GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After taking Game One of the Central Division Semifinals in overtime, vibes were high for the Grand Rapids Griffins. The series turned from Rockford to west Michigan, where at home the Griffins had a spectacular 23-7-6 record during the regular season. With the next two games at home, Grand Rapids was firmly in the driver’s seat to take control of this series.
However, the Rockford IceHogs showed exactly why everything gets reset in the playoffs. Riding the efforts of goaltender Drew Commesso and forward Mike Hardman the IceHogs struck with a decisive 5-1 victory in Game Two to even the series at 1-1.
Rockford Response
Starting off at home, Grand Rapids seemed to come into this one a bit timid. In fact, both teams seemed that they were reluctant to make that first mistake to break this one open. It took nearly 11 minutes of cautious gameplay before the Griffins could strike.
Carter Mazur was able to get a shot low off Commesso’s pad and Austin Czarnik followed up with the slap shot off the rebound to hammer it through the five-hole and give the Griffins the lead.
That lead lasted all of 55 seconds, with Rockford’s Ethan Del Mastro letting a wrister go from just inside the blue line that fooled Sebastian Cossa off the deflection.
This was a tremendous response from the IceHogs, who haven’t lost consecutive games since February. Rockford didn’t panic upon falling behind; the key was Del Mastro getting a long-distance shot past Cossa (that surely he’d like another chance at) to quickly knot the game in the first.
The real back breakers for the Griffins came at the end of the first and the beginning of the second. Hardman tipped home a Rem Pitlick shot that beat the buzzer to give Rockford the lead heading into the second. Just over a minute into the second, Michal Teply led a three-on-one charge that resulted from a bad Griffins pinch at the blue line. Teply beat Cossa cleanly and a 1-1 game turned into a 3-1 Rockford lead after just 1:26 of gameplay.
Neutral Zone Lock
From the comfort of a two-goal lead, Rockford was able to lock the neutral zone down and choke the Griffins out.
As opposed to Game One, where the IceHogs sat back and relied on their goalie, Rockford continued to push the puck into the Griffins zone. Commesso had to hold off a couple of flurries in the third period, but the IceHogs did a better job in limiting traffic in front of the net.
Grand Rapids didn’t get their first shot of the second period until well after the 10 minute mark – leaving them with just 10 shots in the first half of the game. There was no room for Griffins attackers to go. The story was much the same in the third where Rockford was able to pad their lead by way of getting traffic to the net and getting deflections and rebounds.
The Griffins’ net front presence was virtually non-existent in this one where they could barely establish offensive zone possession.
Special Teams, Special Players
Special teams played a big part of the story Wednesday. The IceHogs killed two penalties in the second period on the way to holding the Griffins power play scoreless in three attempts. At the same time, Rockford converted both power play opportunities, including the final tally with just under five minutes left. Luke Philp’s rebound finish gave us the eventual final of 5-1.
The Griffins have been struggling with the power play as of late, and those struggles were apparent in this one. They couldn’t enter the zone cleanly, and when they could there was nowhere for the puck to go. This continued to their 5-on-5 play, where the Griffins just couldn’t find any time or space in the middle of the ice against Rockford’s stifling defense.
Whenever they could, Commesso was there to make the save.
What to Watch For:
Obviously, this sets up a massive Friday night matchup for Game Three. This kind of goes against that old adage, but apparently this doesn’t become a series unless someone wins in their own building. Grand Rapids gets the next shot in Game Three after winning Game One on the road.
For Rockford, whose net is it? Jaxson Stauber came into this series with 13 consecutive wins, but dropped Game One in an overtime battle. Commesso, meanwhile, steals one on the road. While he wasn’t overly worked by a Griffins squad that just didn’t have it, he made the saves required to get his team the win. Does Rockford ride the horse that got them there or go with the hot hand?
For Grand Rapids, throw out the entire tape on Game Two and start again. There was almost nothing to build on even in garbage time in this one. The defense has to get better clearing Rockford’s players out of the front of the net. Three goals off deflections and an unmarked man getting a rebound buried them before they had a change to get going.
The Griffins have to fix their issues on the power play as well. There is just too much talent on the squad to consistently go 0-for-x. Figuring out how to cash in on the man advantage could be the difference between moving on and going home early.
Game Three is at Van Andel Arena on Friday at 7:00 P.M. EST. Fans can stream the pivotal matchup on AHLtv.
