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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Make It 10 of 11 at Home with 6-2 Win over Milwaukee

April 8, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A sold-out Wednesday crowd at Van Andel Arena watched the Grand Rapids Griffins keep pace in the race for AHL Western Conference supremacy with a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals.

The Griffins' 10th win in their last 11 home games restored their three-point cushion over Rockford in the Midwest Division standings and moved them back into second place in the conference. Grand Rapids and San Antonio are now tied at 94 points - with the Griffins owning the tie-breaker and Utica lurking just one point ahead - heading into their pivotal two-game set in the Alamo City this weekend. Friday's tilt is set for 8:30 p.m. EDT.

Tom McCollum made 32 saves and Andreas Athanasiou scored twice tonight, while Anthony Mantha, Andy Miele and Martin Frk each tallied a goal and an assist, as the Griffins finished off the season series against their cross-lake rival with a 7-2-1-0 record. The Admirals continue to cling to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference despite falling to 1-5-2-2 in their last 10 and 4-13-4-2 in their last 23.

The Griffins - 24-4-3-1 over their last 32 outings - jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead thanks to goals by Mantha and Miele. Mantha connected on a slapper from the top of the right circle during a power play at 4:36 before Miele flashed through the slot to beat Magnus Hellberg at 11:16, tipping home a shot that Brennan Evans launched from the left point after holding an Admirals clearing attempt in the zone.

Milwaukee cut its deficit in half before the period expired, with Colton Sissons deflecting Johan Alm's blast inside the right post of McCollum at 16:50.

Grand Rapids scored twice within a 29-second span early in the middle period to take a 4-1 lead and chase Hellberg in favor of Marek Mazanec. At the 4:36 mark, Mantha stole the puck from Alm behind the Milwaukee net and quickly fed it out front to Athanasiou, who ripped a shot over Hellberg's blocker. After another turnover deep in the Admirals' zone, Tomas Nosek found Frk alone on the doorstep, and he stuffed the puck inside the right post to spark Milwaukee's timeout and send Hellberg to the bench.

Athanasiou displayed his dazzling speed for a shorthanded goal at the 12:29 mark. Taking a feed from Kevin Porter inside his own zone, he burst up ice and around Taylor Aronson, then slipped a backhand between Mazanec's pads for a four-goal lead on what to that point was only the fourth shot of the period for Grand Rapids.

Triston Grant, a member of the Griffins' 2013 Calder Cup championship team, got one back for Milwaukee with 3:03 remaining in the period, firing a shot from the top of the right circle that changed trajectory off Brian Lashoff and snuck inside the far post.

Mark Zengerle accounted for the final margin 8:35 into the third by batting the puck past Mazanec and ushering Hellberg back between the pipes. Hellberg took the loss while stopping 12 of 16 shots, while Mazanec turned aside six of eight in relief.

Notes: The crowd of 10,834 marked the Griffins' ninth sellout of the season, their most since 2005-06 (10) and the fifth-highest total in the team's 19 seasons...Grand Rapids has chased the opposition's starting goalie in two of the last three and three of the last seven games at Van Andel Arena.

Three Stars: 1. GR Athanasiou (two goals); 2. GR Mantha (goal, assist); 3. GR Frk (goal, assist)

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