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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Somber Night Ends with Good News

January 8, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Milwaukee Admirals 4-2 on Friday at Van Andel Arena to extend a franchise record with their 12th consecutive home victory, but the game's ultimate result was the least of anyone's concerns.

With 6:19 remaining in the second period, forward Alden Hirschfeld suffered a seizure on the Griffins' bench. After being attended to by paramedics and Griffins medical and training staffs, he was transported in stable condition to a local hospital, where he is currently resting with his family and undergoing further evaluation.

The teams went to their locker rooms while the ice was resurfaced, play resumed with 6:19 remaining in the second and the Griffins holding a 4-1 lead, and the teams switched ends of the ice without an intermission to start the third period.

Grand Rapids, which regained enough focus to hold on to win for the 18th time in its last 21 outings, improved to 4-1 against the Central Division-leading Admirals this season, having won all three meetings at Van Andel Arena by a cumulative 11-3 margin. The Griffins (20-11-0-1) will now look to extend their incredible run at home in a 7 p.m. Saturday start against a Lake Erie Monsters squad that ended their team-record 15-game winning streak in Cleveland on Dec. 27.

A wily play by Jeff Hoggan - named earlier this week as a playing captain for the 2016 Toyota AHL All-Star Classic - sparked the Griffins' first goal just 2:33 into the contest. Hoggan stole a clearing pass at the Milwaukee blue line and quickly gave the puck to Tomas Nosek, who blistered a shot from the high slot just inside the right post of Marek Mazanec.

Martin Frk made it a 2-0 game during a power play at the 12:48 mark. From the right corner, Tyler Bertuzzi found Frk all alone at the top of the circles, and the sniper blew his patented slap shot past Mazanec's glove for his 11th goal of the campaign.

Milwaukee (23-12-2-0) cut its deficit in half in the final minute before intermission, as Pontus Aberg took a pass at the right point, angled toward the slot, eluded a defender with a toe drag and whipped a shot past Jared Coreau's blocker with 33 seconds remaining.

A fortunate bounce enabled the Griffins to take a 3-1 lead 3:49 into the second period. After Hirschfeld and Zach Nastasiuk did the dirty work to keep control of the puck behind the Admirals' net, Nastasiuk sent a feed out front to Nathan Paetsch, whose shot deflected into the air off a defender's stick and fluttered into the right corner of the cage.

Paetsch's next shot was much more forceful, as his wrister from the top of the right circle off a pass from Frk snuck between Mazanec's pads to push Grand Rapids' advantage to 4-1 at the 5:56 mark. By scoring on consecutive shifts, Paetsch doubled his goal total for the season.

Following Hirschfeld's emergency, the remainder of the game was scoreless until Cody Bass accounted for the final score at 16:12 of the third, taking a pass below the left circle and sliding a shot inside the far post.

Coreau, who made his 13th consecutive start, improved to 10-3 over that stretch on the strength of 31 saves, while Mazanec stopped 24 shots in the loss.

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