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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Fall to Monsters, 5-2, in First of Two Preseason Games

October 3, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


WINDSOR, Ontario - The Grand Rapids Griffins were unable to come back from an early deficit on Friday at the WFCU Centre, surrendering a 5-2 decision to the Lake Erie Monsters in the first of two neutral-site preseason games between the two teams.

Lake Erie quickly gained momentum after Andreas Athanasiou was whistled for interference just 19 seconds into the contest. At 1:48 of the first period, Monsters left wing Michael Schumacher fed the puck to center Joey Hishon as he entered the Griffins' zone. Hishon backhanded the puck over Tom McCollum's shoulder for a power play goal to give Lake Erie an early 1-0 lead.

Shorthanded following a hooking call on Cody Corbett, Lake Erie's Markus Lauridsen gained possession of the puck just inside his own blue line. He then rifled a clearing attempt toward the Grand Rapids net at 7:58 and the puck slipped through McCollum's pads to put the Monsters up 2-0.

Grand Rapids responded at 13:06 of the same period when Athanasiou absorbed a pass from Colin Campbell and found his way around Monsters netminder Sami Aittokallio to cut the disadvantage to a single goal. But Lake Erie's Mike Sgarbossa restored the Monsters' two-goal lead at 17:44 when he beat McCollum glove-side with a wrist shot from the right circle.

At 10:47 of the second period, Sgarbossa notched his second goal of the game from the top of McCollum's crease to put the Monsters up 4-1.

Midway through the second period, Lake Erie opted to switch out Aittokallio in favor of goaltender Roman Will, who remained solid until 6:45 of the third period when Griffins tryout Jerome Verrier lifted an unassisted rebound above Will's shoulder to make it a 4-2 contest.

Just inside the Griffins' blueline, Monsters defenseman Stefan Elliot's shot found the skate of a Griffins defender and deflected past an already-poised McCollum at 13:35 to give Lake Erie its final 5-2 lead.

Aittokallio blocked 10 of 11 shots before Will turned away 19 of the 20 shots he faced. McCollum blocked 32 of 37 shots in the loss.

The Griffins will square off against the Monsters again tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind. and will open their 19th season at home next Friday, Oct. 10 when Lake Erie pays a 7 p.m. visit to Van Andel Arena.

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