Wolves' late dramatics steal 4-3 overtime win
Published on April 16, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Chicago Wolves News Release
Grand Rapids, Mich. - The Chicago Wolves stunned the Grand Rapids Griffins with goals in the waning seconds of regulation and the first minute of overtime on Friday, rallying to steal a 4-3 victory in Game 1 of the West Division semifinals at Van Andel Arena.
Kevin Miller recorded Grand Rapids' first playoff hat trick in three years, but defensive lapses by the Griffins enabled the Wolves to seize home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series. Following a hard-fought contest that typified the intense rivalry between these teams, Grand Rapids will try to rebound at home in Game 2 on Sunday at 6 p.m.
The team that scored first won nine of the 10 regular season meetings between these clubs, so it seemed an ominous early sign when the Wolves converted during a power play just 1:24 into the game. With Matt Ellis in the box on a holding call just 36 seconds in, Shawn Heins ripped a shot from the point that found its way through Marc Lamothe.
However, the Griffins kept their composure and answered Chicago's tally just 1:20 later on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play. Eric Himelfarb carried the puck low into the right circle before sending a cross-ice pass to Jiri Hudler at the left dot. Hudler, who finished with three assists, in turn found Miller charging down the slot, and the veteran lifted the Griffins' first shot past the glove of a sprawling Kari Lehtonen at 2:44.
The game stayed 1-1 into the first intermission, with Grand Rapids enjoying the momentum after killing off 1:14 of a 5-on-3 situation during the last few minutes of the frame. The charmed existence continued six minutes into the second period, when the Griffins escaped unscathed following what looked to be a certain goal for the Wolves. With Lamothe caught behind the net, a pass came out front to Heins, who flipped a shot from close range at the empty cage. Somehow, Lamothe darted back into the crease and snared the puck with his outstretched glove, miraculously denying Heins his second goal of the contest.
Later in the period, minutes after Miller had laid out Heins with a clean open-ice hit, Miller took exception to the Wolves' retaliatory cheap shots and dropped the gloves for a rare fight with Derek MacKenzie.
During a power play 2:58 into the third, Miller then gave the Griffins their first lead, blasting a Hudler pass over Lehtonen's right shoulder from the left circle. The advantage lasted just a hair over two minutes, as four seconds after Chicago's seventh power play expired, Eric Healey popped home a rebound from the left side at 5:09.
Miller completed his hat trick by crashing the net to slip a rebound through Lehtonen with just 3:12 remaining, and it looked like Grand Rapids was headed for the regulation win. However, with Lehtonen on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, Chicago's Brian Swanson got behind the Griffins' defense and snuck a shot into the upper right corner from just outside the crease with only 10.8 ticks left to force overtime.
A tripping penalty on Brendan Yarema during the ensuing faceoff gave the Griffins a power play to begin overtime, but a turnover resulted in an odd-man break for the Wolves, and MacKenzie ended the game with a shot from the right circle at the 58-second mark.
The loss was an unfamiliar one for the Griffins, who went 6-0-8 in overtime during the regular season and posted a 3-1 mark during the 2003 playoffs.
In a duel between two of the AHL's top goaltenders, Lamothe turned back 38 shots, while Lehtonen stopped 21. Chicago converted one of its eight power plays on the night, while the Griffins went 1-for-5.
View this game's official box score on-line at griffinshockey.com.
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