Griffins set franchise record with 10th straight win
March 26, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Tomas Kopecky's goals in the waning minutes of the second and third periods propelled the Grand Rapids Griffins to their team-record 10th straight victory on Sunday, a 3-2 win over the Rochester Americans at Van Andel Arena.
The Griffins' league-high 52 wins (52-16-1-4) mark the second-greatest haul in the franchise's 10 seasons, one shy of the record set in 2000-01, and tie for the fifth-most in AHL history. Grand Rapids, which clinched home-ice advantage in the North Division semifinals with tonight's triumph, needs five wins in its final seven games to tie the AHL record of 57 set by Binghamton in 1992-93. The Griffins will aim for no. 53 this Friday in an 8:30 p.m. start at Manitoba.
Rochester withstood a Griffins storm in the opening minutes, as on the same shift Jiri Hudler was unable to pot two tries into an open net and Kent McDonell rang a shot off the left post. Grand Rapids had several scoring chances during the first period - most owing to McDonell's hard work - but the game remained scoreless at the break.
The visitors drew first blood just 1:30 into the second period. Stefan Meyer won a faceoff in the right circle over to Nathan Paetsch, whose wrister from the high slot sailed over Jimmy Howard's right shoulder into the corner of the net.
Despite being out-shot by a 2-1 ratio midway through the game, the Griffins pulled even at the 10:27 mark on a tremendous effort by Matt Ellis, who knocked down Jean-Marc Pelletier's clearing attempt and lifted a point-blank shot over the netminder. His 20th goal of the season gave Grand Rapids a record seven snipers who've reached that milestone.
Just minutes later, an untimely no-call enabled the Amerks to break in on an odd-man rush. Rob Globke patiently waited before ripping a shot from the slot that bounced off Howard but fluttered into cage at 13:50 for a 2-1 Rochester lead. However, the hockey gods made amends for their transgression during a Grand Rapids power play with only 53 seconds left in the frame, when Kopecky's blast from the right boards deflected off a skate in the slot and past a helpless Pelletier.
Rochester (32-35-2-2), desperately seeking a win to keep its playoff hopes alive, looked to take the game to overtime until Kopecky netted the game-winner with 2:03 remaining, scoring on a slap shot from just inside the blue line.
Celebrating his 22nd birthday, Howard made 33 saves to extend his team-record winning streak to 11. While thwarted on his early efforts, Hudler earned an assist on Kopecky's game-tying goal to become just the second player in franchise history to reach the 90-point plateau (36-54-90).
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