AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins road winning streak stops at seven

December 7, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland – All good things must come to an end. On Tuesday night at Mile One Stadium, two good things were halted for the Grand Rapids Griffins with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the St. John's Maple Leafs. The Griffins (15-6-1-0) lost their first road game of the season, dropping their road record to 7-1-0-0. The loss also put an end to the Griffins four-game winning streak.

St. John's (15-8-0-1) opened the game's scoring when the lethal combination of Kyle Wellwood, David Ling and Harold Druken combined for a goal at 10:46 of the first period. The Maple Leafs peppered the Griffins net with shots, Wellwood capped the flurry by tucking the puck into an open side of the cage.

The Griffins answered with a power play marker in the second period. Eric Manlow placed a shot from low in the left wing circle inside the right post at 4:09 of the middle frame.

One thing that was not halted was Todd Robinson's point streak. As a penalty to Manlow expired, Robinson streaked through the neutral zone on a breakaway. He made a move to fool Mikael Tellqvist and slid the puck into an open net to give Grand Rapids a 2-1 lead at 8:48 of the second period, pushing his point streak to five games.

After the Griffins were unable to capitalize on a two-man advantage for a minute and nine seconds, St. John's evened the score at 2-2. Andy Wozniewski flashed through the Griffins zone and fired a shot over Joey MacDonald from 40 feet at 9:17 of the third period.

The Maple Leafs took a 3-2 lead just under two minutes later when Matt Hubbauer beat MacDonald at 11:03.

Despite outshooting St. John's 18-8 in the third period and 35-22 for the game, the Griffins were unable to find the twine a third time. MacDonald made 19 saves for the Griffins while Tellqvist stopped 33 shots backstopping St. John's.

For the twelfth time this season, the Griffins entered the third period with a lead. For the first time the Griffins ended up on the losing side at the end of regulation. Grand Rapids had compiled a 10-0-1-0 record in games which it led after 40 minutes.

The same two teams will faceoff Wednesday at Mile One Stadium at 6 p.m.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 7, 2004


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