GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—The Rockford IceHogs and Jaxson Stauber shut out the Grand Rapids Griffins 2-0 at Van Andel Arena on Friday night. After snapping Grand Rapids’ 19-game home-point streak, the IceHogs are now just one point behind the Central Division Second Place Griffins.
After a scoreless third period, Stauber marked his second shutout of the season and stopped all 27 Grand Rapids shots, and Sebastian Cossa recorded 22 saves on 24 Rockford shots, getting hit with the loss. With the regulation defeat, Cossa’s 19-game unbeaten streak came to an end at the hands of the Hogs.
Scoring his ninth goal of the season, Michal Teply claimed an early 1-0 lead for the IceHogs. Skating into Grand Rapids’ zone on a 2-on-1 with Rem Pitlick, Teply dangled the puck around a Griffins’ defender and buried a wrister from the right circle behind Cossa (1:51).
Stauber recorded his third assist of the season on Teply’s goal after clipping the puck with his glove and sending it back into play. Drew Commesso also marked an assist this season, and the IceHogs’ rookie goaltenders have a combined five points on the campaign.
There was no love lost between the division rivals in the first period as both teams were charged with four minors for a total of 16 penalty minutes. Despite a pair of opportunities, both clubs went 0-for-2 on the power play in the first frame.
Late in the second period, Rockford extended its lead to 2-0 on a 5-on-3 power play. Grand Rapids’ Tyler Spezia was called for hooking at 13:03 and sent the IceHogs to the man advantage. Not even a minute later, Carter Mazur was charged with a delay of game minor at 14:01, and Wyatt Kaiser netted a wrist shot from the high slot through traffic in front of the crease (14:22)
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