GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins saw their five-game home point streak come to an end on Friday at Van Andel Arena, as they fell 4-1 to the Rockford IceHogs. 

Hunter Johannes secured the Griffins' lone tally, his second of the season with assists from Gabriel Seger and Ondrej Becher. New faces graced the Grand Rapids lineup, as the Griffins inserted rookie Anton Johansson on the defensive end for his AHL debut. At the same time, veteran Sheldon Dries crossed a milestone of his own, skating in his 450th professional game. 

The Griffins came inches away from scoring the game’s first tally with 7:15 remaining in the first period when a wrist shot from Alex Doucet ricocheted off the post. Shortly following the chance, Gerry Mayhew split the Grand Rapids defense and scored on a breakaway with 6:06 left in the frame. 

At 5:05 in the second period, the Griffins fell victim to the post once again when Dries sent a shot off the crossbar. The referees went to review the call but confirmed the no-goal ruling. Then, at 8:53, the IceHogs earned their second tally, as Jackson Cates scored with a backhand shot past Sebastian Cossa. Grand Rapids suffered a penalty with 8:41 left and at 12:49, former Griffin Andreas Athanasiou extended the Rockford lead to three on the power play. The Griffins went on to kill a penalty, but Zach Sanford made the score 4-0 when he lit the lamp with 49 seconds remaining in the second frame. 

The Griffins pulled Cossa before the start of the third period, inserting Jan Bednar between the pipes. Grand Rapids went on to earn its lone goal at 6:32. Seger corralled the puck along the boards and found the outstretched stick of Johannes streaking toward the net, as he tipped it past Drew Commesso. The Griffins failed to cut further into the deficit in the remaining minutes, falling 4-1. 

Notes

• The loss snapped the Griffins' four-game winning streak against the IceHogs.
• Grand Rapids earned zero power-play opportunities in the outing for the second time this season. 

Box Score

Rockford 1 3 0 - 4
Grand Rapids 0 0 1 - 1

1st Period-1, Rockford, Mayhew 13 (Korchinski), 13:54. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-2, Rockford, Cates 4 (Savoie, Hayes), 8:53. 3, Rockford, Athanasiou 11 (Guttman, Sanford), 12:49 (PP). 4, Rockford, Sanford 14   19:11. Penalties-Johannes Gr (roughing), 11:19; Viro Gr (illegal check to the head), 15:21.

3rd Period-5, Grand Rapids, Johannes 2 (Seger, Becher), 6:32. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Rockford 9-11-10-30. Grand Rapids 12-10-3-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Rockford 1 / 2; Grand Rapids 0 / 0.
Goalies-Rockford, Commesso 13-13-3 (25 shots-24 saves). Grand Rapids, Cossa 19-11-5 (20 shots-16 saves); Bednar 1-0-0 (10 shots-10 saves).
A-8,333

Three Stars

1. RFD Sanford (goal, assist); 2. RFD Commesso (W, 24 saves); 3. RFD Athanasiou (power-play goal)

Record/Next Game 

Grand Rapids: 32-23-4-2 (70 pts.) / Sat., March 22 vs. Rockford 8 p.m. 

Rockford: 26-27-6-1 (59 pts.) / Sat., March 22 at Grand Rapids 7 p.m. CDT

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins