AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Macdonald Makes 40 Saves in Griffins' Loss to Peoria

Published on January 27, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


PEORIA, Ill. - Goaltender Joey MacDonald made a season-high 40 saves for the Grand Rapids Griffins, but a big second period for the Peoria Rivermen proved to be all the team needed to skate away with a 4-2 victory at Carver Arena on Friday night.

The Rivermen (22-19-2-1) tallied four goals in the middle frame while firing 36 shots on the Griffins (17-17-4-4) net in the first 40 minutes. The teams will face off again on Saturday at 8 p.m. in the third of four meetings on the season.

Peoria had the game's first man advantage, but it was Grand Rapids that struck first with its seventh shorthanded goal on the season. Mitch Callahan brought the puck into the Rivermen zone and made a nice move to get around former Griffin Danny Syvret before finding Brendan Smith trailing in the play. Smith made no mistake in beating Peoria's Ben Bishop under the blocker at 6:48 for his seventh tally of the year.

The Griffins ended the first frame with a 1-0 edge thanks in large part to the goaltending of MacDonald. MacDonald, appearing in his sixth straight game for Grand Rapids, steered away all 19 Rivermen shots, which tied the highest total the Griffins allowed in a single period this season.

Peoria continued putting pucks towards the Griffins goal and were rewarded early and often in the second period. At 1:49, Adam Cracknell ripped a shot off the mask of MacDonald, leaving a rebound for Jonathan Cheechoo to shovel into the net to even the score at one.

Ian Cole gave the Rivermen the advantage at 7:04 with a long shot from the point that found its way to the back of the net through traffic. Just 1:33 later, Cade Fairchild stepped into the high slot and fired a wrist shot over the glove of MacDonald to make it 3-1 for the home team.

The Rivermen put the game just out of reach when Evgeni Grachev found himself alone in front of the net just five seconds into a power play, deking around MacDonald for his second of the year at 18:02.

Joakim Andersson gave the Griffins some life in the third period with an early power play goal at 1:48, but Bishop shut the door for the rest of the period to bring his save total for the night to 32.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2012


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