On a night where both the Chicago Blackhawks and Rockford IceHogs were in Michigan to face their rivals, both would come away victors on Wednesday night. Before the Blackhawks finished off the Red Wings in overtime, the IceHogs were able to do the same to the Griffins in Grand Rapids. With less than a second on the clock, Luke Johnson found the overtime winner to give Rockford its third win in a row and a three-point cushion in the AHL Central Division for the fourth and final Calder Cup Playoff spot.
Rockford IceHogs def. Grand Rapids Griffins, 3-2 (OT)
Anton Forsberg got the start in net for the IceHogs against the Division-leading Griffins, having won four of his last six starts with a 0.933 save-percentage over that span. Also highlighting the IceHogs roster on Wednesday night was newcomer Peter Holland. Acquired in a trade with the Rangers on Tuesday that sent Darren Raddysh to New York (Hartford), Holland would make his debut with the IceHogs and make it count.
Grand Rapids would get off to a hot start to open the game, scoring just 81 seconds into the opening period. Wade Megan tallied his 13th goal of the season to put the Griffins up 1-0. Later in the period, Matt Puempel tallied his 19th goal of the season, coming on the power-play, to put Grand Rapids up 2-0 after the first 20 minutes of action.
Rockford would slowly crawl back into the game and cut the Griffins lead in half with just under 7 minutes to play in the second period. Joni Tuulola scored on a rebound for his third goal of the season, assisted by Peter Holland. It would be Holland’s first point with the IceHogs, but his 50th point on the season. Rockford would trail the Griffins 2-1 after the second period, but was able to build momentum into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Early in the third period, on the power-play, the IceHogs were able to tie the game thanks to Jordan Schroeder tallying his 15th goal of the season, also on a rebound, to make it a 2-2 game. Holland notched an assist for his second point with the IceHogs and a team-leading 51st point of the season. No breakthrough would come in the final 18 minutes of regulation and the teams would head to overtime.
Rockford IceHogs goaltender Anton Forsberg makes a glove save against the Grand Rapids Griffins. (Courtesy: Grand Rapids Griffins)
In the extra frame, Forsberg was able to shut down all four shots he faced and allowed for the IceHogs to make one final push down the ice with under ten seconds to play. Henri Jokiharju fanned on a shot, Graham Knott followed up and put the puck on net, but it was Luke Johnson on the doorstep to finally put the puck behind Harri Sateri with less than a second left on the clock for the 3-2 win. Johnson’s 12th goal of the season propelled the IceHogs to their third win in-a-row and now have a 7-2-0 record for the month of February.
Anton Forsberg finished the game with 37 saves on 39 shots, including 24-consecutive saves after the end of the first period. Forsberg improved his record to 12-10-1 on the season, with a 2.60 GAA and a 0.921 save-percentage. The IceHogs lead the AHL in team save-percentage this season with a cumulative 0.918 save-percentage from Forsberg, Kevin Lankinen, and Collin Delia.
Calder Cup Playoff Push
Following the win over the Griffins, the IceHogs sit in fourth-place in the AHL Central Division with a three-point cushion over the fifth-place Texas Stars. They trail the second-place Chicago Wolves and third-place Iowa Wild by four points.
- Grand Rapids Griffins (54 GP) – 30-16-8, 68 pts
- Chicago Wolves (52 GP) – 29-17-6, 64 pts
- Iowa Wild (53 GP) – 27-16-10, 64 pts
- Rockford IceHogs (55 GP) – 26-21-8, 60 pts
- Texas Stars (52 GP) – 26-22-5, 57 pts
- Milwaukee Admirals (54 GP) – 23-21-10, 56 pts
- Manitoba Moose (53 GP) – 25-23-5, 55 pts
- San Antonio Rampage (52 GP) – 24-23-5, 53 pts
The Central Division is the only Division in the AHL to have all teams with more regulation/overtime wins than regulation losses.
What’s Next?
The Rockford IceHogs are back in action on Saturday night as they continue their current four-game road trip. Saturday marks the first of back-to-back contests against Eastern Conference teams as they take on the Hershey Bears. Puck drop on Saturday night is scheduled for 6pm CT at Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Rockford beat Hershey in their first meeting this season, 5-2 in Rockford on October 14.
Following Saturday night’s game, the IceHogs have a quick turnaround as they take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is set for 2:05pm CT at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The IceHogs beat the Penguins earlier this month in their only other meeting this season, 2-1 on February 6.