Toninato's OT Winner, Three Points Lift IceHogs Past Iowa Wild

Dominic Toninato redirected Kevin Korchinski's backdoor pass 39 seconds into overtime to give the Rockford IceHogs a 4-3 win over the Iowa Wild at BMO Center on Saturday night, capping a three-point performance that has this veteran forward playing some of the best hockey of his career.

Korchinski fed Toninato on the back door and the finish was clean, sealing a second point for Rockford after Iowa had clawed back to force the extra session. Toninato had already scored twice in regulation to go with his overtime winner, giving him four goals and three assists over his last five games.

The IceHogs drew first blood at 7:08 of the first period when Joey Anderson's centering pass deflected off an Iowa defender and past Cal Petersen. Rockford outshot Iowa 20-11 through 40 minutes, but the Wild made those shots count. David Spacek tied it on the power play 7:07 into the second period, pouncing on a loose puck with Dylan Gambrell and Gerry Mayhew picking up the assists. Toninato restored the Rockford lead at 9:57, deflecting a Brayden Hislop pass into the net. Iowa answered at 11:30 when Nicolas Aubé-Kubel followed up his own rebound after Hunter Haight collected a Jean-Luc Foudy dump-in. Then Ben Jones put Iowa ahead off a net-mouth scramble just 1:03 later, with Carson Lambos and Mayhew assisting.

With the IceHogs trailing heading into the final period, Rockford made a goaltending change. Drew Commesso, who finished with 18 saves, replaced Olivier Rodrigue, who had stopped 17 shots through the first two periods. The move paid off. Kevin Lombardi deflected a point shot past Petersen's glove to tie the game at 3-3 with 10:16 remaining in regulation, setting the stage for Toninato's winner.

The overtime goal was this season in miniature for Toninato: opportunistic, well-positioned, and timely. Through 52 games in what the Rockford organization is calling his career-best AHL campaign, the forward now has 16 goals, 27 assists, 43 points, and 57 penalty minutes. He's also racked up four game-winning goals on the season, a number that now includes this overtime strike against Iowa.

For the Wild, the loss stings precisely because they earned the lead twice in the second period and held it late into the third. Goaltender Cal Petersen was beaten four times on what appeared to be a night Iowa couldn't solve Rockford's goaltending change when it mattered. Iowa will take the single point from the overtime loss, but Toninato made sure that was all they got.

Rockford's Dillon Boucher and Iowa's Roman Schmidt also exchanged haymakers during the contest, adding a physical dimension to what was already a tightly contested divisional game.