Larsson Blanks Phantoms With AHL-High Fifth Shutout, 4-0
January 10, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Daniel Larsson earned his AHL-high fifth shutout of the campaign Saturday night and backstopped the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms at Van Andel Arena.
Grand Rapids struck first at 8:36 of the opening period when Darren Haydar fed a pass from behind the net to Mattias Ritola, who dragged the puck by the defenseman and fired a shot over the glove of Michael Teslak.
The score remained 1-0 until the Griffins took a two-goal lead at the 4:40 mark of the second frame. Justin Abdelkader scored from slot by redirecting a pass that came from Ville Leino in the right circle. Ritola also earned an assist on the goal for his second point of the night.
Moments later, Teslak made a highlight reel save, as he dove across his crease and barely got his stick on Aaron Gagnon's attempted wrap around. But the persistent Griffins continued to pressure the Phantoms and netted their third goal at 16:31 when Aaron Downey fired a one timer from the top of the right circle. Leino tallied his second assist by setting him up from below the goal line.
Ryan Oulahen capped off the Griffins' four-goal night, receiving the puck from Abdelkader and sending a wrist shot past the goaltender from the left circle at 16:33 of the final period.
Larsson blanked Philadelphia with 27 saves, while Teslak stopped 44 of Grand Rapids' season-high 48 shots in net for the Phantoms. With the win, Larsson is now 12-2-1 with five shutouts, a 1.88 GAA and a 0.937 save percentage through his last 16 games.
The Griffins will now hit the road for one contest, facing off in Hamilton against the Bulldogs on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
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