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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Triumph in Overtime Thriller

December 8, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins celebrate win
Grand Rapids Griffins celebrate win
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Richie Guzior/Wolves)

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Elmer Soderblom lit the lamp in overtime to give the Grand Rapids Griffins a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Wolves on Saturday at Allstate Arena.

Soderblom (1-1-2), Sheldon Dries (1-1-2) and Dominik Shine (0-2-2) all tallied two-point outings alongside Brogan Rafferty (1-1-2) who returned from injury. Austin Watson extended his point streak to three (2-1-3) when he found the back of the net and Tim Gettinger scored his first goal of the year. Carter Gylander improved to 2-1-0-0 in the campaign and saved 23 shots.

Aleksi Heimosalmi tallied Chicago's first goal just 3:47 into the outing, but the Griffins tied the score courtesy of Rafferty at 9:10. Dries won a faceoff in the right circle and sent the puck out to Rafferty near the blue line who sniped it past the netminder. Grand Rapids took a 2-1 lead thanks to Dries' eighth goal of the year with 51 seconds remaining in the frame. A centering pass from Shine found Dries in the low slot and he buried the chance.

Juha Jaaska tied the game when he found himself in front of Griffin's defenders at 4:10 in the second period. A pair of penalties by the Griffins saw the Wolves take a 5-on-3 advantage with 35 seconds left in the frame and Ty Smith gave Chicago a 3-2 lead at 19:41.

The Wolves gained another 5-on-3 chance at 4:51 but the Griffins' defense held strong to kill both penalties. Gettinger evened the score at three with 11:38 remaining when he skated between Chicago's defense and found paydirt. However, Smith's second goal put the Wolves ahead less than a minute later at 9:11. With 6:28 left to play, Watson collected a rebound and shoveled the puck past Yaniv Perets to make it 4-4. The tie remained through the final minutes and the game was sent to overtime.

The extra period saw a flurry of chances for the Griffins and with 19 seconds remaining, Soderblom ripped a shot past the glove of Perets to give Grand Rapids the 5-4 win.

Notes *Shai Buium increased his point streak to three (0-3--3). *The Griffins posted a season-high 41 shots on goal, beating out their previous record of 36 on Nov. 26. *Grand Rapids is 2-5-0-0 when trailing after two periods. *When scoring three or more goals, the Griffins are 12-0-0-0. *Grand Rapids will conclude its three games in three days tomorrow against Chicago.

Grand Rapids 2 0 2 1 - 5

Chicago 1 2 1 0 - 4

1st Period-1, Chicago, Heimosalmi 2 (Jaaska), 3:47. 2, Grand Rapids, Rafferty 3 (Dries), 9:10. 3, Grand Rapids, Dries 8 (Shine, Wallinder), 19:09. Penalties-Panwar Chi (holding), 3:54; Danielson Gr (hooking), 4:23; Rychlovsky Gr (cross-checking), 10:12; Shine Gr (roughing), 14:05; Gunler Chi (roughing), 14:05.

2nd Period-4, Chicago, Jaaska 4 (Suzuki, Nadeau), 4:10. 5, Chicago, Smith 2 (Jost, Morrow), 19:41 (PP). Penalties-served by Bantle Gr (too many men - bench minor), 5:52; Unger Sorum Chi (delay of game), 11:59; Jost Chi (tripping), 15:37; Dries Gr (tripping), 19:25; Shine Gr (holding), 19:25.

3rd Period-6, Grand Rapids, Gettinger 1 (Hanas, Buium), 8:22. 7, Chicago, Smith 3 (Suzuki, Keppen), 9:11. 8, Grand Rapids, Watson 6 (Söderblom, Rafferty), 13:32. Penalties-Watson Gr (elbowing), 4:14; Danielson Gr (interference), 4:51; Pavlychev Chi (holding), 11:14.

OT Period-9, Grand Rapids, Söderblom 1 (Shine, Lagesson), 4:41. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 13-6-15-7-41. Chicago 10-8-8-1-27.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 4; Chicago 1 / 7.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Gylander 2-1-0 (27 shots-23 saves). Chicago, Perets 1-2-1 (41 shots-36 saves).

A-5,151

Three Stars

1. GR Soderblom (overtime-winner, assist); 2. CHI Smith (two goals); 3. GR Dries (goal, assist)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 15-6-1-0 (31 pts.) / Sun., Dec. 8 at Chicago 4 p.m. EST

Chicago: 8-9-2-0 (18 pts.) / Sun., Dec. 8 vs. Grand Rapids 3 p.m. CST

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Grand Rapids Griffins celebrate win
Grand Rapids Griffins celebrate win
(Richie Guzior/Wolves)		   

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