GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- After battling for a late third-period comeback, the Grand Rapids Griffins fell short and suffered a 3-1 loss to the Rockford IceHogs at Van Andel Arena on Friday.

The regulation skid for the Griffins was just their third of the season, and only their second to a Central-Division opponent. Grand Rapids moved to 26-17-2-0 against Rockford since the 2021-22 season. John Leonard bagged the lone goal for the Griffins with his 22nd of the campaign, while Michael Brandsegg-Nygard notched his 16th assist, and William Wallinder potted his 11th helper.

In the opening period, Grand Rapids tallied 11 shots on goal, while holding Rockford to just two. The best chance for the Griffins came 2:26 in when Ondrej Becher sent a backhanded pass to Eduards Tralmaks in the slot, and he fired it at Stanislav Berezhnoy, but the netminder made the stop.

With 5:43 on the clock in the second frame, the Griffins notched their greatest opportunity. Tralmaks picked up a turnover, skated the puck into the Grand Rapids zone, and sent a feed across the slot to Jakub Rychlovsky, who slapped it at Berezhnoy, but he made the pad save and the stanza remained scoreless.

The IceHogs opened the scoring with 14:37 remaining in the final slate when Ryan Gagnier let a wrister fly from the right circle on a 2-on-1. Sebastian Cossa hit the bench with 2:40 left to add an attacker, and Rockford potted its first empty net goal from Dominic Toninato with 1:16 to go, making it 2-0. With 15 seconds to spare, Leonard punched one between the pads of Berezhnoy on the doorstep, cutting Grand Rapids’ deficit to one. Rockford had the last word with an empty-net goal on a breakaway from Samuel Savoie with four seconds left, handing the Griffins the 3-1 loss.

Notes

• Grand Rapids tied the 2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (29-3-2-1, 61 pts.) for the best start in the AHL’s 90-year history through 35 games with a 29-3-2-1 record and 61 points.

Box Score

Rockford 0 0 3 - 3

Grand Rapids 0 0 1 - 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Mylymok Rfd (interference), 11:57; Angle Gr (delay of game), 17:00.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Korchinski Rfd (slashing), 11:30; Lombardi Rfd (high-sticking), 15:06; Mitchell Gr (interference), 16:50.

3rd Period-1, Rockford, Gagnier 3 (Lombardi), 5:23. 2, Rockford, Toninato 8   18:44 (EN). 3, Grand Rapids, Leonard 22 (Brandsegg-Nygård, Wallinder), 19:45. 4, Rockford, Savoie 9 (Del Mastro), 19:56 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Rockford 2-10-14-26. Grand Rapids 11-13-8-32.

Power Play Opportunities-Rockford 0 / 2; Grand Rapids 0 / 4.

Goalies-Rockford, Berezhnoy 5-4-1 (32 shots-31 saves). Grand Rapids, Cossa 17-2-2 (24 shots-23 saves).

A-8,872

Three Stars

1. RFD Berezhnoy (W, 31 saves) 2. RFD Gagnier (goal) 3. RFD Toninato (goal)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 29-3-2-1 (61 pts.) / Sat., Jan. 17 vs. Milwaukee 7 p.m.

Rockford: 15-19-2-2 (34 pts.) / Sat., Jan. 17 at Chicago 7 p.m. CST