Griffins down Ducks in shootout, 4-3
November 25, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Anaheim, Calif. âThe Grand Rapids Griffins downed the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 4-3 in a shootout on Wednesday night at the Arrowhead Pond at Anaheim. The Griffins improve their road record to 5-0-0-0 and 11-4-1-0 overall.
Tomas Kopecky and Todd Robinson converted in the shootout, while Joey MacDonald stopped the four Ducks shooters. The Griffins improve to 2-0 in shootouts this season and 38-45 overall.
Grand Rapids will host the Chicago Wolves on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Cincinnati (6-10-0-1) opened the game's scoring when Michael Holmqvist wristed a shot that ricocheted off the goal post past MacDonald and into the cage just 53 seconds into the tilt. MacDonald turned aside a shot by Shane O'Brien, Holmqvist corralled the rebound and fired from 15 feet.
Griffins defenseman Niklas Kronwall tied the score at 1-1 when he fired a shot from two strides inside the blue line past Ilya Bryzgalov at 7:53 of the first period. The Griffins patiently passed the puck around the Cincinnati zone. Kronwall controlled a pass from Todd Robinson at the blue line and while striding, switched from forehand to backhand before threading the puck through Bryzgalov's legs.
Cincinnati regained its one-goal lead when Stanislav Chistov gathered the rebound of his own shot and popped it over MacDonald with 25 seconds remaining in the first period.
Grand Rapids scored two five-on-three goals in the second period. Kronwall netted the first of those goals when his 25-foot wrist shot eluded Bryzgalov to knot the score 2-2 at 6:32 of the second period.
Nathan Robinson recorded his second point of the night when he scored for the Griffins with 34 seconds remaining in the second period. With time in the second period dwindling, the Griffins quickly fired the puck on the Cincinnati cage. A shot by Bryan Helmer was partially blocked in front of the Cincinnati cage. Nathan Robinson pounced on the loose puck and shoveled it past Bryzgalov for the second power play marker of the contest and a 3-2 lead for Grand Rapids.
The Mighty Ducks tied the score just 97 seconds into the third period. Alexei Smirnov lifted the rebound of Dustin Penner's wraparound attempt over MacDonald to even the score at 3-3.
MacDonald, who turned aside 13 shots in the third period and three shots in overtime, stopped 30 shots for the win. Bryzgalov made 17 saves in a shootout loss.
American Hockey League Stories from November 25, 2004
- Aeros.com Doorbuster on Family Day packs begins at 12:01 a.m. - Houston Aeros
- St. John's Maple Leafs on Rogers Sportsnet - Toronto Marlies
- Griffins down Ducks in shootout, 4-3 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Ducks fall to Griffins in shootout - Cincinnati RailRaiders
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
