The Grand Rapids Griffins scored three times in the second period and beat the Rockford IceHogs 4-2 on Saturday night at the BMO Center in Rockford, Illinois. John Leonard scored twice, and Trey Augustine made 27 saves as the Griffins improved to 4-1-1-0 in the opener of a home-and-home weekend. Rockford fell to 1-4-0-0 before a crowd of 4,320.
How the goals came
After a scoreless first period in which Grand Rapids outshot Rockford 15-4, Carter Bear broke through at 3:53 of the second, pushing in a rebound at the near post for his second goal of the season. Jacob Truscott and Dominik Shine assisted. Dylan James made it 2-0 just 35 seconds later off a Rockford giveaway behind the net, set up by Ondrej Becher.
Leonard scored his first goal of the season on a 5-on-3 power play at 18:25 of the second, from Jacob Bryson and Becher. Rockford answered in the third with goals 2:48 apart from Nick Lardis at 10:47 and Brett Seney at 13:35, both set up by Gavin Hayes. Leonard sealed it with an empty-net goal at 19:45, from Shine and Bryson. Becher finished with two assists and was the game’s second star behind Leonard.
In goal and on special teams
Grand Rapids outshot Rockford 37-29. Augustine, the Red Wings’ 2023 second-round pick, faced 25 shots over the final two periods and was named the third star. Stanislav Berezhnoy made 33 saves for the IceHogs. The Griffins went 2-for-6 on the power play, ending Rockford’s perfect penalty kill, which had been 20-for-20 this season, and held the IceHogs 0-for-6.
What’s next
The teams meet again Sunday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. The Griffins’ schedule lists a 4 p.m. start.
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