GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The Grand Rapids Griffins picked up where they left off in the playoffs - thanks to some more magic from Teemu Pulkkinen - to open the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday with a 5-3 win against Rockford.
Pulkkinen scored three times, including the go-ahead goal with 2:46 left, as the Griffins took the opener before 3,954 at Van Andel Arena.
It was another scoring binge for Pulkkinen. The right winger scored twice within three and a half minutes in the second period to give the Griffins a 3-1 lead, and then added his ninth goal in six games to win it.
The teams meet again 7 p.m. Friday at Van Andel Arena for Game 2.
The Griffins, with two days rest compared to six for Rockford, got off to a much better start than the last series, when they lost the first two games. They grabbed the lead two minutes in when Kevin Porter took a pass from Anthony Mantha and backhanded a shot over Michael Leighton.
After the IceHogs tied it at 1-1 midway through the second, Pulkkinen went on his run, scoring on a breakaway and on a quick wrist shot with 6:55 and 3:32 left in the period.
Rockford scored twice in the third to tie it - by Stephen Johns and Garret Ross - before the Griffins had the final say.
Louis-Marc Aubry finished it with an empty-net goal in the closing seconds.
Griffins goalie Tom McCollum stopped 33 shots.
HIGHLIGHTS
*Pulkkinen's three goals gave him 17 for his playoff career to surpass the franchise record of 16 held by Tomas Tatar and Derek King.
*Kevin Porter got off to a much better start to this series with the opening goal. The center was held without a point and a minus-4 rating against Toronto. Anthony Mantha, with just one point in the previous series, got the assist with a nice feed.
* Tyler Bertuzzi looked good again, at least as far as energy and physical presence. He had the first assist on Pulkkinen's first two goals.
LOWLIGHTS
*With a 3-1 lead, the Griffins allowed a two-goal swing within six minutes in the third period that changed the momentum of the game.
NOTES
Before the game, the Griffins announced that Dominic Turgeon, Detroit's third-round draft pick (63rd overall) last year, was signed to an amateur tryout. He had 43 points (18-25--43) in 67 regular season games with the WHL's Portland Winterhawks this season ... The team split the final two games of the regular season by wide margins - the Griffins won at home 6-1 on April 1 and the IceHogs won at home two days later, 6-2.
Pete Wallner covers sports for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at pwallner@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.
Rockford IceHogs 3 at Grand Rapids Griffins 5 - Status: Unofficial Final
Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - Van Andel Arena
Rockford 0 1 2 - 3
Grand Rapids 1 2 2 - 5
1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Porter 1 (Mantha), 2:01. Penalties-Ouellet Gr (high-sticking), 7:54; Mashinter Rfd (interference), 10:58.
2nd Period-2, Rockford, McNeill 1 (Ross), 8:41. 3, Grand Rapids, Pulkkinen 7 (Bertuzzi, Miele), 13:05. 4, Grand Rapids, Pulkkinen 8 (Bertuzzi, Miele), 16:28. Penalties-Labrie Rfd (slashing), 3:26; Zengerle Gr (hooking), 10:21; Ouellet Gr (interference), 13:41; Miele Gr (hooking), 18:31.
3rd Period-5, Rockford, Johns 2 (Abbott, Seabrook), 3:16. 6, Rockford, Ross 2 (Johns, Svedberg), 9:20. 7, Grand Rapids, Pulkkinen 9 (Nosek), 17:14. 8, Grand Rapids, Aubry 3 (Athanasiou, Porter), 19:42 (EN). Penalties-Svedberg Rfd (tripping), 12:08; Evans Gr (slashing), 19:52.
Shots on Goal-Rockford 14-12-10-36. Grand Rapids 14-5-9-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Rockford 0 / 5; Grand Rapids 0 / 3.
Goalies-Rockford, Leighton 3-1-0 (27 shots-23 saves). Grand Rapids, McCollum 4-1-0 (36 shots-33 saves).
A-3,954
Referees-Darcy Burchell (42), Terry Koharski (10).
Linesmen-Shandor Alphonso (52), Bob Marcis (65).