ICEHOGS STAY HOT

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 2 at Rockford IceHogs 7

Dec. 9, 2017

ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Grand Rapids Griffins were seeking their first victory of the season against the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday night from the BMO Harris Bank Center. However, the home team had different intentions and it continued its winning ways against the defending Calder Cup champions with a 7-2 decision.

The Griffins (9-12-0-3) were playing their second of three games in three nights and were coming off of a home defeat to the IceHogs (15-9-1-0), 4-1. Grand Rapids will look to right the ship on Sunday against the Iowa Wild from Wells Fargo Arena at 6 p.m. EST.

Andreas Martinsen put the IceHogs on the board first at the 6:41 mark of the first period when he deflected a pass from Carl Dahlstrom into the net. Dahlstrom made the pass from the left boards while Martinsen crashed the net and inadvertently tapped it into the net with his right foot for the 1-0 lead.

Rockford added two more goals in the second frame. Tomas Jurco made it a 2-0 game six minutes in. The former Griffin scored on a nifty move in the slot after Laurent Dauphin found him with a centering pass from the right circle. It was the left winger’s ninth goal of the season giving him three points in five games against his former team this season.

Darren Raddysh tallied his third goal of the year nearly halfway through the game with 10:02 left in the middle stanza. The defenseman collected the puck in the high slot after Graham Knott made a quick pass from the left circle to give the IceHogs a three-goal lead.

Rockford added three more goals in the first three minutes of the final period with goals from Matthew Highmore, Dahlstrom, and Matheson Iacopelli to propel the IceHogs to a 6-0 lead. Highmore’s team leading 11th goal was produced after a turnover in the Grand Rapids zone, Dahlstrom’s came right after a faceoff, and Iacopelli’s was manufactured off of another turnover in the Griffins zone.

Dominik Shine ended the shutout bid for Rockford at the 5:59 mark with his second goal of the young campaign. Axel Holmstrom passed the puck to Shine from behind the net for the right winger to hammer home.

With 2:17 left in the game, Dylan McIlrath netted his second goal with a blast from the behind the right circle. Corey Elkins won the faceoff and sent the puck to the waiting defenseman who sent a laser into the net to make the score 6-2.

David Kampf registered one more goal for the home team at 18:49. The winger collected the puck from Anthony Louis and skated into the zone. Once he hit the slot, Kampf made a quick move and sent the rubber disc sailing into the net off of a backhand shot to make the final score 7-2.

Notes: The Griffins recalled rookie forward Luke Esposito from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye after the game. Esposito has one assist in seven games with the Griffins this season and has tallied three points (0-3—3) in nine contests with the Walleye…Grand Rapids is 1-for-26 on the power play against Rockford this season.

Three Stars: 1. RFD Dahlstrom (goal, two assist); 2. RFD Kampf (goal, two assist); 3. RFD Iacopelli (goal, assist)