Rockford IceHogs 2 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 1

Oct. 21, 2016

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Former Swedish Elite League standout Lars Johansson logged 27 saves on Friday to earn his first win in North America, as he backstopped the Rockford IceHogs to a 2-1 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena.

Rockford held a 2-0 lead before Anthony Mantha struck for his AHL-leading sixth goal of the season with a little over 10 minutes remaining. After Griffins coach Todd Nelson called his timeout with 28 seconds left, Grand Rapids controlled the puck in the IceHogs’ end for the duration and had several great but ultimately fruitless chances to score the equalizer, culminating in Mitch Callahan’s shot from the goal mouth that sailed just wide of Johansson’s net as time expired.

The Griffins, who suffered their first blemish on the season following three straight wins, will complete their home weekend on Saturday when they host the defending Calder Cup champion Cleveland Monsters at 7 p.m. It will mark the first meeting of the teams since the 2016 Central Division Finals, which the Monsters claimed 4-2 – including overtime wins in Games 1 and 6 – en route to an otherwise perfect 15-2 run to the AHL title.

A wide-open but scoreless first period saw Jared Coreau turn aside 10 shots while Johansson made eight saves, none better than a left-pad stop on Nick Jensen after the defenseman had been left alone during a rush into the Rockford zone with 2:20 remaining. Grand Rapids’ power play, whose six goals tied for the AHL lead coming off Tuesday’s 3-for-6 performance in Iowa, squandered its two opportunities during the frame.

Nearing the midpoint of the second period, the IceHogs broke a season-opening 0-for-10 drought on the power play by scoring 10 seconds into their first advantage of the night, in the process seizing their first lead of the young campaign. With Evgeny Svechnikov in the box for hooking, Spencer Abbott snapped a shot behind Coreau from the top of the left circle at the 8:28 mark.

Johansson, who claimed nearly every honor the Swedish Elite League had to offer last season while a teammate of Abbott’s on Frolunda HC – league champion, goalkeeper of the year, and the league-leader in wins (27), goals against average (1.74) and save percentage (0.927) – denied a shorthanded chance by Colin Campbell from close range off a turnover seven minutes into the third to keep Grand Rapids off the board.

That save quickly proved huge as yet another emigrant from Sweden’s top league, Martin Lundberg, sped in on a breakaway and put the puck past Coreau’s blocker at 7:35 for Rockford’s second power play goal and a 2-0 lead.

Mantha spoiled Johansson’s shutout bid and put an end to the IceHogs’ 109:53 shutout streak against the Griffins (dating to last season) with 10:07 remaining. Matt Lorito collected a carom off the end boards to the right of Johansson’s net and slid a backhand out front to a crashing Mantha, who jammed the puck inside the far post to become just the second player in Griffins history to start a season with a four-game goal streak. Jiri Hudler tallied in six consecutive games to christen the 2005-06 campaign.

Coreau finished with 30 saves for the Griffins, who failed on three power play attempts while allowing Rockford (1-2-0-0) to convert both of its opportunities.

Notes: Veteran center Ben Street and first-year forward Mike Borkowski made their Griffins debuts while rookie defenseman Dan Renouf also saw his first action of the season. All three had been sidelined by injury at the season’s start.

Three Stars: 1. RFD Johansson (W, 27 saves); 2. RFD Lundberg (game-winning goal); 3. GR Mantha (goal)