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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

IceHogs Counter Wednesday's Loss with 6-2 Victory

April 3, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


ROCKFORD, Ill. - A day after clinching a berth in the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs, the Grand Rapids Griffins tried to extend its North Division lead over second-place Rockford but the host IceHogs revenged Wednesday's loss with a 6-2 win at BMO Harris Bank Center.

Grand Rapids will have the opportunity to get back in the winning column when they host Toronto Saturday night at 7 p.m.

The IceHogs raced out to an early lead as Mark McNeill opened the scoring at 5:28. McNeill took a loose puck following a rebound and fired a wrist shot through a crowd of players past Griffins goaltender Tom McCollum.

Peter Regin added to the score when he took a pass from Spencer Abbott and ripped a wrister from the top of the circle top shelf over McCollum's glove at 12:44.

The visitors chipped into the deficit when captain Jeff Hoggan slapped a loose puck from a tight angle near the goal line past Antti Raanta at 18:19. Rockford (40-21-5-2) reclaimed its two-goal advantage 31 seconds into the middle frame when Kyle Cumiskey centered the puck toward the net and Garret Ross tipped the puck by McCollum.

Grand Rapids (41-20-6-2) overcame its slow start as they outshot Rockford 14-13 in the second period compared to the IceHogs putting 19 shots on McCollum and allowing nine shots in the first. The Griffins ended the second period trailing by one when Nathan Paetsch scored his seventh goal of the campaign with a long blast from the point at 17:11.

The IceHogs put the game out of reach midway through the third period as they scored twice 30 seconds apart. The first came when Ryan Hartman took a pass from Alex Broadhurst and put a backhanded shot past McCollum's stick at 9:43.

The second goal at 10:13 came when Ross took over Rockford's goal scoring lead when he zipped a snapshot inside the far post from the left circle at 10:13.

Trailing by three, the Griffins pulled McCollum for an extra attacker with 6:14 remaining in the contest. The Griffins couldn't score but Hartman did put a long shot inside the cage from inside the IceHogs' zone at 15:29.

McCollum made 32 saves on 37 shots in the loss. Raanta got the win as he turned away 27 of 29 shots from the Griffins.

The Griffins killed five power plays while the IceHogs kept the Griffins scoreless on three power play opportunities.

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