Even with a full complement of players, beating the Dells Ducks would have have a tall task for the Rochester Ice Hawks on Friday night at the Recreation Center.
The Ducks are big, fast, skilled and well-coached.
The Ice Hawks, on the other hand, were a hurting unit, missing a half-dozen players due to injury and another due to suspension.
Without their top scoring line, the Ice Hawks had little firepower Friday and suffered an ugly 7-0 loss to the league-leading Ducks.
Dells improved to 20-2-0-0-0, while the Ice Hawks dropped to 10-5-0-1-2. It was the Ice Hawks' most lopsided loss of the season.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I'm extremely frustrated," Ice Hawks coach Nick Fatis said. "We made way too many lazy mistakes. We had a big opportunity here. A win in this game can really turn the season around for us. Instead, we got caught making horrible mistakes, silly turnovers that led to goals every time."
It was particularly frustrating because the Ice Hawks played well for good chunks of Friday's game. They held the Ducks without a goal in the first period and started the second period well, too.
Then the mistakes started coming.
"We played well in the first and for parts of the second, and I thought we were going to be just fine. We were just fine when we stayed true to what we were supposed to be doing," Fatis said. "Then they got a couple and we got away from it. I'm not happy at all."
The Ducks got the first goal six minutes into the second. Before the horn blew, the Ducks would light the lamp four more times for a 5-0 lead after two periods.
They added two insurance goals in the third.
Brandan Alcorn played well but took the loss in net for the Ice Hawks. He finished with 40 saves on 47 shots. The Ducks outshot the Hawks 47-22.
The Ice Hawks are back in action at 7 tonight back at the Rec Center against the Steele County Blades.
