Berkhoel, Blueliners Stymie Moose 1-0
February 23, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Adam Berkhoel made 18 saves for the first shutout of his AHL career and Francis Lemieux provided all the offense with his third goal in as many games, giving an undermanned Grand Rapids Griffins squad a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Manitoba Moose on Saturday.
The season's third sellout crowd of 10,834 at Van Andel Arena saw the Griffins conclude their five-game home stand with a 3-2 record, despite the absence of five regulars currently playing with the Detroit Red Wings.
Grand Rapids (23-27-2-5) will play its third game in as many nights on Sunday, traveling to Quad City for a 6:05 p.m. EST clash with the Flames.
Lemieux's lone marker came 13:46 into the opening period. Playing in just his fifth game with the Griffins, he tallied his third goal and fourth point by digging the puck out of a goal-mouth scrum to the left of Drew MacIntyre and quickly sending a wrist shot through a herd of Moose.
MacIntyre was perfect the rest of the way, finishing with 28 saves to limit the Griffins to a single goal for the second straight night, but his teammates were stymied by a patchwork Grand Rapids defense and the stellar play of Berkhoel, who was playing his 38th AHL contest.
With the Griffins' top three defensemen - Jonathan Ericsson, Kyle Quincey and Garrett Stafford - all recalled to the Red Wings within the past nine days, Berkhoel and the six blueliners who played tonight entered the evening with only 314 combined games of AHL experience. By contrast, Manitoba's back seven came in with 1,020 games under their belt.
The Griffins and Moose (30-23-2-2) again played a nearly penalty-free game, as for the second straight night each team received just one power play chance.
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