GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WTVO/WQRF) — The Rockford IceHogs dropped a 2-1 contest in overtime to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night at Van Andel Arena. Bobby Lynch netted his ninth goal of the season in the IceHogs’ league-leading 21st overtime period.
Coming off his game-winning shootout goal against the Laval Rocket on Mar. 4, IceHogs forward Morgan Adams-Moisan dropped the gloves with Griffins defenseman Wyatt Newpower at 2:17 to ignite the Friday night action.
Nearing the end of what appeared to be a scoreless first period, defenseman Louis Crevier was charged with a two-minute interference penalty, and Grand Rapids went on the power play with 1:29 left in the initial frame. After Griffins forward Matt Luff fired a shot from the right circle, forward Joel L’Esperance cleaned up the rebound and chipped a shot past Rockford goaltender Arvid Soderblom at 18:45 to take a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Forward Bobby Lynch tied the contest 1-1 on the Hogs’ third man advantage in the final frame with a highlight reel-worthy between-the-legs goal at 9:15. When forward Rocco Grimaldi’s shot missed high over the crossbar, Lynch was ready on the edge of the crease and knocked the loose puck between his legs and past Griffins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic. Grimaldi recorded his first point as an IceHog with the assist.
The Griffins stunned the IceHogs only 17 seconds into the overtime period when Grand Rapids defenseman Jared McIsaac caught a centering pass and angled the puck into the net to earn the 2-1 win. Soderblom marked 31 saves on 33 Grand Rapids shots but was tagged with the overtime loss, and Nedeljkovic turned away 29 of 30 Rockford shots for the victory.
The next home game for Rockford is Wednesday, March 15 against the Manitoba Moose at 7 p.m.
