AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Score Four Goals in Third Period to Sweep Manitoba with 4-3 Comeback Win

January 20, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids on game night
Grand Rapids on game night
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Manitoba Moose)

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Four combined goals from Marco Kasper (2), Austin Czarnik and Zach Aston-Reese mounted a third-period comeback for the Grand Rapids Griffins, as they completed their second straight come-from-behind victory with a 4-3 win over the Manitoba Moose at the Canada Life Centre on Saturday.

Kasper collected five points (3-2--5) in the two-game series against Manitoba, which has the rookie at 11 points (4-7--11) in his last 10 contests. The victory over the Moose extended the Griffins' road win streak to six games.

Within a minute of the puck being dropped, Manitoba struck first when Nikita Chibrikov backhanded the puck past Michael Hutchinson from the low slot 58 seconds into the first period. Following a turnover at the Griffins' blueline, Chibrikov continued his scoring against Grand Rapids, as he skated in on Hutchinson and fired a shot through the five-hole from the bottom of the left circle for a 2-0 Moose lead with 16:14 remaining in the opening frame. Chibrikov's two tallies marked four goals in four games against the Griffins this season.

Over midway through the middle frame, Oskari Salminen denied a 2-on-1 opportunity, as he stopped Czarnik's bullet from entering the wide-open net at 12:50. Following Salminen's save, Thomas Caron swatted at the puck from behind the Griffins' net, which slid through the crease and bounced off Hutchinson's toe and into the net for a 3-0 Manitoba lead with 6:59 remaining in the stanza. Caron's goal was his second goal in as many games against Grand Rapids.

The Griffins found twine early in the third period when a left-circle shot from Kasper deflected off a Moose defender's stick and past Salminen at 1:02. Roughly six minutes after his first goal, Kasper collected another tally with a sharp-angle shot from the right boards to make it a one-goal game with 12:50 remaining.

With Hutchinson pulled in the twilight of the final frame, Czarnik beat Salminen from the right point to tie the game 3-3 at 19:18. Exactly 30 seconds later, Dominik Shine and Aston-Reese closed in on Salminen while 2-on-1, which resulted in Aston-Reese ripping the puck behind Salminen for a 4-3 Grand Rapids lead with 12 seconds remaining. With a late third period lead secured, the Griffins cruised to a 4-3 comeback win, which completed a weekend sweep of Manitoba.

Notes

- With six penalty minutes tonight, Shine passed Ed Patterson (457) for sole possession of eighth place on the Griffins' all-time penalty minutes list with 459.

- Both Czarnik (1-2--3) and Shine (2-1--3) extended their point streaks to three games.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 0 0 4 - 4

Manitoba 2 1 0 - 3

1st Period-1, Manitoba, Chibrikov 12 (Heinola, Malott), 0:58. 2, Manitoba, Chibrikov 13 (Malott), 3:46. Penalties-Edvinsson Gr (tripping), 8:56; Shine Gr (cross-checking), 17:43.

2nd Period-3, Manitoba, Caron 2 (Kemp), 13:01. Penalties-Capobianco Mb (cross-checking), 7:02; Shine Gr (high-sticking), 10:37; served by Caron Mb (too many men - bench minor), 18:10.

3rd Period-4, Grand Rapids, Kasper 5 (Edvinsson), 1:02. 5, Grand Rapids, Kasper 6 (Tuomisto), 7:10. 6, Grand Rapids, Czarnik 4 (Tuomisto), 19:18. 7, Grand Rapids, Aston-Reese 6 (Shine, Kasper), 19:48. Penalties-Shine Gr (cross-checking), 4:30.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 12-11-13-36. Manitoba 10-6-4-20.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 2; Manitoba 0 / 4.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Hutchinson 9-8-2 (20 shots-17 saves). Manitoba, Salminen 4-7-0 (36 shots-32 saves).

A-3,504

Three Stars

1. GR Kasper (two goals, assist); 2. MB Chibrikov (two goals); 3. GR Aston-Reese (game-winner)

Record / Next Game

Grand Rapids: 16-15-4-1 (37 pts.) / Wed., Jan. 24 vs. Rockford 7 p.m.

Manitoba: 12-21-1-0 (25 pts.) / Tue., Jan. 23 vs. Chicago 7 p.m. CST

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics




Images from this story

Grand Rapids on game night
Grand Rapids on game night
(Manitoba Moose)		   



American Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2024


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