Grand Rapids Griffins sweep Rockford as John Leonard scores five goals in two nights and rookie Trey Augustine earns his first pro win

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — John Leonard scored three times Sunday as the Grand Rapids Griffins beat the Rockford IceHogs 5-1 at Van Andel Arena, finishing a weekend home-and-home sweep that began with a 4-2 win in Illinois on Saturday.

The Griffins are 5-1-1-0 with 11 points through seven games, which ties the third-best start in the franchise’s 31 seasons, the team said. Only coach Dan Watson’s last two teams started better.

Leonard, who missed the first four games with an injury, finished Sunday with three goals and an assist and had six points against Rockford over the two nights. He broke a scoreless game with 7:56 left in the second period, taking a long cross-ice pass from Carter Bear and slipping the puck between goaltender Drew Commesso’s pads. He added a power-play goal 39 seconds into the third period.

Rockford’s Gavin Hayes scored during four-on-four play at 2:47 of the third, but William Lagesson answered 11 seconds later. Wilmer Skoog redirected a power-play pass from Noah Dower Nilsson for his first goal as a Griffin, and Leonard completed his hat trick with a slap shot on a five-on-three with 38 seconds left. Michal Postava made 27 saves before a crowd of 4,869.

Saturday in Rockford. Trey Augustine, the former Michigan State goaltender, earned his first professional win with 27 saves at the BMO Center. Grand Rapids scored three times in the second period: Bear jammed in Jacob Truscott’s backhanded shot, Dylan James scored his fourth goal in eight career AHL games after Ondrej Becher pressured goaltender Stanislav Berezhnoy into fumbling the puck behind his net, and Leonard sniped a power-play goal, the first Rockford had allowed after killing its first 23 penalties of the season.

Nick Lardis and Brett Seney pulled Rockford within a goal in the third period. With the IceHogs’ goalie pulled for a six-on-four, Augustine stopped Lardis twice in the final two minutes, and Leonard sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 15 seconds left. The Griffins’ penalty kill went 6-for-6 and has allowed one goal in 24 times shorthanded, the best penalty kill in the league, according to the team.

Up next. The Griffins host the Manitoba Moose at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Sources:
Grand Rapids Griffins, “Bringing Home the Bacon,” game recap, Oct. 18, 2026, https://griffinshockey.com/news/oct-18-2026-griffins-5-vs-icehogs-1
Grand Rapids Griffins news release via OurSports Central, “Augustine Earns First Pro Win at Rockford,” Oct. 17, 2026, https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/augustine-earns-first-pro-win-at-rockford/n-6422538
Photo: Michael Barera, “Grand Rapids Griffins vs. Milwaukee Admirals November 2023 11 (face-off).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Rapids_Griffins_vs._Milwaukee_Admirals_November_2023_11_(face-off).jpg

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Tags: Grand Rapids Griffins · AHL · Hockey · Grand Rapids · Van Andel Arena