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.
American Hockey League Stories from November 15, 2013
- Admirals Fall to Chicao 4-3 - Milwaukee Admirals
- Rampage Cruise to 5-2 Win at Iowa - San Antonio Rampage
- Griffins Roll Past Rockford, 5-3 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Pirates Overthrow Monarchs, Tie VIP Cup Series at 1 - Portland Pirates
- Heat Drop Barons for Ninth Straight Win - Abbotsford Heat
- Bulldogs Fall to Monsters 5-3 - Hamilton Bulldogs
- 50 Shots Not Enough in Binghamton - Adirondack Phantoms
- Admirals Hold off Bruins for 4-3 Road Victory - Norfolk Admirals
- San Antonio Tops Iowa 5-2 - Iowa Wild
- Pirates B-Rule over Monarchs - Manchester Monarchs
- Crunch Fall to Penguins 5-3 - Syracuse Crunch
- Special Teams Fuel Falcons Win - Springfield Falcons
- B-Sens Post 1st Win over Phantoms 4-2 - Binghamton Senators
- Monsters Win in Hamilton 5-3 - Cleveland Monsters
- Wolves Make It Four in a Row - Chicago Wolves
- Jurco Tricks Hogs, Rockford Falls 5-3 - Rockford IceHogs
- Comets fall to Rochester - Utica Comets
- Despres, Gibbons Help Penguins Outpace Crunch - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Devils blank Wolf Pack - Hartford Wolf Pack
- P-Bruins Fall to Admirals 4-3 - Providence Bruins
- Comeback Falls Short, Sound Tigers Lose 3-2 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Sharks Sink IceCaps 3-2 in Shootout - St. John's IceCaps
- Devils, Kinkaid Shut Out Wolf Pack - Albany Devils
- Sateri Sharp in 9 Round Shootout Win in St. John's - Worcester Sharks
- Coyotes Recall Murphy from Portland - Portland Pirates
- Anaheim Reassigns Peter Holland to Norfolk - Norfolk Admirals
- Monarchs Sign Dell and O'Brien - Manchester Monarchs
- Detroit Assigns Eaves and Glendening - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Worcester Sharks Host Online Jersey Auction to Benefit Autism Resource Center of Central Massachuset - Worcester Sharks
- Crunch Sign Defenseman Jordan Henry to PTO - Syracuse Crunch
- Rampage Host "Cool School Education Day" on Tuesday - San Antonio Rampage
- Penguins Assign Zlobin to Nailers - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Canadiens Assign Christian Thomas to Bulldogs - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Comet Tales: A Rivalry in the Making - Utica Comets
- Gameday: Comets vs. Rochester - Utica Comets
- Cal O'Reilly Joins Comets Roster - Utica Comets
- Escobedo, Cornell to Join Sound Tigers - Bridgeport Islanders
- Minnesota Recalls Gustafsson, Iowa Signs Heemskerk - Iowa Wild
- Florida Panthers Acquire RW Jimmy Hayes & D Dylan Olsen from Chicago - San Antonio Rampage
- Pirates Look to Tie VIP Cup Series against Monarchs - Portland Pirates
- Texas Stars Return Goaltender Josh Robinson to Idaho - Texas Stars
- Morin and Broadhurst Back to Rockford - Rockford IceHogs
- Hayes and Olsen Dealt to Florida - Rockford IceHogs
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