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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins defeat Crunch, 6-0

April 8, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


SYRACUSE, NY - A five-point night, including a hat-trick, from Donald MacLean propelled the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 6-0 victory, and a franchise-record 54 wins, over the Syracuse Crunch Saturday evening at the Onondaga County War Memorial. The Griffins also locked up with Toronto as their first-round partner in the Calder Cup playoffs.

MacLean ended his five-game scoring drought at 5:55 of the opening period when he tipped a Bryan Helmer blast from the point past the left pad of Mike Ayers. With the assist, Helmer notched his 54th point and a franchise-record for single-season scoring by a defenseman. Niklas Kronwall claimed the previous mark of 53 during the 2004-05 campaign.

A game of tic-tac-toe during a Griffins' power play allowed Eric Manlow to snap a shot into the mesh from the doorstep off a crisp pass from Kent McDonell at 11:39 of the period. With 40 seconds remaining Tomas Kopecky launched a rocket from the leftwing circle that blew past Ayers giving the Griffins a 3-0 edge at the first intermission.

The Crunch switched goaltenders for the start of the second as Andrew Penner replaced Ayers and stopped all eight shots he would face in the frame, while Jimmy Howard remained solid for the Griffins forcing a scoreless period.

The MacLean floodgates would open early in the third as he ripped a shot from the high-slot past the netminder off a feed from Darryl Bootland. MacLean would complete his franchise-record fifth hat-trick of the season in similar fashion as McDonell assisted with a centering pass from the corner at 13:53 of the period. The goal marks 56 for MacLean, tying him for eighth all-time in the AHL for goals scored in a single-season.

During the closing minutes of the game, the Griffins' power play lit the lamp once again as Eric Himelfarb scored off assists from Jiri Hudler and the newly acquired Jakub Kindl, who made his professional debut.

MacLean finished with five points on the night while Howard tallied 31 saves and recorded his second shutout (Dec 21 @ Milwaukee), as the Griffins end their season series with the Crunch claiming a record of 6-0-0-0, with one shootout win. The Griffins reduce their magic number in clinching the regular season title to one point over both Portland and Wilkes-Barre, as they prepare for the final stop of their five-game road-trip Sunday evening in Rochester to do battle against the Americans. Game-time is set for 6:05 p.m. EST.

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