Weeks Backstops Hogs Past Griffins

Fueled by four unanswered goals, the Rockford IceHogs (4-4-0-0) overcame an early 1-0 deficit to knock off the Grand Rapids Griffins (5-5-0-0) 4-1 Saturday night in front of 5,383 at the BMO Center.

Four different IceHogs found the back of the net against Grand Rapids netminder Jussi Olkinuora. Forward Carson Gicewicz tallied for the second time this season at the end of the introductory stanza to even the score at one, and forwards Lukas Reichel (5G, 6A), Luke Philp (4G, 3A), and Brett Seney (5G, 7A) all scored in the second frame to increase Rockford’s lead to 4-1. Showing off for the home crowd, Gicewicz knocked in a no-look pass from Bobby Lynch and Seney flew in for a 3-on-1 backhanded shot.

Controlling the pace and the clock in the third period, Rockford didn’t stop taking shots on Olkinuora. The IceHogs outshot the Griffins 37-26 with 14 shots in the final stretch alone.

Striking three minutes into the first period, forward Cross Hanas put the Griffins on the board first. Goalie Mitchell Weeks would remain perfect after that initial score, racking up 25 saves to earn his first career AHL win. Olkinuora allowed four goals and totaled 29 saves while getting tagged with the loss.

There was no shortage of penalties from both teams. While tensions were high, the match didn’t see any true scraps, but there were three skirmishes including a dog-pile in front of Grand Rapids’ net midway through the third period that negated a potential Rockford goal and included every player on the ice except for Weeks. The IceHogs staved off all six Grand Rapids power plays and went 2-7 on the advantage against the Griffins.

Box Score

Game Photos

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