Feb. 15, 2023

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Griffins’ offense put up five goals on the Rockford IceHogs to secure win number 20 in a 5-4 contest on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena.

Simon Edvinsson had a strong offensive output by providing a goal, three assists and a plus-five rating for his squad. The Swede ranks fifth in the AHL among rookie defenseman in points this season and leads all Griffin defenders in points this campaign (4-18–22). Alex Chiasson recorded two tallies, his first multi-goal outing since Dec. 22, 2022.

The Griffins opened the first period with back-to-back goals from Edvinsson and Chiasson. At 6:27, the Swedish rookie skated his way into the crease and tried to set up Taro Hirose, but his pass found its way behind Arvid Soderblom (brother of Elmer Soderblom) and lit the lamp. Just 21 seconds later, Chiasson rifled a shot from the top of the left circle over the right pad and under the stick of Rockford’s netminder to take a 2-0 lead.

Hirose tacked on the third tally for Grand Rapids, steering the puck around the outstretched stick of Alex Vlasic and Arvid Soderblom’s left pad to carry the disc inside the goal at 3:28. Before the end of the second frame, the IceHogs cut the deficit to one with a pair of scores. Bobby Lynch lasered a shot from the left circle just inside the left goal post at 8:33, while Carson Gicewicz tapped in a goal from his knees on the doorstep with 38 seconds remaining to make it 3-2.

At 2:47 in the final stanza, Dominik Shine raced up ice on a breakaway set up by Tyler Spezia’s pass. Shine buried a shot into the top-shelf to take a 4-2 lead. On an odd-man rush at 8:45, Adam Erne played the puck across the goalmouth to Chiasson’s stick to allow him to tap in the game-winner. Rockford scored two more times in the third at 9:16 (Lukas Reichel) and with 7:12 to go (Lynch), but the Griffins prevented the IceHogs from scoring again after Rockford pulled Arvid Soderblom with 1:45 left to win 5-4.

Notes
- With four points, Edvinsson crossed the 50-point milestone and has 51 as a pro, while Albert Johansson tallied his 50th professional assist and has 51 apples in total.
- Spezia skated in his 250th professional game.

Box Score
Rockford 0 2 2 - 4
Grand Rapids 2 1 2 - 5

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Edvinsson 4 (Luff, Johansson), 6:27. 2, Grand Rapids, Chiasson 6 (Edvinsson), 6:48. Penalties-Gust Rfd (holding), 0:39; Regula Rfd (tripping), 1:34; Andreasson Gr (holding), 8:58; Robinson Rfd (goaltender interference), 12:59; Shine Gr (hooking), 19:08.

2nd Period-3, Grand Rapids, Hirose 12 (Johansson), 3:28. 4, Rockford, Lynch 5 (Busdeker), 8:33. 5, Rockford, Gicewicz 4 (Zech, Lynch), 19:22. Penalties-Pearson Gr (hooking), 1:05; served by Howarth Rfd (bench minor - too many men), 10:31.

3rd Period-6, Grand Rapids, Shine 8 (Spezia, Edvinsson), 2:47. 7, Grand Rapids, Chiasson 7 (Erne, Edvinsson), 8:45. 8, Rockford, Reichel 16 (Crevier, Roos), 9:16. 9, Rockford, Lynch 6 (Gicewicz, Howarth), 12:48. Penalties-Johansson Gr (hooking), 0:34; Luff Gr (hooking), 3:55.

Shots on Goal-Rockford 11-15-16-42. Grand Rapids 8-5-6-19.
Power Play Opportunities-Rockford 0 / 5; Grand Rapids 0 / 4.
Goalies-Rockford, Soderblom 4-6-4 (19 shots-14 saves). Grand Rapids, Nedeljkovic 8-4-2 (42 shots-38 saves).
A-4,737

Three Stars
1. GR Chiasson (game-winner); 2. GR Edvinsson (goal, three assists); 3. RFD Lynch (two goals).

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 20-22-2-2 (44 pts.) / Fri., Feb. 17 vs. Cleveland 7 p.m. EST
Rockford: 23-17-4-4 (54 pts.) / Fri., Feb. 17 vs. Texas 7:00 p.m. CST

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins