Griffins rally again to stun the IceHogs, 3-1

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- On a night the Grand Rapids Griffins struggled to mount much of anything offensively until the final frame, they still managed to rally for an important victory on home ice Wednesday night, 3-1, over the Rockford IceHogs.

The game was aired on WOOD Radio.

The first period flew by, with a lot of open-ice action but only a few real scoring opportunities by either team. The Griffins played well defensively, and were outshot 6-2. There was no score after one period.

The period went quickly, with a only few stops in the action. With 11:40 left in the opening frame, Elmer Soderblom had an opportunity out in front of IceHogs netminder Drew Commesso, but his backhanded shot failed to hit paydirt. With 9:49 to go, Griffins right wing Tyler Spezia and Rockford defenseman Wyatt Kaiser got tangled in the corner to the right of Commesso. That led to a brief skirmish between the two and the first penalties of the game, to finally halt the action after several minutes. Both received 2-minute roughing penalties.

Despite all the non-stop action, there were only four shots on goal at that point, three of them by the IceHogs. The coincidental penalties expired without any harm to either team.

Griffins goalie Sebastian Cossa had to make a quick leg-pad save with about four minutes left in the opening stanza, after a pass ricocheted off the boards behind him and onto the stick of IceHogs forward Ryder Rolston.

The first period ended with Rockford leading in shots on goal, 6-to-2.

The Griffins outshot the IceHogs in the second stanza, 10-4, but still didn't generate much offense. However, their defense kept it close throughout the period.

Griffins' right wing Carter Mazur had a scoring chance a minute into the second period, as he charged the net with the puck on his stick for a moment. But he suffered a blow to the hand from a stick in the crowd of bodies and lost control of the puck. However, just two minutes in, Grand Rapids had tied the shots-on-goal in the game at 6-6.

With 14:20 left, IceHogs left wing Mike Hardman took a rebound in front of the Griffins' net, and he made a quick pirouette shot to beat Cossa on the short side for the game's first goal. He was assisted on the goal by Jalen Luypen.

The Griffins' Dominik Shine had a breakaway with about 12 minutes to go, as he took a two-line pass at Rockford's blue line and skated in on goal. But he was badgered by a backchecking defenseman and couldn't get a shot off.

At 11:51 in, Rockford's Nolan Allan was called for tripping Jonatan Berggren - giving Grand Rapids its first power play of the game. But the Griffins are scoring on only 17 percent of their chances with the extra attacker in home games this season. And they failed to score with the man advantage once again, mustering only one shot on goal.

With 1:46 to go in the 2nd period, Logan Nijhoff of Rockford and Albert Johansson of the Griffins each were penalized following a mini-melee behind the Griffins' cage. Commesso stoned Austin Czarnik on a breakaway with less than a minute left, and William Wallinder's follow-up shot was blocked as well. Both teams were skating at four men on the ice apiece. The Griffins led in shots on goal after two periods, 13-11.

Rockford wasted no time at the opening of the 3rd period, peppering Cossa with four shots in the first two minutes, to no avail.

Marco Kasper sped down the ice at the 15:22 mark and was tripped in front of the net and shoved into the end boards. That netted a two-minute penalty for Rockford's Wyatt Kaiser. Carter Mazur then got a close-in shot on goal after a rebound, but Commesso was ready for it - and the IceHogs killed the power play.

Less than a minute later, though, with 12:42 to go, Tyler Spezia got a breakaway goal after Dominik Shine poked the puck away from Rockford at center ice and fed Spezia as he streaked in on goal and beat Commesso.

Just :42 seconds later, the Griffins buzzed the IceHogs' cage again, but Commesso was equal to the task this time, stopping a point-blank shot by Griffins' left wing Tim Gettinger. At that point, both teams had 17 shots on goal for the game.

With 8:05 left in the game, Jonatan Berggren fired a laser shot from the top of the left circle that beat Commesso on a short-side goal above his glove hand. It was Berggren's 10th goal of the season. It gave the Griffins their first lead of the game, 2-1. Austin Czarnik and Wyatt Newpower got the assists on the tally.

Berggren almost scored again with 3:38 left in regulation as he skated right in on goal, but couldn't get it past Commesso for a second time.

The IceHogs sent their goaltender to the bench in favor of an extra attacker with less than two minutes to go. Rockford called a timeout with 1:04 left. The Griffins' Czarnik then sealed the 3-1 victory with an empty-net goal with 27.7 remaining. Gettinger got the assist. There would have been a penalty for a high stick had Rockford gained control of the puck, but it wasn't meant to be. Nor was a victory for the IceHogs, which outshot and outplayed Grand Rapids for the first period and a half. But the Griffins have rallied for victories their past few games.

The Griffins finished with 26 shots on goal and Rockford had 23.

The win was a big one for Grand Rapids, which kept fourth-place Rockford from overtaking the Griffins for third place in the American Hockey League's Central Division. The Griffins now have 39 points through 37 games played. Rockford has 36 points with 36 games in the books. Grand Rapids remains four points behind the second-place Texas Stars, which won at the Iowa Wild on Wednesday night.

Public Address announcer Eric Zane told the crowd that Jonatan Berggren was named the star of the game.

---------------------

GAME NOTES:

Griffins left wing Taro Hirose and defenseman Eemil Viro did not play, due to lower-body injuries. Viro's return is listed as day-to-day.

The Griffins' next game will be Friday night at 7 o'clock against the Belleville Senators.

Looking back in the history books ... it was Jan. 24, 2002, when the Griffins and the Detroit Red Wings signed their original franchise-affiliation agreement. The Griffins had been affiliated with the Ottawa Senators in the days of the International Hockey League.

###