IceHogs Come Up Short in Finale with Griffins

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Rockford IceHogs held the Grand Rapids Griffins scoreless through two periods but fell 3-0 at Van Andel Arena on Saturday in the final matchup between the two clubs in 2019-20.

Collin Delia made a combined 14 saves through two frames to make it five straight periods in which he’d held the opposition scoreless, but the Griffins snagged three goals in the third period to take the win.

After a quiet first and second period, the Griffins got on the board early in the third when Matt Puempel fired a shot off an offensive zone faceoff to beat Delia and give Grand Rapids a 1-0 lead.

Delia remained strong and kept Rockford within reach, but Chris Terry found the back of the net on a power play late in regulation to double the Griffins’ lead before Taro Hirose scored 90 seconds later to make it 3-0 prior to the final buzzer.

Delia finished the evening with 20 saves on 23 shots while Calvin Pickard stopped 35 attempts to secure the shutout victory.

The IceHogs are now in the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division with 61 points and sit one point ahead of the Chicago Wolves, whom the Hogs will visit tomorrow to cap off a three-game weekend.

GAME NOTES

• Collin Delia turned away all 14 shots in the first two periods of tonight's game after stopping all 34 against Grand Rapids last night...Across those five periods, he denied every one of the 48 shots he faced.
• Dylan Sikura fired a team-leading five shots tonight and now leads the roster with 168 shots on the season, which ranks tied for 12th in the entire AHL.
• Rockford now boasts a record of 12-3-1-0 this season when leading after the opening frame but is just 10-13-0-2 when tied after one and 7-14-0-0 when trailing after one for a combined 17-27-0-2 when entering the first intermission tied or trailing.