The Rockford IceHogs hosted the Grand Rapids Griffins in their first round playoff series on Saturday night. It started very well for Rockford. Michael Teplý scored in the first period off a pretty set-up from Lukas Reichel and Zach Sanford extended the lead to two in the second. But Grand Rapids scored twice in the third to tie the game and won it in overtime. Jaxson Stauber stopped 34 of 37 in the loss.
Game Two of their best-of-5 series is on Wednesday night in Grand Rapids. Here’s Reichel setting up Teplý for the first goal last night:
If you’re wondering about the IceHogs’ lineup with all of the recent prospects being assigned there somewhat overloading the depth chart, here’s how Rockford sent them out last night. Still no Nolan Allan or Cole Guttman, who are both working their way back from injuries. Colton Dach finished tied for the IceHogs’ lead with three shots on goal last night.
I’m a big fan of Turner’s pregame shows for their NBA and NHL coverage. When they get the two groups together? It can be television gold. And last night we had a couple moments that were fabulous. Poor Henrik Lunqvist had to work thru the biggest net-front screen he’s ever seen — I can guarantee he’s never had someone as big as Shaq posting up in front of him on skates.
And I love me some Charles Barkley because he keeps is painfully real. He’s said on the NBA pregame show that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best playoffs in professional sports. He loves him some hockey. So when he jumped on the set last night to make a bold prediction, I was on board. Unfortunately for the Leafs, Charles picked them for his lock of the night. Which is a kiss of death if you’ve ever paid attention to Barkley’s guarantees.
After Barkley predicted the Leafs would win, they lost 3-1. Boston dominated the game. Toronto got William Nylander back in the lineup for the game, but Auston Matthews didn’t come out of the room after the second intermission. Apparently he’s been dealing with an illness that’s impacted his play throughout the series thus far. That’s a tough spot for the Leafs and Matthews. But it looks like the bench isn’t exactly rallying together in tough moments right now. Poor Mitchell Marner didn’t have much support coming from Matthews or Nylander in this moment.
And you know Canadian media isn’t going to ease off the criticism when the chips are all-in for that franchise.
The Dallas Stars needed overtime to get their first win of their series with Vegas on Saturday night. Wyatt Johnston scored two of Dallas’ three goals in the game. I point this out because Johnston has scored 56 goals in 164 regular-season games for the Stars thus far in his career — and he doesn’t turn 21 until mid-May. In my opinion, the biggest issue ahead for the Blackhawks’ rebuild is how good some of the young players are in Dallas. And Johnston is arguably their best.
Finally, Saturday closed the 2024 NFL Draft. Our guys did a fantastic job covering the entire event. Personally, I’m thrilled with the Bears’ class. They drafted a kid from my high school (Hinsdale Central) and another one (Austin Booker) whose dad played college football with me. Selfishly, that’s amazing! Bear Down!
NEWSLETTER
