Sports stats



AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Regular season ends with 4-3 loss

April 11, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


San Antonio, Texas - With eyes already cast toward their upcoming Calder Cup playoff series against the Chicago Wolves, the Grand Rapids Griffins concluded the regular season with a 4-3 setback to the San Antonio Rampage on Sunday at the SBC Center.

Veterans Michel Picard, Derek King and Travis Richards were rested for a game that could not affect the final West Division standings, and the Rampage exacted a small measure of revenge for a 3-2 loss at Van Andel Arena on Friday that eliminated them from playoff contention.

The Griffins, whose second-place finish broke their streak of four consecutive division titles, ended the campaign at 44-28-8-0 with their 13th defeat over their final 20 games. They'll enjoy home-ice advantage over Chicago in the best-of-seven West Division semifinals, which begins with Games 1 and 2 at Van Andel Arena this Friday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 18 at 6 p.m.

The Rampage (30-42-8-0) took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. At the 14:44 mark of the opening period, off a Griffins turnover, Lee Goren turned in the high slot and wristed a shot over Marc Lamothe's glove from 20 feet.

Kevin Miller knotted the score during a power play at 16:06, collecting a missed shot by Jiri Hudler low in the left circle and popping the puck into a half-empty net for his team-high 27th goal of the season. However, Gregory Campbell's tally at 18:07, which bounced off Lamothe's skate and over the line, gave the home squad the advantage after 20 minutes.

The teams traded goals in the second period. San Antonio took a 3-1 lead on a shorthanded goal by Paul Healey, who came out of the penalty box, took a pass from Goren and walked in alone on Lamothe, slipping in a backhander at 5:14. The Griffins would cut the deficit back to one goal at 11:49, just after a San Antonio penalty expired. Kory Karlander gathered a rebound and took a sharp-angle backhand from the right side that deflected off goalie Travis Scott's pad and into the net.

Following a goal by Victor Uchevatov during a scramble at 4:54 of the final period that gave the Rampage a 4-2 lead, the Griffins again fought back at 7:46, as Jeff Nelson took a pretty pass from Nathan Robinson and ripped a bullet past Scott. Grand Rapids could not get the equalizer, despite pulling Lamothe for an extra attacker with 1:06 remaining.

Lamothe, who missed an opportunity to tie Mike Fountain's career franchise record of 55 wins, finished with 24 saves, while Scott earned the win with 28 stops.

View this game's official box score on-line at griffinshockey.com.

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from April 11, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central