Saturday’s Central Division Semifinal between Grand Rapids and Rockford ended in explosive fashion. For a packed house at the BMO Center, the game concluded in overtime on a controversial no-call on the ice that led to the game-winner by the Griffins Jonatan Berggren.
Grand Rapids claimed Game One with a 3-2 overtime victory, rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the third period. The officials may have pocketed their whistles on a potential boarding penalty; it will certainly be debated right up to Game Two of the series, which takes place in Grand Rapids on Wednesday night. However, Game One never should have been left to the officials discretion.
The IceHogs let the opening skirmish of this series get away from them long before overtime. Here are some thoughts on Game One.
Where Things Got Away From Rockford
The IceHogs came out playing disciplined, structured defense in most of the first 40 minutes of action. It was in this style that Rockford counter-punched its way into a two-goal lead. Michal Teply one-timed a no-look, backhanded pass from Lukas Reichel at the 4:24 mark to open the scoring.
The IceHogs spent much of the second period trying to clear the defensive zone, but managed to get a transition goal from Zach Sanford, who buried a pass from Mike Hardman past Griffins goalie Sebastian Cossa midway through the middle frame.
Early in the third, the teams went four-on-four when Rockford’s Issak Phillips and Grand Rapids Marco Kasper drew matching roughing penalties. It was here that the game hinged, long before regulation ended.
The IceHogs made little attempt to gain entrance to the offensive zone, let along make a play for the Griffins net. Up to this point, Rockford had taken away the middle of the ice in its own zone. With the IceHogs sitting back with more open ice to defend, Grand Rapids took advantage, exploiting the situation in the form of a Dominik Shine tally 3:05 into period three.
The Griffins were by far the more aggressive team for the remainder of the contest. They tied the game with 4:25 to play on a Amadeus Lombardi goal for the equalizer, setting the stage for an incredible effort by Berggren early in the extra session.
Before Berggren received a stretch pass from Carter Mazur, Rockford’s Brett Seney was knocked into the boards from behind by the Griffins Austin Czarnick. IceHogs defenseman Filip Roos confronted Czarnick as play continued, leading to the game-winner seconds later.
And Now…Deep Thoughts
- There should have been a call made on the play. It was a pretty clear case of boarding on Czarnick’s part. However, the officials had let the teams play physical hockey all night. They could have called a cross-check on Berggren by IceHogs defenseman Louis Crevier midway through the second period. Or on a number of potential trips and takedowns by both teams throughout the game.
- The IceHogs could have prevented overtime and the controversy by retaining the aggressive defending that built the two-goal advantage. The blown lead and the sour note on which the game ended is a double-gut punch for Rockford to endure.
- Each team had a single power play; neither Grand Rapids or Rockford converted on their chance.
- Jaxson Stauber (33 saves) was tremendous in goal for the IceHogs, as was Cossa (20 saves) for Grand Rapids. Rockford just relied on him more and more as the game went on, which proved to be too much.
- There wasn’t much Cossa could do about the two Rockford goals, but his play in the final 30 minutes of regulation kept the Griffins in contention. Cossa stopped several breakaway attempts in the latter part of the second period, when Rockford was still taking shots at the Griffins net.
- Teply continued his run of solid play from the last week of the regular season. He’s getting into scoring position a lot and was very noticeable on a line with Reichel and Luke Philp.
- On that fateful first Griffins goal, the IceHogs defense made a rare mistake. Ethan Del Mastro and Austin Strand both converged on Simon Edvinsson as he skated into the slot. Del Mastro left Shine unchecked and open for the pass that set up the goal.
Despite a brutal loss, Rockford showed that it can skate with the Griffins. The IceHogs must put this defeat behind them and look toward responding in Game Two, which starts at Van Andel Arena at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.
