Rockford IceHogs 1 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3

March 14, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins extended their franchise-record point streak to 18 games (14-0-3-1) on Saturday with a 3-1 win over the Rockford IceHogs before a sellout crowd of 10,834 at Van Andel Arena.

Tom McCollum made 27 saves to backstop the Griffins to their sixth consecutive home win, as Grand Rapids improved to 7-0-2-0 in its last nine at Van Andel Arena and 18-1-3-1 overall since Jan. 23.

By prevailing in this clash of the Midwest Division’s top two squads, the Griffins (37-17-6-2) increased their cushion over the second-place IceHogs to nine points, gained two points as well on division foes Milwaukee, Chicago and Lake Erie – all of which lost in regulation – and added to their Western Conference lead over Oklahoma City, which now trails Grand Rapids by four points after a 2-1 loss to Charlotte tonight.

The Griffins will be idle until Friday, March 20, when they’ll host Milwaukee at 7 p.m.

It took most of two periods for Rockford (33-19-5-2) to finally break the scoring ice during a power play. Matt Carey received a pass at the right point and skated in a couple strides before ripping a long shot past McCollum at 14:09 of the middle frame.

Shortly after, a sequence of penalties on both clubs ultimately gave the Griffins 45 seconds of 5-on-3 power play time and a great opportunity to knot the score. They needed only 30 ticks to do so, as just six seconds after a Jeff Blashill timeout and a faceoff win in the Rockford zone, Ryan Sproul’s one-timer from above the left circle found the top right corner of Michael Leighton’s cage at 17:41.

A tremendous individual effort by Kevin Porter gave the Griffins a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes. Chasing down a long feed from Nick Jensen, Porter used his speed and guile to outfight Ville Pokka for the puck near the goal line, and he quickly slipped a shot inside the right post with only 51 seconds left before intermission.

Jeff Hoggan capped off the night at the 14:49 mark of the third period, taking a pass from Anthony Mantha at the IceHogs’ blue line, slipping past Keith Seabrook and potting a backhand for his 10th goal of the season.

McCollum, whose personal point streak with the Griffins now stands at 11 games, has not lost a contest in regulation time in either the AHL or NHL since Dec. 13. Leighton made 26 stops for the IceHogs, who saw their five-game point streak snapped.

Notes: The Griffins’ 18-game point streak is the longest in the AHL since the 2011-12 Norfolk Admirals concluded the regular season with 28 consecutive wins…McCollum played his 186th regular season game as a Griffin, tying Jimmy Howard for second on the franchise’s all-time list behind Joey MacDonald (210)…The sellout was the seventh of the season for Grand Rapids.

Three Stars: 1. GR McCollum (W, 27 saves); 2. GR Porter (game-winning goal); 3. GR Jensen (two assists)

Rockford IceHogs 1 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3

March 14, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins extended their franchise-record point streak to 18 games (14-0-3-1) on Saturday with a 3-1 win over the Rockford IceHogs before a sellout crowd of 10,834 at Van Andel Arena.

Tom McCollum made 27 saves to backstop the Griffins to their sixth consecutive home win, as Grand Rapids improved to 7-0-2-0 in its last nine at Van Andel Arena and 18-1-3-1 overall since Jan. 23.

By prevailing in this clash of the Midwest Division’s top two squads, the Griffins (37-17-6-2) increased their cushion over the second-place IceHogs to nine points, gained two points as well on division foes Milwaukee, Chicago and Lake Erie – all of which lost in regulation – and added to their Western Conference lead over Oklahoma City, which now trails Grand Rapids by four points after a 2-1 loss to Charlotte tonight.

The Griffins will be idle until Friday, March 20, when they’ll host Milwaukee at 7 p.m.

It took most of two periods for Rockford (33-19-5-2) to finally break the scoring ice during a power play. Matt Carey received a pass at the right point and skated in a couple strides before ripping a long shot past McCollum at 14:09 of the middle frame.

Shortly after, a sequence of penalties on both clubs ultimately gave the Griffins 45 seconds of 5-on-3 power play time and a great opportunity to knot the score. They needed only 30 ticks to do so, as just six seconds after a Jeff Blashill timeout and a faceoff win in the Rockford zone, Ryan Sproul’s one-timer from above the left circle found the top right corner of Michael Leighton’s cage at 17:41.

A tremendous individual effort by Kevin Porter gave the Griffins a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes. Chasing down a long feed from Nick Jensen, Porter used his speed and guile to outfight Ville Pokka for the puck near the goal line, and he quickly slipped a shot inside the right post with only 51 seconds left before intermission.

Jeff Hoggan capped off the night at the 14:49 mark of the third period, taking a pass from Anthony Mantha at the IceHogs’ blue line, slipping past Keith Seabrook and potting a backhand for his 10th goal of the season.

McCollum, whose personal point streak with the Griffins now stands at 11 games, has not lost a contest in regulation time in either the AHL or NHL since Dec. 13. Leighton made 26 stops for the IceHogs, who saw their five-game point streak snapped.

Notes: The Griffins’ 18-game point streak is the longest in the AHL since the 2011-12 Norfolk Admirals concluded the regular season with 28 consecutive wins…McCollum played his 186th regular season game as a Griffin, tying Jimmy Howard for second on the franchise’s all-time list behind Joey MacDonald (210)…The sellout was the seventh of the season for Grand Rapids.

Three Stars: 1. GR McCollum (W, 27 saves); 2. GR Porter (game-winning goal); 3. GR Jensen (two assists)