Griffins still in title hunt after 3-2 win
April 9, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Grand Rapids, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Griffins moved within one win of clinching second place in the West Division and kept alive their hopes for capturing a fifth straight division title with a 3-2 victory over the San Antonio Rampage on Friday at Van Andel Arena.
Grand Rapids' win, coupled with Chicago's come-from-behind 6-3 decision at Milwaukee, reduced the Griffins' magic number for locking up second place to just two points over the Wolves and prevented the Admirals from claiming the division crown.
Should the Wolves beat the Admirals in regulation during both teams' season finale on Saturday at Allstate Arena, the Griffins (44-26-8-0) would finish in first if they can win their final two games. They'll visit Houston tomorrow before completing their slate on the road Sunday against the Rampage (29-41-8-0), whose loss tonight eliminated them from playoff contention.
San Antonio scored the only goal of the opening 20 minutes. After the Griffins squandered 1:22 of a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the period, the Rampage converted on their own power play at the 15:31 mark. With two of Grand Rapids' four penalty killers having lost their sticks and the Griffins scrambling in their own end, Michel Periard blasted the puck past Marc Lamothe from the right circle.
The Griffins knotted the score during a power play with 5:23 remaining in the second period. From the left boards, Eric Himelfarb found Michel Picard in the high slot, and the Griffins' leading scorer snapped a shot past Travis Scott to snap Grand Rapids' scoring drought at Van Andel Arena at 94:53. Derek King also earned an assist on the goal, recording the 900th point of his 17-year professional career.
Kevin Miller scored his first of two goals at 6:04 of the third period to give the Griffins a 2-1 lead. Just eight seconds into a power play, Miller took a cross-crease pass from Picard and roofed a shot over Rampage goalie Travis Scott. He then notched what proved to be his tenth game-winning goal of the year into an empty net with 51 seconds left, with Jeff Nelson receiving an assist to become the 70th player in AHL history to record 500 points.
San Antonio's Lee Goren made it interesting by scoring with 32 ticks remaining, but Lamothe held on to record his 100th AHL victory and move to within one of Mike Fountain's franchise-record of 55 wins. He finished with 32 saves, while Scott ended the night with 27 stops. View this game's official box score on-line at griffinshockey.com.
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