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Rockford IceHogs

Del Mastro Caps off Third-Period Comeback with Overtime Winner; Hogs Win Fifth Straight

March 2, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rockford IceHogs News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Cole Guttman tallied twice, and Ethan Del Mastro netted his second overtime winner of the season to propel the IceHogs to a 5-4 overtime victory at Van Andel Arena on Saturday night for their fifth consecutive win. Rockford trailed 3-1 heading into the third, but three goals in the span of 1:28 lifted the Hogs into the driver's seat and changed the complexion of the game.

Lukas Reichel and Ethan Del Mastro skated into the Griffins' zone on a 2-on-1 in overtime, and Del Mastro blasted Reichel's backdoor feed past Grand Rapids goaltender Sebastian Cossa (3:46).

Late in the first period, Grand Rapids snagged a 1-0 lead on the power play. Del Mastro was tagged with a roughing minor at 14:25, and Carter Mazur netted a wrister from the left circle off Austin Czarnik's pass from behind Rockford's net (15:17).

The Griffins extended their lead to 2-0 before the first intermission when Matt Luff went gloveside on IceHogs netminder Jaxson Stauber on a breakaway (18:54).

Nearly six minutes into the middle frame, Grand Rapids tacked onto a 3-0 lead after Jonatan Berggren directed the puck from the top of the left circle and Marco Kasper tapped in the centering pass from the right edge of the crease (5:50).

Rockford cut the deficit to 3-1 halfway through the period on the power play after Tim Gettinger was called for cross-checking at 10:52. Brett Seney angled a backdoor pass from the left circle, and Cole Guttman tipped the puck past Cossa (11:57).

Scoring three goals in under a minute and a half, the IceHogs completed a comeback with four unanswered goals and snatched a 4-3 lead halfway through the final frame.

Seney put Rockford within one goal when Guttman shuttled a pass to the slot from below the red line to the slot and the wide-open Seney fired a one-timer past Cossa to make it 3-2 (11:35).

Jackson Cates evened the score 3-3 with the second goal of the sequence. As Michal Teply's shot on Cossa rebounded, Cates tried to clean up the loose puck but was denied on his first attempt and finally found the back of the net on his second shot in the crease (12:17).

Scoring his second lamp lighter of the contest, Guttman tapped in a centering pass from Nolan Allan in the low slot to take a 4-3 lead (13:03).

Joel L'Esperance tied the contest 4-4 for Grand Rapids after cleaning up a rebound from the edge of the crease and sent the match to overtime (17:19).

Rockford goaltender Jaxson Stauber earned his fifth straight win with 20 saves on 24 Grand Rapids shots. The win streak is the longest of Stauber's pro career.

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