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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Amerks Rally for 4-3 Overtime Win over Griffins

February 7, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - After edging the Americans in overtime the previous night, the Grand Rapids Griffins fell, 4-3, to Rochester in overtime during Saturday's rematch at Van Andel Arena.

Teemu Pulkkinen's six-game point streak came to an end in the loss and goaltender Tom McCollum, who was on a five-game winning streak with the Griffins entering the night, saw his first start after missing 10 games while on recall with the Detroit Red Wings.

The Griffins (25-17-4-1) will continue their four-game home stand next weekend with back-to-back games against the San Antonio Rampage, beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. for the fourth annual "Purple Community Game".

Following a scoreless first period, Anthony Mantha tallied his eighth goal of the season off of a feed from Tomas Nosek behind the Rochester net at 1:23 of the second. The goal came just six seconds after Brayden Irwin's roughing penalty expired to give the Griffins a 1-0 lead.

Andreas Athanasiou notched the Griffins' second goal at 6:39 of the same frame. In possession of the puck behind the net, Athanasiou passed the puck to Mark Zengerle in the bottom of the left circle. Athanasiou then darted from behind the cage to the right circle, where Zengerle fed him through traffic for a quick slap into the net past Matt Hackett.

Rochester center Tim Schaller made a dent in the Griffins' lead at 10:37 of the second period. Entering the Grand Rapids zone, Schaller split the home team's defense and sent the puck soaring over McCollum's glove to put the Americans (20-26-2-0) within one.

Landon Ferraro gave the Griffins a 3-1 lead at 13:57 courtesy of a feed from Kevin Porter on an odd-man rush, but William Carrier scooped up a McCollum rebound two minutes later and deposited it into the back of the net to make it 3-2.

The lone third-period goal came at the hands of Jerry D'Amigo at 11:04 to tie the game at three apiece, marking his second goal in as many nights against Grand Rapids. Defenseman Matt MacKenzie's shot from inside the right blue line soared wide of McCollum's net, but the puck bounced off the back glass and redirected to a waiting D'Amigo on the left doorstep.

For the third time in their four-game season series, the two teams went to overtime. It was Rochester's turn for the overtime victory, when Schaller redirected MacKenzie's long shot through the five-hole of McCollum 3:06 into the extra stanza.

McCollum turned aside 28 of 32 shots in the loss, while Hackett blocked 23 of 26 to backstop the Americans to their second overtime win over the Griffins this season. The two teams finished their season series at 2-2.

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