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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Wolves Take 2-1 Win, Series Lead

April 17, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


ROSEMONT, IL - In a hard-hitting contest on Wednesday night, Yuri Butsayev scored two goals to lead the Chicago Wolves to a 2-1 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins in game three of their AHL Western Conference quarterfinal series.

After losing game one, Chicago has rallied to take a 2-1 lead in the best of five series. The Griffins, who are 2-4 all-time when facing elimination, will try to even the series on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. at the Allstate Arena.

The Wolves scored the lone goal of the first period, marking the third straight game they lit the scoreboard first. During a flurry around the Griffins' net, Butsayev took a shot from the right of the goal that Martin Prusek got a piece of, but the puck trickled behind him for a 1-0 Wolves lead just 1:28 into the contest.

Following a lackluster opening period, the Griffins came out flying in the second frame. Grand Rapids carried the play and dominated Chicago for most of the period, which was marked by non-stop action and crushing bodychecks. With 3:30 left in the period, Prusek made an unbelievable save on a Ben Simon breakaway to keep the Griffins within a goal. Simon deked left, brought the puck back to his right and was staring at an open net, but Prusek dove back to his left and made a glove save on the goal line to keep Grand Rapids in the contest.

The Griffins' penalty killers performed brilliantly, shutting down the Wolves' lethal power play unit on four attempts, the last of which came after a suspect elbowing call on John Gruden. Grand Rapids' offense, however, was unable to pull even, and when Butsayev tapped the puck just inside the right post with 11:02 remaining, the Griffins faced an uphill climb.

Grand Rapids kept attacking the Wolves' net, as evidenced by its 32 shots on the night, but couldn't capitalize on its scoring chances until just 3:33 remained on the clock. During a power play, Joel Kwiatkowski took a shot from the right point that kicked out to Tim Skarperud in the left circle, and the rookie buried the puck between Pasi Nurminen's pads to make the final margin 2-1.

Ottawa Senators prospect Jason Spezza made his pro debut with the Griffins, recording two shots and showing glimpses of the talent that made the 18-year-old the second overall pick in last year's NHL draft.

Prusek finished with 24 saves on the night, while Nurminen earned star of the game honors with 31 stops.

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