Grand Rapids, Mich. – Martin Frk snapped a 3-3 tie late in the third frame and added an empty netter as the Grand Rapids Griffins collected a 5-3 win over the Rockford IceHogs at the Van Andel Arena on Friday night.
With the score tied up in the third, Kyle Criscuolo found a bouncing puck and pushed it across to Frk. The Griffins winger snapped it past goaltender Lars Johansson for the game deciding strike with 6:35 left to play. Frk went on to add an empty-net tally later in the frame to pick up his second goal, and third point, of the contest.
A back-and-forth first frame saw Rockford crack the scoresheet at 4:31 of the frame. Martin Lundberg fired a shot that sailed just wide of the net, but it bounced off the end boards and skipped off the gloves of a Griffins defenseman before trickling over the goal line. The lead lasted just 25 seconds before Eric Tangradi equalized the contest with a snap shot from the left circle. Before the frame ended, however, Brandon Mashinter deflected a shot from Gustav Forsling over the shoulder of netminder Jared Coreau as the Hogs carried a 2-1 lead into the second stanza.
The second frame was a mirror image of the opening 20 minutes. First, Matthew Ford knocked home a rebound to tie the game at 2-2 with a power play strike at 1:58 of the period. Matt Lorito then opened up a 3-2 lead for the Griffins when he buried a pass from Criscuolo to give Grand Rapids their first lead. This time, it was the IceHogs to quickly evening the score just 24 second later. Tyler Motte took a long pass from Michael Latta and placed the puck just through the pads of Coreau and over line to knot the score at 3-3 heading into the third.
Next Home Game: Saturday, March 25 vs. Grand Rapids, 7 p.m. The IceHogs host Country Night with the first 1,500 fans in attendance receiving a cowboy boot mug, courtesy of Pepsi and Dusty Boots. The Hogs will also host their fourth annual Sock Drive with donations benefitting Project Undershare.