GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins put up 44 shots - including an astonishing 26 in the first period - but it was the Cleveland Monsters who skated off the ice with a 5-4 shootout win at Van Andel Arena on Friday night.
Story narration by James Gemmell; Photos by Steve Katerberg.
It was Grand Rapids' first shootout loss this season. They moved three points ahead of the second-place Texas Stars in the American Hockey League Central Division standings. However, the Stars have three games in hand on Grand Rapids (37 games played for GR, 34 for Texas). The Stars will host Milwaukee on Saturday night, while Grand Rapids hosts Cleveland again. The Griffins/Monsters game will air on WOOD Radio starting with the pre-game program at 6:45 p.m.
A total of 7,727 fans watched a highly entertaining contest Friday. As mentioned, the Griffins do get a standing point for taking it to overtime, but they missed a chance to pick up two points, and every point in the standings is getting more and more important for playoff positioning, even though the postseason is still a couple months away. The Monsters finished with 26 shots on goal for the game.
Cleveland's Dylan Gambrell was named the game's number-one star, after registering two goals and an assist. The second star was Griffins left wing Alex Doucet with a goal and an assist. And Monsters' goalie Jet Greaves, who was spectacular despite surrendering four goals, got the third star. If it were not for his stellar play, the Griffins may have scored five or six goals in the first period.
1st Period: The Griffins racked up 26 shots on goal (and several that just missed), to the Monsters' 7. A great performance in the opening stanza by any measure, and the only shock is they don't have more than 2 tallies. Jet Greaves' outstanding goaltending for Cleveland is the primary reason for that - and two friendly goalposts on point-blank shots.
[7:36] Jet Greaves was standing on his head, one solid save in net for the Monsters after the next, but the Griffins convert their second goal with 4:41 to go in the first frame. Alex Doucet playing like a madman tonight; swats the puck home from out of mid-air and the Griffins are playing their best hockey of the season so far. A power play goal. Up 2-0, with 19 shots on goal already. Nate Danielson and Shai Buium with the assists on the tally.
[7:34] At the 13:23 mark, the Monsters Stanisla Svozil is called for a 2-minute holding penalty. The Griffins go on the power play for the first time, leading in shots on goal 14-6.
[7:30] 12:05 in the 1st period, Alex Doucet with a nice feed from behind the net to Tim Gettinger, who is wide open in the slot and makes no mistake on a one-timer. 1-0 Griffins.
[7:19] Griffins' left wing Alex Doucet draws a two-minute slashing penalty 5:51 into the 1st period. The Griffins killed it off. But with 11:12 to go in the period, the crowd comes to its feet as the Griffins' Austin Watson dukes it out at center ice with the Monsters' Cole Clayton. Watson takes Clayton down to a hearty round of cheers. Watson gets 5 minutes for fighting and two minutes for boarding. Cross Hanas serves the two minutes. The Griffins kill the penalty.
[7:10] The first-place Grand Rapids Griffins are underway at home against the Cleveland Monsters. The game is airing on WOOD Radio - 106.9FM/1300 AM. Larry Figurski doing the play-by-play tonight, with usual play-by-play great Bob Kaser resting his voice a bit by only doing commentary tonight.
The Griffins wearing black jerseys, black pants with sharp red trim - a nice and novel look for them. The Griffins have gotten five quick shots on goal in the first few minutes. Jet Greaves is goaltending for the Monsters.
2nd Period: The Monsters mustered only eight shots on goal, but lit the lamp four times. Grand Rapids had 10 shots on net, and tallied twice in the 2nd period. 4-4 after two periods of play in downtown Grand Rapids. Astonishingly, it's a tie game despite a 36-to-15 shots-on-goal advantage by Grand Rapids. Some costly turnovers in their own zone was the main reason for the knotted scored.
[8:37] The Monsters trail in shots on goal, 29-14, but are tied where it counts on the scoreboard, 4-4. After a giveway by the Griffins deep in their zone, Dylan Gambrell drives it home 17:29 into the 2nd period. Gavin Brindley with the assist. The Griffins have double the shots on goal but it's tied at 4-4 going to intermission. The Monsters' Madison Bowey gets a 2-minute roughing penalty. Grand Rapids will be on the power play to start the 3rd period.
[8:34] 14:40 in the 2nd period, the Griffins' Antti Tuomisto gets a 2-minute cross-checking penalty and the Monsters capitalize, with Trey Fix-Wolansky firing in a wrist shot from the near circle for a power-play goal. The Griffins have dominated the game, but only lead 4-3 late in the 2nd period. Svozil continues his solid night for Cleveland with another assist
[8:30] Things calm down for several minutes, with the Griffins still leading, 4-2, but now with 5 minutes left in the 2nd period. Grand Rapids leads in shots on goal, 29-12.
[8:03] The Griffins light the lamp just :23 seconds into the second stanza. Sheldon Dries with the unassisted marker to marker it 3-0. The Monsters answer less than a minute later; Dylan Gambrell scores 1:19 in, and it's 3-1. Two goals in the first 1 minute, 19 seconds into the period. And then, a two-minute slashing penalty is assessed to the Monsters' Hunter McKown. The Monsters then score on a breakaway, short-handed goal by Roman Ahcan 2:49 into the period. And then, Austin Watson strikes paydirt at the 3:40 mark for the Griffins. A wild, wild flurry of action to the start the period: four goals in less than four minutes. Griffins lead 4-2, with 16:00 to go in the middle period.
