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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Power Past Gulls on Jurco's Hat Trick

November 20, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Griffins knocked off their second Western Conference power in three nights on Friday, setting a season-high for goals to clip the San Diego Gulls by a 7-4 count and spoil the visitors' first-ever visit to Van Andel Arena.

Tomas Jurco notched four points and tied a franchise record with three power play goals, becoming just the third Griffin to accomplish that feat, while Andreas Athanasiou chipped in a goal and two assists. Both players rejoined Grand Rapids earlier this week from the Detroit Red Wings.

After snapping Rockford's 10-game point streak on Wednesday, the Griffins used the strength of a four-goal first period - their highest-scoring frame of the season - to drop a Gulls team that started 9-2 before its current 0-3-0-1 slide.

Thanks to their first back-to-back wins of the season, the Griffins have earned points in four of their last five games, posting a 3-1-0-1 record since Nov. 11. They'll now take aim at their first road victory of the season when they visit the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves on Saturday at 8 p.m. EST.

The Griffins' power play, which had gone scoreless in 16 tries over the last five games and was just 1-for-29 over the past seven, connected twice before the game was eight minutes old. Ryan Sproul got things started at 2:14 off of an Eric Tangradi faceoff win in the right circle, sending a blast inside the left post from the high slot.

Jurco scored the first goal of his conditioning stint at the 7:33 mark to make it a 2-0 game. Athanasiou, who just returned from Detroit on Thursday, threaded a nifty cross-ice pass to Jurco, who ripped a shot over John Gibson's glove from the right circle.

Less than a minute later, Mitch Callahan set up shop outside the crease to tip Sproul's shot into the top left corner, giving the Griffins (4-8-0-1) a 3-0 cushion with 11:36 still remaining in the period.

The Gulls (9-5-0-1) finally countered on a Max Friberg deflection that beat Jared Coreau during a power play at 13:06, but the Griffins would score once more to take a 4-1 advantage to the locker room. Athanasiou finished off a 3-on-1 break and a nifty exchange with Anthony Mantha to put another puck past Gibson from the doorstep with 2:39 left.

San Diego lit the lamp 5:52 into the second to pull within two. Joseph Cramarossa beat Sproul to a loose rebound at the left post and managed to slip it past Coreau, sparking a surge by the visitors that saw them carry the play for the balance of the period. Coreau was more than up to the task, though, making a series of impressive stops during a pair of Gulls power plays to finish with 15 saves for the frame.

Having withstood that punch from San Diego, the Griffins pushed their margin back to three at 1:12 of the final period, as Tangradi tapped home Jurco's centering feed for a 5-2 lead. But the Gulls refused to fly away quietly, with Brandon Montour scoring a power play tally through a screen from the point at 6:18 and Brian McGrattan solving Coreau during a scrum 2:33 later for a goal that was subsequently upheld upon video review.

San Diego's chances to get the tying goal took a huge hit with 4:54 remaining, in a sequence that gave the Griffins the opportunity they needed to slam the door. Shane O'Brien, whistled off for tripping Athanasiou behind the Gulls' net, then took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to give Grand Rapids a four-minute advantage that it would capitalize on twice to finish a season-best 4-for-9 on the power play. Jurco snapped a shot from the edge of the right circle at 17:03 - just three seconds before O'Brien's first penalty was set to expire - before popping home a rebound at 17:46 to seal San Diego's fate and match Teemu Pulkkinen's (2014-15) and Joe Murphy's (2001-02) power play hat tricks.

Coreau improved to 4-2-1 on the season by turning aside 31 shots, while Gibson allowed all seven Griffins goals against 33 saves.

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