The Grand Rapids Griffins return home Sunday to finish a weekend home-and-home with the Rockford IceHogs, with puck drop set for 4 p.m. at Van Andel Arena. Grand Rapids won Saturday’s opener 4-2 at the BMO Center in Rockford, Illinois, and comes in at 4-1-1-0. Rockford is 1-4-0-0.

Where things stand

The Griffins have earned points in five of their six games and took the season series lead Saturday with three second-period goals. John Leonard scored twice, Carter Bear added his second goal of the season, and Dylan James also scored. Ondrej Becher had two assists. Grand Rapids went 2-for-6 on the power play, the first goals Rockford had allowed on the penalty kill this season after a 20-for-20 start, and the Griffins killed all six IceHogs power plays.

Rookie Jesse Kiiskinen, the Red Wings prospect who recorded his first AHL hat trick on Oct. 11, still leads the Griffins with five goals and seven points. In goal, Trey Augustine made 27 saves Saturday, while Michal Postava, the AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 11, is 3-0 with a 1.34 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage. The Griffins have not announced Sunday’s starter.

Rockford, which missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2019, is led by captain Brett Seney, who scored Saturday. Nick Lardis also scored for the IceHogs, and Gavin Hayes assisted on both goals. Stanislav Berezhnoy made 33 saves in the opener.

The series

Grand Rapids leads the all-time series 81-55-11-11 and has won 14 of the last 20 meetings, including a 7-3 mark against Rockford last season.

How to watch

Puck drop is 4 p.m. at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. The game streams on AHLTV on FloHockey. The Griffins return home again next weekend, hosting the Cleveland Monsters on Friday, Oct. 23, for Oktoberfest night and on Saturday, Oct. 24, for Mushroom Kingdom Night.

Sources

• Grand Rapids Griffins: Game notes, Griffins at IceHogs, Oct. 17, 2026
• Grand Rapids Griffins: Oktoberfest, Mushroom Kingdom Night upcoming for Griffins
• AHL: Official game report, Grand Rapids at Rockford, Oct. 17, 2026
• Rockford IceHogs: IceHogs comeback falls short to the Griffins in 4-2 battle
• TickPick: Griffins vs. IceHogs, Oct. 18, 2026, Van Andel Arena (event listing)
• Mitten Hockey: Griffins Game Recap, at IceHogs (Oct. 17)