net a little earlier to open the floodgates."

The loss was Chicago's third straight and seventh in its last eight games, dropping the Wolves to 29-18-6-6. Rockford improved to 23-33-3-2. The two Central Division rivals have one meeting remaining on the regular-season schedule after Saturday's game represented their 11th of 12 matchups this year.

Dafoe came to Rockford with 21 points, including 13 goals, in 33 games at Alaska-Fairbanks this season, after beginning his college career at Providence College and spending parts of four junior seasons in the BCHL with Trail Smoke and West Kelowna. The IceHogs signed him to fill a roster hole created in part by reassigning goaltender Owen Flores to the ECHL's Indy Fuel and releasing defenseman Jake Murray from his PTO. His debut made that transaction look immediately worthwhile.