Rampage Rustle Up a Win
January 29, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Grand Rapids, Mich. - The San Antonio Rampage rode Wade Flaherty's 33-save performance to just their fifth road win of the season on Wednesday night, breaking the Griffins' seven-game unbeaten streak with a 2-1 victory.
Grand Rapids avoided a shutout with Tomas Kopecky's goal midway through the third period, but the Griffins were unable to net the equalizer despite pulling goaltender Marc Lamothe with 1:01 remaining and enjoying a power play for the final 40 seconds.
The Griffins (27-12-7-2), who lost for the first time in their last six home games, maintain a 17-point lead over Rochester atop the Central Division but fell seven points behind top-ranked Houston in the overall Western Conference standings. Grand Rapids will face the Milwaukee Admirals in an 8:12 p.m. start at the Bradley Center this Friday, before enjoying a three-day break for the AHL All-Star Classic in Portland, Maine. The Rampage scored all the goals they would need in the opening period against starter Joey MacDonald. With San Antonio on the forecheck during a penalty kill, Eric Beaudoin stole the puck in the left corner, skated along the end boards and flipped a pass out front to Pierre Dagenais, who blasted a shot past a defenseless MacDonald at 7:25.
The visitors extended their lead at the 14:43 mark, when a shot by Jamie Rivers deflected first off MacDonald, then off the post and out to the right of the goal. Former Griffin David Gove rushed in and took a shot that beat the netminder to the post.
After a scoreless second period, the Griffins finally lit the scoreboard with 8:35 remaining. Kopecky took a pass from Derek King, skated into the slot from the right circle and ripped a shot that found the upper left corner of the net. The rookie's tally marked his third goal and fifth point in two nights, but it was not enough to prevent Flaherty from breaking his personal four-game losing streak on Van Andel Arena ice.
MacDonald, who made 21 saves, needed to be helped off the ice after sustaining a groin injury with 4:45 left in the game. In came Lamothe, who stopped the only shot he saw in 3:44 of work before going to the bench for the extra attacker.
San Antonio improved to 20-19-8-2 overall and 5-14-4-2 on the road while snapping a three-game winless skid.
For the second straight game, the Griffins were without the services of all-star Mark Mowers, who is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Fellow center Stacy Roest saw his goal-scoring streak snapped at five games, one shy of the franchise record.
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