Griffins advance to Western Conference Finals with win over Rockford

By @MichaelCaples –

With a 5-3 win tonight, the Griffins get to return home…to rest.

Grand Rapids picked up a road victory in Rockford, Ill., today to secure a 4-1 series victory over the Rockford IceHogs. The victory sends the Griffins to the AHL’s Western Conference Finals.

Goals from Teemu Pulkkinen, Andy Miele, Marek Tvrdon, Tyler Bertuzzi and Jeff Hoggan powered the Griffins to a series-clinching win today, helping them make potential Games 6 and 7 at Van Andel Arena unnecessary.

Tom McCollum stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced in the decisive victory.

The Griffins will now await the winner of the Utica Comets vs. Oaklahoma City Barons series to find out who their next opponent will be in the Calder Cup Playoffs – the Comets hold a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 taking place Monday night in Utica.

Here are highlights and quotes from Hoggan, Miele, McCollum and coach Jeff Blashill:

The Griffins have been the AHL’s hottest team since staring down a 0-2 series deficit in a best-of-five series with the Toronto Marlies. They won three straight games to avoid elimination and advance to the second round. With their 4-1 series win over Rockford, the Griffins have now won seven of their last eight games.

A glance at the league’s scoring leaders chart quickly identifies some of the Griffins’ key players during their first two series victories.

Pulkkinen is tied for the AHL playoff lead with 15 points in 10 games. Thirteen of those 15 points are goals; Pulkkinen leads the AHL in the goals column with three more than anybody else.

Miele (Grosse Pointe Woods) is just behind Pulkkinen in the scoring race, holding 13 points in the 10 games. Ten of those points are assists, which puts him in a three-way tie for first place in that category.

Meanwhile, the third leading scorer for the Griffins is Tyler Bertuzzi. The surprising offensive outburst from the rookie – he only played in two regular-season games – has led to nine points in eight playoff games, as the Griffins coaching staff can’t find a reason to take him out of the lineup. Only Manchester’s Michael Mersch and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Conor Sheary have more playoff points than Bertuzzi, and they both played full AHL regular seasons before the playoffs. They are also both three years older than the ’95 birth-year Bertuzzi; both Mersch and Sheary were born in ’92.

Meanwhile, McCollum continues to thrive in his first AHL playoff run – the Red Wings’ former first-round pick now holds a 7-2 record with a .913 save percentage and 2.68 goals-against average.