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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Marco Kasper Record First Professional Three-Point Night in 6-3 Victory Over Chicago

December 29, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins' Cross Hanas, Brogan Rafferty, and Zach Aston-Reese congratulated by team
Grand Rapids Griffins' Cross Hanas, Brogan Rafferty, and Zach Aston-Reese congratulated by team
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Chicago Wolves)

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Marco Kasper (1-2--3), Brogan Rafferty (0-3--3) and Dominik Shine (1-3--4) all had three-plus points in the Grand Rapids Griffins' 6-3 victory over the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena on Friday night. Shine's four-point performance topped his previous single-game record of three points, which also came against Chicago on March 22, 2023. For the second contest in a row, 10 different Griffins picked up a point.

With the win, Grand Rapids tied the Iowa Wild for third place in the Central Division with a game in hand. Carter Mazur's second-period goal continued his hot streak, as it was his fourth goal in his last five contests. The win marked the first time this season that Grand Rapids has won consecutive road games.

With 19 seconds left in the first period, Kasper slipped the puck under the pad of Adam Scheel on the doorstep to take a 1-0 lead at 19:41. Grand Rapids limited Chicago to five shots in the opening frame while putting up 14 shots of its own.

Early in the second period, Mazur secured his third goal against the Wolves this season when he gloved the puck down in front of the net and ripped it past Scheel while in the crease with 15:46 remaining in the middle frame. While on the power play, Grand Rapids collected its third tally of the evening, as Antti Tuomisto found twine from the right face-off circle at 7:40.

Chicago extended their power-play goal streak to 11 games when Vasily Ponomarev cut into the Griffins' lead with a low-slot shot that beat Michael Hutchinson with 6:56 remaining in the period. Grand Rapids capped off its three-goal second period with a snipe from Joel L'Esperance from the left circle to make it a 4-1 game at 14:47.

The Griffins expanded their lead with a laser from the left circle, courtesy of Cross Hanas with 15:25 to play in the final stanza. Over halfway through the third frame, former Griffin Chris Terry tallied Chicago's second power-play goal of the evening from the left circle at 10:14.

Just over three minutes later, the Wolves struck again for a third man-advantage tally, which cut their deficit to two goals following a shot from Rocco Grimaldi in the low slot with 6:23 remaining. Shine sealed a 6-3 victory against Chicago, as he scored an empty-net goal from above the blue line at 17:07.

Notes

- Josiah Didier skated in his 400th AHL game.

- The win kept the Griffins undefeated against the Wolves this season, as they are 3-0-0-0 against their Central Division rival this season.

- The six tallies scored by the Griffins set a new season-high for goals in a game.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 1 3 2 - 6

Chicago 0 1 2 - 3

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Kasper 3 (Shine, Rafferty), 19:40. Penalties-Tuomisto Gr (interference), 6:14; Feist Chi (boarding), 14:11.

2nd Period-2, Grand Rapids, Mazur 7 (Gettinger, Shine), 4:14. 3, Grand Rapids, Tuomisto 2 (Mazur, Kasper), 7:40 (PP). 4, Chicago, Ponomarev 6 (Terry, Donovan), 13:04 (PP). 5, Grand Rapids, L'Esperance 8 (Shine, Rafferty), 14:47. Penalties-Jordan Chi (slashing), 5:49; Aston-Reese Gr (slashing), 9:41; L'Esperance Gr (tripping), 11:57; Didier Gr (instigating, fighting, misconduct - instigating), 14:22; Franco Chi (cross-checking, fighting), 14:22.

3rd Period-6, Grand Rapids, Hanas 3 (Rafferty, Aston-Reese), 4:35. 7, Chicago, Terry 10 (Comtois, Grimaldi), 10:14 (PP). 8, Chicago, Grimaldi 17 (Ponomarev, Donovan), 13:37 (PP). 9, Grand Rapids, Shine 3 (Soderblom, Kasper), 17:07 (EN). Penalties-Soderblom Gr (elbowing), 9:10; Shine Gr (holding the stick), 12:11; Conacher Chi (hooking), 13:55; Marino Chi (hooking), 17:54.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 14-11-9-34. Chicago 5-11-9-25.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 4; Chicago 3 / 5.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Hutchinson 6-7-1 (25 shots-22 saves). Chicago, Scheel 4-7-2 (33 shots-28 saves).

A-8,892

Three Stars

1. GR Rafferty (Three assists); 2. GR Mazur (goal, assist); 3. CHI Terry (goal, assist)

Record / Next Game

Grand Rapids: 11-13-3-1 (26 pts.) / Sun, Dec. 31 vs. Cleveland 6 p.m.

Chicago: 8-14-2-2 (20 pts.) / Sat., Dec. 30 vs. Cleveland 7 p.m. CST

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins' Cross Hanas, Brogan Rafferty, and Zach Aston-Reese congratulated by team
Grand Rapids Griffins' Cross Hanas, Brogan Rafferty, and Zach Aston-Reese congratulated by team
(Chicago Wolves)		   



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