RECAP: Hogs’ Season Comes to End after Loss in Front of Sold-Out BMO Center

Game Recap Presented by IBEW

ROCKFORD, Ill.—The Rockford IceHogs’ 2023-24 season concluded on Sunday afternoon after losing 4-2 to the Grand Rapids Griffins in Game 4 of the Central Division Semifinals at the BMO Center in front of a sold-out crowd of 6,177—the second-largest playoff crowd in franchise history. Lukas Reichel scored twice, but it wasn’t enough to force Game 5 with the Griffins.

With the win, Grand Rapids took a 3-1 series victory and will advance to face the winner of Milwaukee and Texas in the Central Division Finals.

Rockford scored first, but Grand Rapids claimed a 2-1 lead with back-to-back goals in the first period. After Zach Aston-Reese was charged with a boarding minor at 12:32, Lukas Reichel ripped a wrister from the high slot off the left post and behind Sebastian Cossa to take a 1-0 lead on the power play, scoring his first playoff goal this season (14:11).

Just 11 seconds later, Carter Mazur chipped a shot from the left circle over Drew Commesso’s glove side and tied the contest 1-1 (14:22). Mike Hardman and Antti Tuomisto were called for roughing at 15:37, sending it to a 4-on-4. Ripping a wrist shot from the right circle behind Commesso, Austin Czarnik gave the Griffins a 2-1 before the first intermission (16:03).

During the scoreless second period, the Griffins outshot the IceHogs 11-4, but Rockford was perfect on the penalty kill, going 2-for-2 to keep Grand Rapids off the board.

The Griffins extended their lead to 3-1 to start the final frame when Jonatan Berggren tallied his third postseason goal of the series against the IceHogs after sniping a shot that went top left corner behind Commesso from the left circle (5:00).

Winning the face-off in Grand Rapids’ right circle, Reichel sent the puck to the left point, and Wyatt Kaiser saucered the disc back to the right circle where Reichel recorded his second goal of the contest after blasting a one-timer behind Cossa and cutting the lead to 3-2 (6:40).

The IceHogs pulled Commesso at 18:24 in favor of the extra man, but the Griffins stole the puck in their zone, and Marco Kasper scored an empty-netter and sealed Grand Rapids’ 4-2 win (18:55).

Tune In LIVE on the IceHogs Broadcast Network Presented by BMO
Watch and listen to every game this season on the IceHogs Broadcast Network presented by BMO! Listen from your favorite device, at home, or on the road at IceHogs.com and on the IceHogs app and watch LIVE on AHLTV and selected games in High Definition on 19.2 The365! Fans can also tune in on all of Mid-West Family’s local stations including 104.9 The X, B103, 95.3 The Bull, and Rockford Greatest Hits 100.5 and featured on Rock River Current, the Stateline’s premiere source for local events, news and culture.