GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Jeff Hoggan, who had an unfortunate penalty call contribute to a Grand Rapids Griffins loss late in Game 3, had a much more successful second period Friday.

The team captain scored twice, part of a three-goal second period, to give the Griffins a 5-3 win to clinch the Western Conference quarterfinal series against Abbotsford.

Teemu Pulkkinen added a goal and assist as the No. 4 seeded Griffins scored twice on power plays to eliminate No. 5 Heat before 7,641 at Van Andel Arena.



RELATED: Recap how the game unfolded in our live blog

With the win, the defending Calder Cup champs advance to the conference semifinals. The time and team is still to be determined. As of now, No. 1 Texas, which eliminated Oklahoma City 3-0, is the likely opponent on the road on Thursday. One series is still ongoing: No. 2 Chicago against No. 7 Rochester. They play Game 5 on Sunday.

The Griffins’ three-goal second period turned around what was a sluggish first period and provided a bit of vindication for Hoggan, who slightly clipped the face of Markus Granlund for a high stick in the closing minute of Game 3 on Wednesday. Granlund scored seconds later in a 2-1 Heat victory.

This time it was different. The Griffins trailed 1-0 before Pulkkinen tied it with a power-play goal at 7:26 into the second. Just over two minutes later, Pulkkinen quickly capitalized on a Heat turnover, sending a pass to David McIntyre, who then found Hoggan open for a clear shot past Joni Ortio and a 2-1 lead.

After the Heat tied it on a hard shot by Kane Lafranchise, Hoggan scored again to put the Griffins ahead for good. He skated in and tipped in a shot in front off a shot from the side by Cory Emmerton with 34 seconds left in the period.

"What a job by Jeff Hoggan," coach Jeff Blashill said. "He's just the heart and soul leader. He's been a huge reason for success the past two years."

Hoggan didn't just contribute on the ice. Others said he helped fire up the team in between the first and second periods.

"We just said we had to pick it up," Hoggan said. "We knew it wasn't our best period and we got a lot of poise in here and have been in these situations. Just quietly said let's go. Coach came in, we addressed a few things and got back to work."

The Griffins, after being outshot 9-8 in the first, had an 18-6 shot advantage in the second.

"The second period, we really changed momentum and it went our way," Blashill said. "That first shift of the second period with (Riley) Sheahan, (Tomas) Jurco and (Mitch) Callahan really started to change momentum and the rest of the guys followed suit."

Abbotsford coach Troy Ward thought Hoggan's second goal was the defining play.

"They carried the play in the second period," he said. "The good news was it was tied 2-2 near the end of the period and we made a boo-boo late in the second and that was the turning point in the game.

"Had we gone into the locker rooms 2-2, they’re even with us and they’re nervous because we win a lot of road games."

In the third, the Griffins went up 4-2 on a power play goal from Sheahan, but the Heat matched it less than a minute later on a goal by Granlund moments after Ryan Sproul went to the box.

Hoggan nearly had a third goal in the closing seconds with an empty net. He was thwarted near the net, but Landon Ferraro finished it up with a goal on a sharp angle with 13 seconds left.

NOTES

The crowd of 7,641 was announced as the ninth most in team history, taking in 61 games. Triston Grant, who played in two playoff games, was a scratch. Instead, Trevor Parkes played and provided some early first-period energy. Mrazek started his 28th consecutive playoff game, two shy of Jimmy Howard's career mark for overall playoff game.

Pete Wallner covers sports for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at pwallner@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

Abbotsford Heat 3 at Grand Rapids Griffins 5 - Status: Final

Friday, May 2, 2014 - Van Andel Arena

Abbotsford 1 1 1 - 3

Grand Rapids 0 3 2 - 5

1st Period-1, Abbotsford, O'Brien 1 (Breen, Hanowski), 14:21. Penalties-Sproul Gr (hooking), 5:33; Billins Abb (tripping), 17:35.

2nd Period-2, Grand Rapids, Pulkkinen 2 (Jurco, Backman), 7:26 (PP). 3, Grand Rapids, Hoggan 2 (McIntyre, Pulkkinen), 9:49. 4, Abbotsford, Lafranchise 1 (Reinhart, Granlund), 13:16. 5, Grand Rapids, Hoggan 3 (Emmerton, Ferraro), 19:26. Penalties-O'Brien Abb (slashing), 7:13; Paetsch Gr (slashing), 13:16; Paetsch Gr (interference), 19:39; Reinhart Abb (goaltender interference), 20:00.

3rd Period-6, Grand Rapids, Sheahan 1 (Callahan, Backman), 4:51 (PP). 7, Abbotsford, Granlund 2 (Street, Reinhart), 5:46 (PP). 8, Grand Rapids, Ferraro 1 (Hoggan, Paetsch), 19:47 (EN). Penalties-Granlund Abb (hooking), 3:42; Sproul Gr (interference), 5:37; Breen Abb (tripping), 15:26.

Shots on Goal-Abbotsford 9-6-12-27. Grand Rapids 8-18-10-36.

Power Play Opportunities-Abbotsford 1 / 4; Grand Rapids 2 / 5.

Goalies-Abbotsford, Ortio 1-3-0 (35 shots-31 saves). Grand Rapids, Mrazek 3-1-0 (27 shots-24 saves).

A-7,641

Referees-T.J. Luxmore (49), Terry Koharski (10).

Linesmen-Jared Hoffmeyer (91), Bob Marcis (65).