ROCKFORD, Ill. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins fell 4-1 to the Rockford IceHogs in the last game of their three-in-three weekend on Sunday at the BMO Center.

The Griffins moved to 44-13-3-1 through 61 games (92 pts.), and fell in consecutive road contests for the first time this season. Eduards Tralmaks tallied the lone goal for his 20th of the season, while Michal Postava recorded 19 saves to sit at 13-6-0.

Just 14 seconds into the opening period, Jamie Engelbert ripped the puck from the far point and Kevin Lombardi tipped it in to claim a 1-0 lead for Rockford. The IceHogs grabbed a two-goal edge at 9:55 when Lombardi pounced on a loose rebound and punched it past Postava’s right side. The best chance for the Griffins came with 8:10 to go when Antti Tuomisto centered it from the far boards to Michael Milne out front, but he failed to tip it past Owen Flores.

Samuel Savoie fed one from the goal line to Joey Anderson in the slot at 9:54 in the second slate, and he fired it over Postava’s glove to take a 3-0 advantage. With 6:22 on the clock, Tralmaks buried a snipe from the high slot into the top of the net to cut the Griffins’ deficit to two. 

John Leonard walked in front of Flores just 25 seconds into the final frame and tried to flip in a backhander on the doorstep, but failed to capitalize. The Griffins saw another opportunity when Shai Buium popped one at Flores from the left circle, but it bounced off the netminder at 8:53. Postava headed to the bench with 3:34 left for an extra attacker and Engelbert potted the empty-netter with 71 seconds remaining to down the Griffins 4-1.

Notes

• The Griffins stood at 21-6-1-1 on the road.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 0 1 0 - 1

Rockford 2 1 1 - 4

1st Period-1, Rockford, Lombardi 11 (Engelbert), 0:14. 2, Rockford, Lombardi 12 (Mosley, Pouliot), 9:55. Penalties-Perrott Rfd (boarding), 6:34; Furlong Rfd (cross-checking), 12:08.

2nd Period-3, Rockford, Anderson 13 (Savoie, Mast), 9:53. 4, Grand Rapids, Tralmaks 20   13:38. Penalties-Mast Rfd (tripping), 5:05; Tuomisto Gr (roughing), 19:26; Pitlick Rfd (roughing), 19:26.

3rd Period-5, Rockford, Engelbert 8 (Anderson), 18:49 (EN). Penalties-Misiak Rfd (holding), 2:05; Dafoe Rfd (holding), 19:13.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 9-14-9-32. Rockford 10-6-7-23.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 5; Rockford 0 / 0.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Postava 13-6-0 (22 shots-19 saves). Rockford, Flores 3-1-1 (32 shots-31 saves).

A-4,283

Three Stars

1. RFD Lombardi (two goals) 2. RFD Flores (W, 31 saves) 3. RFD Anderson (goal, assist)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 44-13-3-1 (92 pts.) / Tue., March 24 vs. Milwaukee 7 p.m.

Rockford: 24-33-3-2 (53 pts.) / Sat., MArch 28 vs. Iowa 8 p.m. CDT

Photo by Rockford IceHogs/Kristin Ostrowski