AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Fall 3-2 in Overtime

Published on May 12, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids, Mich. - Tony Tuzzolino's tally at 5:29 of overtime on Monday lifted the visiting Houston Aeros to a 3-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins in Game 1 of the AHL Western Conference finals at Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins had carried the momentum into the extra session, thanks to Ryan Barnes' game-tying goal with just 2:39 left in regulation, but Tuzzolino corralled a loose puck to the left of Marc Lamothe and beat the netminder to hand Grand Rapids its first series deficit of the postseason.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be staged in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, before the 2-3-2 format shifts to the Compaq Center.

The Griffins, who entered the night 6-0 in the playoffs when scoring first, needed just 2:17 of the opening period to take a 1-0 lead. During a power play, Sheldon Brookbank fired a shot from the right point that was turned away by Johan Holmqvist, but Stacy Roest slammed the rebound home from the left of the net.

Grand Rapids had killed 24 of 25 opponent power plays during the playoffs coming into the game, but the Aeros' potent attack used its first opportunity to even the score at the 7:30 mark. Kyle Wanvig lifted the puck over Lamothe from the doorstep, ending the goalie's postseason shutout streak at 109:35.

Houston took its own lead at 10:23 of the second period when Mark Cullen, skating through the top of the crease, redirected Marc Cavosie's wrist shot past Lamothe. The Aeros held on to that one-goal advantage for the remainder of the frame and, as a result, the Griffins faced a deficit at intermission for the first time in nine games during the 2003 playoffs.

Grand Rapids, which led the AHL with seven regular season wins when trailing after two periods, rekindled that magic for the tying marker late in the third. During a furious sequence in the Houston zone, Travis Richards took a shot that hit Holmqvist's left pad, deflected off the leg of a prone Barnes just outside the crease and crossed the goal line, sending the game to the extra frame.

Lamothe's 27 saves were not enough to preserve the top-seeded Griffins' winning ways, which had seen them notch playoff-record winning streaks of five games overall and four games at home. He fell to 7-2 on the postseason, while Holmqvist finished with 32 stops to improve to 8-2 for the second-seeded Aeros.

The Griffins can take some comfort in their 2-2 mark all-time in seven game series in which they've lost Game 1.

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American Hockey League Stories from May 12, 2003


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