Grand Rapids opened scoring 4:21 into the first period when Dominik Shine forced a turnover behind the Rockford net to get the puck to Austin Watson at the hashmarks. He flipped a pass to Leonard on the doorstep and the Massachusetts native tapped it in to take a 1-0 lead. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard sent a drop pass to Lombardi at the top of the zone 3:28 later, and he stick-handled through the right circle, back-handed the puck over the shoulder of Stanislav Berezhnoy and claimed a two-goal lead for Grand Rapids.

The Griffins scored the lone goal of the second frame while on the power play when Austin Watson passed the puck from along the far-side boards to Eduards Tralmaks. He slapped a one-timer past Berezhnoy to extend Grand Rapids’ lead to 3-0 with 14:18 remaining. 

With 10:21 left in the final slate, Antti Tuomisto passed the puck to William Lagesson at the left point, and he fired the puck over Berezhnoy’s glove to claim a 4-0 lead for Grand Rapids. At the 11:32 mark, Gabriel Seger slipped a pass from the right hashmarks to Bantle in the slot, and he fired it in to capture a five-goal advantage. With 6:07 left, the IceHogs notched their lone goal of the game on the power play when Jamie Engelbert tipped in a wrist shot from Gavin Hayes, but the Griffins ultimately ran away with the victory.

 

Notes

The Griffins penalty kill ranks second in the AHL at 87.8%, and they have gone 36-for-41 on the season.Watson extended his point streak to three games.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 2 1 2 – 5

Rockford 0 0 1 – 1

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Leonard 11 (Watson, Shine), 4:21. 2, Grand Rapids, Lombardi 3 (Brandsegg-Nygård, Leonard), 7:49. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-3, Grand Rapids, Tralmaks 6 (Watson, Rychlovský), 5:42 (PP). Penalties-served by Thompson Rfd (too many men – bench minor), 4:33; Watson Gr (fighting), 17:36; Mylymok Rfd (fighting), 17:36.

3rd Period-4, Grand Rapids, Lagesson 2 (Tuomisto, Leonard), 9:39. 5, Grand Rapids, Bantle 1 (Seger), 11:32. 6, Rockford, Engelbert 2 (Hayes, Cates), 13:53 (PP). Penalties-Bantle Gr (slashing), 0:18; Shine Gr (high-sticking), 1:02; Moyle Gr (slashing), 6:20; Doucet Gr (hooking), 13:35; Allan Rfd (hooking), 14:19; Savoie Rfd (tripping), 14:40.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 9-15-12-36. Rockford 7-4-14-25.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 3; Rockford 1 / 4.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Cossa 5-0-0 (25 shots-24 saves). Rockford, Berezhnoy 3-2-0 (36 shots-31 saves).

A-2,406

Three Stars

1. GR Leonard (goal, two assists) 2. GR Watson (two assists) 3. RFD Engelbert (power-play goal)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 11-0-0-1 (23 pts.) / Fri., Nov. 21 vs. Charlotte 7 p.m.

Rockford: 7-8-1-1 (16 pts.) / Fri., Nov. 21 at Texas 8 p.m. CST

 

Photo by Rockford/Kristin Ostrowski