AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Defeat Monsters, 3-2

Published on October 11, 2014 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


CLEVELAND - The Grand Rapids Griffins used goals from three different players to defeat the Lake Erie Monsters 3-2 in their road opener at Quicken Loans Arena Saturday night.

Lake Erie scored the first goal of the night 4:26 into the opening period, when Paul Carey took a pass from Mike Sgarbossa to the left of Tom McCollum and fired a wrist shot for his first goal of the season.

It didn't take long for the Griffins to answer with their first goal of the season, following last night's shutout loss at home to Lake Erie. Just over two minutes after Carey scored, Mitch Callahan took advantage of a Monsters penalty when he put a shot past Calvin Pickard at 6:50, just eight seconds after Andrew Agozzino was sent off for high-sticking.

Late in the period, Grand Rapids took the lead when Kevin Porter skated between two Lake Erie defenders at the blue line and sailed a wrist shot over Pickard's glove at 16:42.

The Griffins dominated puck possession over the course of the first period, putting 14 of their 25 shots on Pickard during the first 20 minutes. Teemu Pulkkinen then scored 1:03 into the second period, firing a slap shot from inside the faceoff circle to give the Griffins a 3-1 lead.

The Monsters were able to score only once more, on a power play goal at 5:54 of the third. Borna Rendulic took a pass from behind the net and scored, 23 seconds after Landon Ferraro was penalized for slashing.

The Monsters (1-1-0-0) pulled Pickard for an extra skater with 1:21 remaining but the Griffins kept the puck out of the net, with the biggest play coming when captain Jeff Hoggan checked Maxim Noreau just before he attempted to shoot it with seconds remaining in the game. McCollum made 17 saves in the win, while Pickard turned away 22 of 25 Grand Rapids shots in the loss.

The Griffins (1-1-0-0) will remain on the road, heading south to face the Charlotte Checkers next Friday and Saturday in North Carolina. Game time each night is 7 p.m.

Notes: The Griffins improved their all-time record in road openers to 12-5-2-0...McCollum earned his 70th win as a Griffin.

Three Stars: 1. GR Pulkkinen (goal, assist); 2. LE Rendulic (goal); 3. LE Carey (goal)

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