Teemu Pulkkinen leads the AHL with 9 goals this postseason after notching the hat trick Wednesday night. Photo/Grand Rapids Griffins
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]eemu Pulkkinen notched a hat trick Wednesday night en route to a triumphant 5-3 Griffins win over the Rockford IceHogs at Van Andel Arena.
With the win, Grand Rapids takes a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Pilkkinen’s third goal of the night came with 2:46 remaining off a Tomas Nosek pass to break a 3-3 tie. Louis-Marc Aubry would add the nightcap with 18 seconds, scoring into an empty net.
The Griffins have won all seven previous best-of-seven series in which they led 1-0, including three during the team’s 2013 Calder Cup run. Grand Rapids also tied a franchise playoff record Wednesday night with their fourth consecutive home victory.
Kevin Porter tallied his first point in the playoffs to give the Griffins a lead just 2:01 into the opening frame. A feed from Anthony Mantha led to a backhand from the bottom-left circle that slipped past Michael Leighton, an NHL veteran.
Rockford would score off a Griffins turnover at the 8:41 mark of the second period. Nosek’s pass bounced off the stick of Nathan Paetsch on the doorstep, allowing Garret Ross to quickly feed Mark McNeill for a one-timer that caught Tom McCollum off guard.
Pulkkinen’s first goal came with 6:55 remaining in the middle frame. After taking a pass from Tyler Bertuzzi, Pulkkinen quickly split Kirill Gotovets and Keith Seabrook to snap home a shot past Leighton. The goal would make him the league leader in goals for the postseason. It was his seventh goal during the postseason, which would turn to nine by the end of the night.
Goal No. 8 came about three-and-a-half minutes later. Pulkkinen ripped a shot through a sliver of daylight between Leighton and the left post to give Grand Rapids a 3-1 advantage heading into the third.
That tally also placed Pulkkinen in the pantheon of Griffins goal scorers, as his 16th career postseason tally matched Derek King and Tomas Tatar for the most in franchise history.
Stephen Johns cut the margin to one goal 3:16 minutes into the final period after he let loose a wrister from the left faceoff dot. Johns then earned an assist on the equalizer when his shot from the right point was tipped past McCollum by Ross at the 9:20 mark.
The Griffins looked to be on pace for the first overtime contest of the postseaon, but avoided it when Pulkkinen earned his 17th career playoff goal and ninth in just six postseason games. Only four players in franchise history have scored more during a single playoff year, led by Tatar’s 16 as playoff MVP two years ago.
They’ll host Game 2 against the IceHogs on Friday at 7 p.m.
