AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Pick Up Point In Shootout Loss To Texas

Published on January 7, 2023 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins' Seth Barton in action
Grand Rapids Griffins' Seth Barton in action
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Texas Stars escaped with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins despite a ferocious comeback by the Griffins in the final period on Saturday at Van Andel Arena.

Grand Rapids tallied two-late goals in the third from Drew Worrad and Taro Hirose to send the game into overtime and to push their point streak to three games. Hirose leads the Griffins in points this season (9-22-31) and is in a three-way tie for second in goals scored by a Griffin this season with Pontus Andreasson and Austin Czarnik. Alex Nedeljkovic started his third game in goal for Grand Rapids, bagging 36 saves on 38 shots.

Texas scored the lone goal of the initial frame, as Jacob Peterson's shot in the crease slipped between the pads of Nedeljkovic at 1:41. Dominik Shine's attempt in the goalmouth at 8:25 floated just wide of the goal to keep Texas in the lead.

On a power play with 5:34 remaining in the second, Matej Blumel rocketed a one-timer from the right circle into the cage to give the Stars a 2-0 edge heading into the third.

The Griffins comeback began at 3:37 in the final stanza, as Eemil Viro rifled a shot from the blue line and Worrad tapped the puck in from the slot to cut their deficit to one. With 1:53 remaining, Hirose fired a shot from the bottom of the left circle past Anton Khudobin to knot it up at two apiece.

After a scoreless overtime period, Joel L'Esperance kicked off the shootout with a goal that narrowly slipped past Khudobin. Tanner Kero matched L'Esperance by lasering the puck into the top shelf. Following Jakub Vrana and Jacob Peterson's missed attempts, Czarnik and Riley Barber traded goals to keep the shootout tied in the third round. The Griffins and Stars missed a combined seven consecutive shots before Antonio Stranges buried the game-winner to secure a 3-2 win for Texas.

Notes

- The Griffins ended the weekend series against the division-leading Stars with three out of four possible points and ended Texas' 12-game point streak on Friday.

- Czarnik skated in his 400th professional game and buried his shootout attempt.

- In games decided by one goal, Grand Rapids has tallied a point in every contest with a 7-0-1-1 record.

- The Griffins moved to 112-120 all time in shootouts after suffering their first shootout defeat since Jan. 15, 2022 (1-2 SOL vs. MB).

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins' Seth Barton in action
Grand Rapids Griffins' Seth Barton in action
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   



American Hockey League Stories from January 7, 2023


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.

OurSports Central