AEROS DROP GRIFFINS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Ryan Hamilton scored twice, Joel Ward tallied three points and Barry Brust made 29 saves to guide the Houston Aeros to a 4-1 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday at Van Andel Arena.

Another sellout crowd of 10,834, the Griffins’ fifth of the season and fourth in their last 13 home contests, watched Grand Rapids fall to 28-40-2-6 on the season with four games remaining. The Griffins will try to snap a franchise-record seven game regulation losing streak on the road on Saturday when they visit the Rochester Americans at 7:35 p.m.

Houston (42-26-2-4) grabbed a 2-0 lead before the game was eight minutes old. Just 3:02 in, Hamilton snuck behind the Griffins defense, received a pass from Ward while darting between the circles and slipped a backhand past Jimmy Howard. Ward then took advantage of a Griffins turnover deep in the zone to increase his team’s cushion, intercepting a pass in the slot and quickly whipping a shot into Grand Rapids’ net at 7:54.

The Griffins began to carry the play, eventually out-shooting the Aeros 14-6 for the frame and getting on the board late thanks to a tremendous individual effort by Mattias Ritola. The rookie Swede stole the puck behind the Houston net, fought off his defender while skating out and, from the right of the goal, sent a feed across that deflected off Brust and slid across the line at 17:27.

The Aeros reasserted their two-goal lead on Hamilton’s second of the night and 20th of the season at 17:44 of the second period, as he circled out from behind the Griffins’ net and patiently slid across the slot before lifting the puck over a prone Howard. Houston’s Cal Clutterbuck administered the final blow on the power play with 3:11 left in the game, scoring on a blast from the point off a faceoff win.

Howard stopped 19 shots in the losing effort, as Grand Rapids fell to 1-9-0-1 in its last 11 games despite out-shooting its opposition for the eighth time in those 11 contests.

Grand Rapids’ support remains strong, however, as the Griffins have drawn 30,439 fans in their three home games since they were eliminated from playoff contention on March 26, playing before two sellout crowds and an average audience of 10,146, or 94 percent of Van Andel Arena’s capacity. Should they draw at least 15,550 for their season-ending, two-game set against Manitoba next Friday and Saturday, they will celebrate two consecutive seasons of increased attendance for the first time in the franchise’s 12 years.