AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Roll Past Rockford, 5-3

Published on November 15, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Tomas Jurco registered his first professional hat trick off three assists from Gustav Nyquist as the Grand Rapids Griffins rolled to a 5-3 decision over the Rockford IceHogs on Friday, marking their third straight win at Van Andel Arena and their eighth victory in their last nine outings overall.

Coupled with Milwaukee's 4-3 loss to Chicago tonight, the first-place Griffins (10-3-1-1) have opened up a five-point lead over both the Admirals and IceHogs (8-8-1-0) in the Midwest Division race. Grand Rapids will face those same Wolves on Saturday in an 8 p.m. EST start at Allstate Arena.

The Griffins' AHL-leading offense opened the scoring just 2:22 into the contest. On a rush into the Rockford zone, deft passing by Calle Jarnkrok and Nyquist culminated with Jurco popping the puck past Kent Simpson from close range, but the IceHogs answered at 9:42 when Jeremy Morin slammed home his own rebound from the right circle.

Three minutes after Rockford's goal, Grand Rapids was afforded a great chance to jump back ahead after two consecutive IceHogs penalties resulted in 1:59 of 5-on-3 power play time. Despite several scoring chances, the Griffins were unable to capitalize on the opportunity.

However, the home team did cash in on a one-man advantage late in the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the final 20 minutes. From above the left circle, Teemu Pulkkinen teed up a lethal slap shot that blistered the top of Simpson's net at the 16:46 mark.

Jeff Hoggan padded the cushion 7:47 into the third, finding the rebound of Brennan Evans' shot in the slot and quickly chopping a backhand into the top left corner. When Jurco finished off a beautiful tic-tac-toe play by redirecting a long Nyquist pass into the back door at 10:02, the power play marker gave the Griffins a comfortable 4-1 lead. But the IceHogs responded just 18 seconds later to again pull within two, as Alex Broadhurst slapped a rebound past Petr Mrazek.

The exact timing sequence repeated itself minutes later. Jurco finished off his hat trick by scoring on a seemingly impossible angle from the left corner at 15:59 to make it 5-2, and Phillip Danault potted a rebound at 16:17 to make things interesting down the stretch.

Mrazek earned his third straight win behind 26 saves, while Simpson - who was relieved by Antti Raanta for an uneventful 35 seconds late in the game - stopped 28 of 33 in the loss.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 15, 2013


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