The Grand Rapids Griffins ended the weekend where they started it in third place in the Central Division despite starting it with a 3-2 shootout win over the Milwaukee Admirals. They then wrapped up a weekend sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Rockford IceHogs.
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Friday: Grand Rapids Griffins vs. Milwaukee Admirals
The Griffins on Friday welcome the Milwaukee Admirals to Van Andel Arena. Grand Rapids had Sebastian Cossa in goal while the Admirals had Matthew Murray. The Griffins jumped out to a 1-0 lead just under six minutes in with a goal from Austin Watson. It was Watson’s 15th of the season assisted by Nate Danielson. Less than a minute later they made it 2-0 with a goal from Sheldon Dries his 20th of the season. Amadeus Lombardi and Alexandre Doucet had assists.
The Admirals got on the board in the second period with an unassisted goal from Chase De Leo. In the third period, Milwaukee tied it with a goal from Cal O’Reilly his tenth of the season. Jake Lucchini and Grigori Denisenko added assists. The game would go overtime tied at 2-2. The Griffins outshot Milwaukee 3-1 in overtime but neither team scored. In the shootout, neither Lucchini, O’Reilly, or De Leo could beat Cossa. Lombardi and Joe Snively also couldn’t score for Grand Rapids in the shootout but Nate Danielson broke through to give Grand Rapids the extra point.
Cossa finished stopping 16 of the 18 Admirals shots he faced while Murray stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced.
Saturday: Grand Rapids Griffins vs. Rockford IceHogs
On Saturday Grand Rapids hit the road facing Rockford at the BMO Center. Jan Bednar got the start for the Griffins while Rockford countered with Mitchell Weeks. The IceHogs got on the board first in this one with Joey Anderson scoring his 16th of the season. Andreas Athanasiou and Cole Guttman had assists.
The remainder of the game was all Grand Rapids. Just 34 seconds into the second period they tied it up with a goal from Shai Buium his second of the year. Watson and Snively had assists. Later, with 50 seconds left in the period, Danielson gave Grand Rapids a 2-1 lead. It was Danielson’s ninth of the season with Ondrej Becher and Brogan Rafferty assisting.
In the third period just under nine minutes in Watson scored his 16th of the season. Lombardi and Snively were on the assists. That would be the final. All three of Griffins’ goals came via the power play. Bednar stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced while Weeks stopped 19 of the 22 shots he faced.
Next Week:
The Griffins are off until next Friday and Saturday when they face Rockford again. Friday’s game will be at 7:00 PM and Saturday’s game will be at 8:00 PM. Both games are at Van Andel Arena.
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