AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Howard lifts Griffins into third place with shutout of Syracuse

Published on December 7, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Jimmy Howard stopped all 26 shots he faced for his second shutout in three games, and the Grand Rapids Griffins leapfrogged from fifth place into a tie for third in the North Division with a 2-0 triumph over the Syracuse Crunch on Friday at Van Andel Arena.

The win was the third straight for the Griffins (10-12-1-2) both overall and at home, as they improved to 5-2-1-1 in their last nine outings and 3-0-0-1 in their last four contests in friendly confines. They'll try to sweep the weekend set from the Crunch (10-14-1-1) on Saturday in an 8 p.m. start that will be preceded by a fan autograph session with High School Musical stars Lucas Grabeel and Chris Warren Jr.

The Crunch and goaltender Adam Munro managed to survive a swarming Griffins offense for most of the opening period, but the home team's power play struck at the 6:47 mark. Taking a Mark Hartigan pass inside the Syracuse blue line, Mattias Ritola drew the last defender while speeding down the slot and sent a feed into the right circle to Carl Corazzini, who blasted a shot past Munro's glove.

Howard maintained that advantage 13 minutes in, sticking out his right pad to deny Steven Goertzen during a shorthanded, 2-on-0 break for the Crunch. Meanwhile, Grand Rapids set up shop in the Syracuse end for most of the period, getting chance after chance before taking the one-goal lead to the locker room.

Syracuse attempted to quell the chaos around its net by inserting Tomas Popperle to start the second period, but Grand Rapids still built a 10-4 advantage in shots for the stanza. Much of the Crunch's meager total was due to yeomen efforts by the Griffins in their own zone, as a number of Syracuse attempts were blocked before ever finding their way to Howard.

Carrying that 1-0 lead into the final 20 minutes, the Griffins doubled their cushion with 9:22 remaining. Hartigan, the Crunch's all-time leader in goals and points, wreaked more havoc on his former mates by scoring his team-high 12th goal of the season from the doorstep.

The rest of the game was a clinic by Howard, who notched his 10th career shutout to tie Marc Lamothe for fourth on the franchise's all-time list.

Munro registered the loss with 14 saves, while Popperle made 18 stops in relief.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 7, 2007


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