GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- In the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 7-3 victory over the Rockford IceHogs at Van Andel Arena on Wednesday, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (1-2—3) recorded his second-consecutive three-point night, and his ninth point in four outings. 

Carter Mazur made his return to the lineup after missing 48 games (Oct. 24) to injury and tallied the game-winner and an assist, while John Leonard bagged a goal in his first game since Jan. 30. The Griffins improved to 31-0 when tallying the first goal, and boosted their league-best record to 42-8-3-1 (88 pts.). Amadeus Lombardi extended his point streak to six with a goal, and Michal Postava notched 36 saves and upped his record to 11-4-0.

Grand Rapids opened scoring 68 seconds into the first period when Brandsegg-Nygard tossed it from below the goal line to Sheldon Dries at the net front, and he potted his own rebound to claim a 1-0 lead. At 3:57, Nick Lardis walked across the right circle and snapped one past Postava’s glove to tie it. Ryan Gagnier carried the puck down low, and threw it out front to Connor Mylymok, who popped it in to claim a 2-1 lead with 14:23 left. The Griffins knotted it with 2:59 to go when Mazur tapped one from behind the net to Lombardi in the slot, and he backhanded it into the top-right corner.

Brandsegg-Nygard fed it from the top of the zone to Leonard in the left circle, and he snapped a wrister over Drew Commesso’s left shoulder to reclaim a one-goal lead for the Griffins 70 seconds into the second frame. With 8:51 to go, Mazur popped a one-timer past the left goal post from the high slot off of a pass from Tyler Angle behind the goal line to capture a 4-2 edge. 

At 4:16 in the final slate, Eduards Tralmaks backhanded it to Brandsegg-Nygard, and he poked in his own rebound to grab a three-goal advantage. The IceHogs cut their deficit to two when Joey Anderson picked up a loose rebound out front and tucked it past Postava on his backhand. Commesso headed to the bench with 3:50 on the clock, and with three minutes remaining, Erik Gustafsson flipped the puck down the ice to reclaim a three-goal lead. Rockford pulled their netminder once more with 1:43 left, and Gabriel Seger potted it from the left circle with 90 seconds to go, claiming a 7-3 win.

Notes

• Grand Rapids went 2-for-2 on its league-best penalty kill, but did not receive a power-play opportunity for the first time this season.
• Ian Mitchell tallied his 100th pro assist.
• Tralmaks extended his point streak to three with an assist.
• William Wallinder and Angle each notched two-point nights.

Box Score

Rockford 2 0 1 - 3

Grand Rapids 2 2 3 - 7

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Dries 20 (Brandsegg-Nygård, Lagesson), 1:08. 2, Rockford, Lardis 17 (Mast), 3:57. 3, Rockford, Mylymok 3 (Gagnier), 5:37. 4, Grand Rapids, Lombardi 12 (Mazur, Wallinder), 17:01. Penalties-Rychlovský Gr (hooking), 5:54.

2nd Period-5, Grand Rapids, Leonard 27 (Brandsegg-Nygård), 1:10. 6, Grand Rapids, Mazur 5 (Angle, Gustafsson), 11:09. Penalties-No Penalties

3rd Period-7, Grand Rapids, Brandsegg-Nygård 16 (Tralmaks, Kannok Leipert), 4:16. 8, Rockford, Anderson 8 (Seney, Kuzmin), 6:40. 9, Grand Rapids, Gustafsson 3 (Mitchell), 17:00 (EN). 10, Grand Rapids, Seger 5 (Angle, Wallinder), 18:30 (EN). Penalties-Buium Gr (interference), 1:05.

Shots on Goal-Rockford 13-10-16-39. Grand Rapids 13-11-7-31.

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

Goalies-Rockford, Commesso 9-16-2 (29 shots-24 saves). Grand Rapids, Postava 11-4-0 (39 shots-36 saves).

A-6,326

Three Stars

1. GR Brandsegg-Nygard (goal, two assists) 2. GR Mazur (game-winner, assist) 3. Leonard (goal)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 42-8-3-1 (88 pts.) / Fri., March 6 at Cleveland 7 p.m.

Rockford: 19-31-2-2 ( 42 pts.) / Fri., March 6 at San Diego 9 p.m. CST

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins