AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Former Griffins Shine in Wings' Red & White Game

Published on September 27, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Detroit Red Wings' first Red & White intrasquad game in Grand Rapids since 2003 provided many happy returns for an appreciative Tuesday night crowd of 10,174 at Van Andel Arena, who watched former Griffins Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler score a pair of goals each to pace Team Red to a 6-4 victory over Team White.

Thomas McCollum stopped 17 of 21 over the final two periods to record the win, thanks to additional goal support from Todd Bertuzzi and Brent Raedeke.

A scoreless opening period saw Jimmy Howard make 12 saves for Team Red, while his understudy, Ty Conklin, turned aside six shots on the other end. The impenetrable duo gave way to Griffins netminders McCollum and Jordan Pearce (Team White) to start the second period.

Team White's Tomas Tatar notched the game's first goal on the power play at 8:09 of the middle frame, popping a rebound past McCollum with less than a second remaining in a holding penalty to Niklas Kronwall. But Bertuzzi answered for Team Red during a 5-on-3 at the 10:13 mark, taking a cross-ice feed from Filppula and blasting a shot past behind Pearce from the right circle.

Henrik Zetterberg put Team White back on top at 2-1 by cashing in on a goal-mouth scramble with 5:09 remaining in the second, but Filppula would score two power play goals before the period expired - during a two-man advantage at 18:08 and a 5-on-4 situation 48 ticks later - to give Team Red a 3-2 cushion entering the final 20 minutes.

Ian White tallied for - who else - Team White from the slot to tie matters 3:46 into the third period, but the red squad went back on top when Hudler skated in to beat Pearce from point-blank range at 5:20.

The back-and-forth scoring continued, with Trevor Parkes connecting for Team White at 9:50 to make it a 4-4 game, and Raedeke giving Team Red yet another lead with the eventual game-winner at the 11:26 mark. Hudler capped off the night with his second of the game with 1:59 remaining, making it a 6-4 final.

Pearce stopped 20 of 26 in the loss.

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American Hockey League Stories from September 27, 2011


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