ROCKFORD, Ill. -- In the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 5-0 victory over the Rockford IceHogs on Wednesday at the BMO Center, Michal Postava (14-6-0) registered 18 saves to tie the most shutouts by a rookie netminder in franchise history with his third. 

Eduards Tralmaks (2-1—3) and Wojciech Stachowiak (1-2—3) each tallied three-point outings, while Sheldon Dries extended his point streak to four with an assist. The Griffins’ ninth shutout of the season marked the most since 2008-09, and they improved to 47-13-4-1 through 65 games (99 pts.). Erik Gustafsson potted two helpers for his seventh in four contests, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard bagged a goal and an assist.

At 11:15 of the first period, Postava stretched across the paint to make a left-pad save on a backdoor chance from Jamie Engelbert, keeping Rockford off the board. The Griffins’ best opportunity came when Brandsegg-Nygard dropped one off to Amadeus Lombardi, who skated into the right circle and fired a wrist shot, but failed to convert. 

In the second slate, Stachowiak skated up the near boards from behind the goal line, turned around and slung the puck at Drew Commesso, but he couldn’t capitalize 5:20 in. The Griffins opened scoring with 5:54 remaining when Stachowiak fed one ahead to Tralmaks in the right circle, and he snapped it inside the left goal post to lead 1-0.

Grand Rapids claimed a two-goal advantage in the final frame when Tralmaks fired one past Commesso’s right side from the left circle at 4:57. Brandsegg-Nygard picked the puck up off the draw and fired in a wrister from the left hashes while on the power play with 7:26 on the clock. With 2:04 to go, Rychlovsky centered it from the far boards to Stachowiak down low, and he tipped it in, and just 33 seconds later, Lombardi popped in a one-timer from the slot, sealing the Griffins’ 5-0 win over the IceHogs. 

Notes

• Anton Johansson made his season debut with the Griffins.
• Currently, Grand Rapids’ magic number to clinch the Western Conference title is four. 
• The Griffins improved to 32-0 when leading after two periods.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 0 1 4 - 5

Rockford 0 0 0 - 0

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Wallinder Gr (slashing), 7:28; Gustafsson Gr (goaltender interference), 10:07; Genborg Gr (hooking), 12:45; Seney Rfd (tripping), 19:58.

2nd Period-1, Grand Rapids, Tralmaks 23 (Stachowiak, Gustafsson), 14:06. Penalties-Engelbert Rfd (tripping), 9:23.

3rd Period-2, Grand Rapids, Tralmaks 24 (Brandsegg-Nygård, Stachowiak), 4:57. 3, Grand Rapids, Brandsegg-Nygård 17 (Leonard, Dries), 12:34 (PP). 4, Grand Rapids, Stachowiak 11 (Rychlovský, Gustafsson), 17:56. 5, Grand Rapids, Lombardi 13 (Tralmaks, Becher), 18:29. Penalties-Genborg Gr (tripping), 6:51; Fitzgerald Rfd (boarding), 12:30.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 6-13-12-31. Rockford 4-7-7-18.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 3; Rockford 0 / 4.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Postava 14-6-0 (18 shots-18 saves). Rockford, Commesso 13-18-2 (31 shots-26 saves).

A-5,312

Three Stars

1. GR Tralmaks (two goals, assist) 2. GR Stachowiak (goal, two assists) 3. GR Postava (SO, W, 18 saves)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 47-13-4-1 (99 pts.) / Fri., April 3 at Manitoba 3 p.m. CDT

Rockford: 26-34-3-2 (57 pts.) / Fri., April 3 at Iowa 7 p.m. CDT

Photo by Kristin Ostrowski/Rockford IceHogs