3rd Period: The Griffins held a 44-23 shots on goal advantage in the 60 minutes of regulation play, and both teams had eight shots on goal in the third period.
[9:30] No fewer that seven players sprawled out on the blue paint in front of the Monsters' goal but - somehow- the puck fails to go in. And now there is one minute left in regulation. There was a lengthy video review to confirm the biscuit did not end up in the Monsters' basket. The period - and regulation - end with a 4-4 tie. A thrilling game in front of 7,727 partisan fans in downtown GR, but disappointing that a whopping 44-23 shots-on-goal advantage did not result in a Griffins' win.
[9:20] The Monsters' Joseph LaBate called for a 2-minute tripping penalty 14:03 into the 3rd period. The Monsters kill the penalty. Another scrum in the corner to the left of Cleveland's goalie brings the crowd to feet with 3:59 left in regulation. And now, a high-sticking penalty on the Monsters' Justin Pearson with 3:53 to go
[9:10] A lot of physical play along the boards, and the ref calls .Griffins for a 2-minute roughing penalty on Tory Dello, and a 2-minute hooking penalty on the Monsters' Hunter McKown 6:51 into the final frame. Some four-on-four hockey but neither team converts. The Griffins' shots-on-goal advantage is 37-20 now, and it's still 4-4 at Van Andel Arena.
Overtime: The three-on-three overtime period. Cleveland had the only shot on goal. No scoring.
Shootout: Joe Snively was first up for Grand Rapids and was stopped by Jet Greaves; Trey Fix-Wolansky then got his chance for Cleveland but couldn't get it past the Griffins' goalie, Jack Campbell. Nate Danielson was next up to bat but was rejected by Greaves. Cleveland's Rocco Grimaldi then came down the ice and made a slick deke on Campbell, who manages to makes a nice toe save. Elmer Soderblom then tried to trick Greaves by skating left and then toe-draggng a shot to his right, but Greaves was equal to the task. Gavin Brindley then gave it a go for Cleveland but was thwarted by Campbell. The crowd cheered loudly a moment later as fan favorite Austin Watson moved in on Greaves, but his shot was blocked. The Monsters' Cameron Butler then walked down the ice and scored the game-winner for Cleveland - the only tally in the shootout. The Griffins may be seeing monsters in their nightmares after beginning the game by absolutely peppering Greaves with shots - perhaps their best period shot-wise in franchise history - but only getting two first-period goals out of it, and losing in the overtime shootout. The good news? They get a chance for quick revenge on Saturday night.
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POST-GAME NOTES:
-- The 20th annual Great Skate Winterfest gets underway Saturday night in downtown Grand Rapids. It's presented by the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Foundation and Meijer. The Great Skate will run 24 hours, from 10 p.m. Saturday to 10 p.m. Sunday on the Rosa Park Circle Ink. Grand Rapids Griffins players and coaches will skate with fans for one hour each around the clock.
Admission to the Great Skate Winterfest is free, although donations are encouraged and the City’s nominal skating fees apply ($6 adults, $3 kids).
Highlights of the event include around-the-clock ice skating; horse-drawn carriage rides by Classic Carriage (1-4 p.m./$5 per person for a 10-minute ride); caricatures by David Wodarek (1-3 p.m./minimum $5 donation); a warming tent with beverages and snacks to purchase; and the opportunity to bid on more than 150 items in the week-long online auction, which will conclude on Jan. 22 at noon. The auction consists of national and regional sports teams’ memorabilia; brewery and restaurant certificates; tickets to sports, concerts and cultural events; hotel and resort stays; outdoor recreation and adventure activities; family-friendly attractions.
-- The Griffins will host the Cleveland Monters again Saturday night at 7 o'clock to wrap up their homestand. The pre-game talk-up begins at 6:45 on WOOD Radio (AM 1300 & 106.9FM). The Griffins will play the Moose in Manitoba next Thursday night and next Saturday night (Jan. 25).
--The Griffins came into Friday night's game with a two-point lead over the Texas Stars, and expanded to three points. Grand Rapids' season record is now 21-12-3-0 and Cleveland's is 21-11-1-3.
--The Griffins are 17-0-0-0 when scoring three or more goals.
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Name
Referee
Jake Kamrass (3)
Referee
Chad Ingalls (39)
Linesperson
Luke Pye (42)
Linesperson
Ben Gawlik (36)
Alex Doucet swats the puck home from out of mid-air to give the Griffins a 2-0 lead late in the first period against the Cleveland Monsters at Van Andel Arena. Photo: Photo by: Steve Katerberg
With 11:52 to go in the first period, the Griffins' Austin Watson dukes it out at center ice with the Monsters' Cole Clayton. The crowd came to its feet when Watson took him down to the ice.Photo: Photo by Steve Katerberg
Austin Watson and Cole Clayton exchange pleasantries. The officials stand back and let them have at it.Photo: Photo by Steve Katerberg
Sheldon Dries with the goal early in the 2nd stanza to make it 3-0 Griffins.Photo: Photo by: Steve Katerberg
Griffins' goalie Jack Campbell gets beat on a breakaway, short-handed goal by Roman Ahcan 2:49 into the 2nd period.Photo: Photo by Steve Katerberg
Cleveland's rey Fix-Wolansky firing in a wrist shot from the near circle for a power-play goal to make it 4-3 14:40 into second period.Photo: Photo by Steve Katerberg
Photo: Photo by: Steve Katerberg
