Mitch Callahan slipped the puck beneath Ice Hogs goalie Kent Simpson to lift the Griffins to a 3-2 overtime victory Friday night at the Van Andel Arena. Callahan scored the final goal of the game off the first shot in overtime, just 1:21 into play.
Callahan tallied the goal after Landon Ferraro threw the puck from the left corner at the net with Alexey Marchenko trying his own hand.
Grand Rapids pushed their season record to a historic 21-5-2, the first run of it’s kind in the team’s 18-year history.
The Griffins scored first 5:52 into the game, when captain Jeff Hoggan scored off a rebound after Cory Emmerton attempted a shot of his own.
Rockford scored later in the period to tie things up at 1-1 after Philippe Lefebvre took a wrist shot from the left circle that led the puck to the far corner of the net.
Hoggan would help the Griffins retake the lead early in the second period on a wraparound when he nailed a backhanded shot between Simpson and the left post. Rockford’s Brad Winchester tallied the final goal of regulation 5:35 into the third to tie the game up, eventually leading to the overtime bout.
Grand Rapids was grossly outshot in the third period, as Rockford took the advantage at 13-3. The Griffins did hold the advantage overall on the night slightly at 35-33.
Tom McCollum earned his 56th career win and his 12th of the season in goal for the Griffins Friday night. The star goalie stopped 31 of 33 shots. With the win, McCollum moved into third place on the Griffin’s all-time list for goals, trailing Jimmy Howard and Joey MacDonald.
The Griffins have now won 19 of their last 22 games and extend their winning record. Grand Rapids holds an 11-point lead in the Midwest Division over the Ice hogs following the game.
Grand Rapids visits Chicago Saturday night with the hope of avenging their 4-2 loss last week to the Wolves.
