The Rockford IceHogs saw their season come to an end on Sunday evening at the BMO Center. The Grand Rapids Griffins will be moving on to the Central Division Final after beating the IceHogs 4-2, winning the best-of-five series in four games.
Did the better team advance? Yes.
Each of the games between these evenly-matched rivals came down to a few key plays. The Griffins simply made more of them at crucial times.
This includes an instant response on Sunday after Lukas Reichel gave Rockford a 1-0 lead 14:11 into the first period. Just eleven seconds later, Carter Mazur sent a shot past IceHogs goalie Drew Commesso to tie the contest. A few shifts later, Austin Czarnik beat Commesso to the right post to give Grand Rapids a lead they would never relinquish.
After a scoreless second period, the Griffins made it 3-1 when Jonatan Berggren sniped the eventual game-winner over the shoulder of Commesso five minutes into the third. Reichel’s second goal of the night closed the gap to a single goal, but an empty net goal by Marco Kasper sealed the fate of the IceHogs.
IceHogs Series Thoughts
- This series was between two teams playing great hockey throughout the spring. There was structured play in the defensive zone on the part of both the IceHogs and Griffins. In the end, Grand Rapids proved to be a better at controlling the action. In each of their three wins, the outcome came down to a few key plays.
- Three young goalies battled it out. Drew Commesso (Games 2, 3, and 4) and Jaxson Stauber (Game 1) both played very well for Rockford. However, Sebastian Cossa was elite for Grand Rapids in their wins.
- As I expected, home ice wasn’t much of an advantage. The IceHogs lost both games at the BMO Center and won its lone game of the series in Grand Rapids.
- In the tradition of playoff hockey, the physicality was ramped up in this series. Whistles were muted throughout as checks were finished and pucks contested.
- The Griffins Dominik Shine was a key agitator who also added a goal and two assists in the series. He was also a big part of why Rockford struggled to advance the puck through neutral ice.
- Brett Seney, who had 13 points against the Griffins in the regular season, was held to a lone assist in four games. He spent most of his time getting bounced around the ice; Grand Rapids did an excellent job in keeping Rockford’s leading scorer in check.
- Griffins forward Jonatan Berggren was the star of the series. He tied Rockford’s Rem Pitlick (1 G, 4 A) for top scoring honors with five points (3 G, 2 A). Each of his three goals were game-winners for Grand Rapids.
- Czarnik (3 G, 1 A) was also a constant thorn in the side of the IceHogs. The veteran center brought out his best in this first-round affair.
- The Griffins now await the winner of the Texas-Milwaukee series, currently led 2-0 by the Stars.
