AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

4-2 win over Wolves makes for perfect 10 for Griffins at home

Published on February 27, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids, Mich. - The AHL-leading Griffins tied a team record with their tenth straight win at Van Andel Arena on Friday, a 4-2 triumph over the Chicago Wolves that extended their record unbeaten streak at home to 16 games (13-0-3-0).

Unlikely goal scorers Dave Van Drunen, Ryan Bonni and Ryan Barnes teamed with Kevin Miller to lead the Griffins to their tenth win in their last 12 meetings with the Wolves, dating back to the 2003 playoffs. The victory over their biggest rival increased the Griffins' lead atop the West Division to 10 points over idle Milwaukee.

The Griffins (37-15-8-0), who have not lost within friendly confines since New Year's Eve, will close-out their busiest two-month home slate ever this Sunday, when they host the Philadelphia Phantoms at 4 p.m. in their 17th home game of 2004.

The Griffins wasted little time gaining the upper hand, scoring just 4:37 into the contest. Off a faceoff in the Chicago zone, Van Drunen collected the puck at the right point, skated down into the left circle and backhanded a shot that made its way through a sea of bodies and past Chicago's Kari Lehtonen. Bonni then notched his first goal as a Griffin at the 8:53 mark, as his shot from the left boards, just inside the blueline, sailed over the right shoulder of the oblivious Lehtonen.

The Wolves (29-20-7-3) got on the scoreboard a little over one minute later and six seconds into a power play, when Steve Maltais took a pass from Daniel Corso and beat Joey MacDonald from the left circle at 9:56.

Grand Rapids reasserted its cushion on a breakaway goal by Miller with 3:57 left in the period. Picking up the puck in the neutral zone, Miller skated in and lifted it into the upper right corner of the cage, giving the Griffins a 3-1 advantage.

The see-saw nature of the contest continued 12:43 into the second period, when Stephen Baby's shot from low in the right circle barely slipped by MacDonald inside the right post. Later in the period, moments after the Griffins were held scoreless during a five-minute power play, Barnes broke in alone on Lehtonen and beat the Atlanta Thrashers prospect stick-side at the 19:00 mark, providing what would be the final 4-2 margin.

MacDonald finished with 24 saves to claim his eighth straight home victory, one shy of Mathieu Chouinard's team standard, and improve to 11-1-1 in his last 13 outings. Lehtonen made 23 stops in the loss.

The victory improved coach Danton Cole's two-year record at the Griffins' helm to 85-37-16-2, tying him with Guy Charron for second place on the franchise wins list, 10 behind Bruce Cassidy.

View this game's official box score on-line at griffinshockey.com.

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2004


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