Jurco Tricks Hogs, Rockford Falls 5-3
Published on November 15, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Grand Rapids, Mich.- Over the first five seasons head-to-head, the Rockford IceHogs dominated the Grand Rapids Griffins. But now, the tables have been turned and Rockford dropped their third straight to the Griffs, falling 5-3 on Friday night at Van Andel Arena.
After going 18-4-0-1 against Grand Rapids, Rockford is now 4-8-0-0 dating back to last season against the Midwest DIvision foes.
For the 13th time in 17 games this season, Rockford's opponent claimed the game's first goal. On Friday, Tomas Jurco knocked in a centering pass from Gustav Nyquist past Kent Simpson just 2:22 into the contest for his sixth goal of the season.
Rockford tied the game at 1-1 with good persistence from Jeremy Morin. Morin's initial shot on Petr Mrazek was denied by the Griffins puck stopper, but the rebound found the winger and he knocked home his fifth goal of the season at 9:42 on the second attempt.
Later in the frame, Grand Rapids had 1:58 of 5-on-3 power play time, but Rockford was able to stave off the two-man advantage and skate into the first intermission tied.
In the second period, Rockford wasn't as fortunate on Grand Rapids' lone power play of the frame. Teemu Pulkkinen blasted home his seventh goal of the season, and fifth against Rockford, at 16:46 to put the Griffins back on top, 2-1.
Off a face-off in the third period, Jeff Hoggan stretched the Griffin's lead to 3-1. The winger cleaned up a Brennan Evans rebound at 7:47 for his sixth goal of the season. Then on a power play later in the stanza, Nyquist set up Jurco once again for his second of the night on the back door at 10:02.
Rockford countered just 18-seconds later when Alex Broadhurst put back a Morin rebound for his fifth marker at 10:20, bringing the Hogs back down by a pair at 4-2.
Grand Rapids came right back though to make it 5-2 when Jurco completed his hat trick at 15:59 as he fired a puck from the left corner off of Simpson and in.
For the second time in the period Rockford responded 18-seconds later when Joakim Nordstrom hammered home his first goal of the season after he pounced on a loose puck at 16:17. That's as close as Rockford would get though, despite a couple of good looks in the final two minutes on Mrazek and the Griffins net.
Next Home Game: Saturday, Nov. 16 vs. San Antonio Rampage. The puck drops at 7 p.m. and the first 2,500 fans through the gates will receive a Dri-fit baseball hat courtesy of Pepsi. For tickets visit IceHogs.com.
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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