April 15, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Victor Brattstrom’s 30-save outing propelled the Grand Rapids Griffins past the Iowa Wild 3-1 on Friday in front of a sold-out crowd at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins now hold a 5-2-0-0 record in the season series against the Wild with one meeting left.

Riley Barber pushed his career-high point streak to 12 games (9-6—15) with an assist and is now tied for the fourth longest point streak in Griffins’ history. Turner Elson recorded his 22^nd helper of the season, a new career best. Jonatan Berggren tallied two points (1-1—2), placing him fourth in the all-time scoring rookie list in franchise history and second in game-winning goals among rookies in the AHL this season with seven.

For the 10th consecutive game, the Griffins allowed their opponent to tally the contest’s first goal. After winning a faceoff in Grand Rapids’ zone, Iowa struck at 11:11 in the opening frame when Mason Shaw gathered the puck and placed it through the five-hole of Brattstrom.

The Griffins tied the game with 5:13 remaining in the stanza. Berggren from the left circle fed the disc to Kyle Criscuolo. Criscuolo then swatted the puck between the pads of netminder Zane McIntyre.

A scoreless middle frame saw the teams combine for just three shots in the opening 10 minutes. Despite being outshot 8-4 in the period, Grand Rapids went into the final intermission with a 15-14 edge in shots.

The Griffins tallied two in the third to propel them to a victory. At 7:16, Taro Hirose found Berggren at the left wing and sent a wrister over the stick of McIntyre. With 3:51 remaining in the final period, Josh Dickinson wrapped around the right post and tucked the puck past McIntyre, handing Grand Rapids a 3-1 win.

Notes

• Jon Martin recorded his 300^th game as a pro.
• This was the second sellout of the season with a crowd of 10,834.
• Berggren is now on a five-game point streak (3-6—9).

Box Score
Iowa 1 0 0 - 1
Grand Rapids 1 0 2 - 3

1st Period-1, Iowa, Shaw 16 (Rau, Gervais), 11:11. 2, Grand Rapids, Criscuolo 14 (Berggren, Lashoff), 14:47. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Ghafari Gr (delay of game), 1:33; McLeod Ia (boarding, roughing), 4:07; Newpower Gr (roughing), 4:07.

3rd Period-3, Grand Rapids, Berggren 18 (Hirose, Barber), 7:16. 4, Grand Rapids, Dickinson 5 (Elson, Criscuolo), 16:09. Penalties-Worrad Gr (tripping), 1:16; Shaw Ia (tripping), 4:21; Baddock Ia (elbowing), 10:01.

Shots on Goal-Iowa 7-8-16-31. Grand Rapids 11-4-13-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Iowa 0 / 2; Grand Rapids 0 / 3.
Goalies-Iowa, McIntyre 18-12-3 (28 shots-25 saves). Grand Rapids, Brattstrom 9-14-3 (31 shots-30 saves).
A-10,834

Three Stars
1. GR Brattstrom (W, 30 saves); 2. GR Berggren (game-winning goal, assist); 3.GR Criscuolo (goal, assist)

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 31-31-6-2 (70 pts.) / Tue., April 19 at Iowa 8 p.m. EDT
Iowa: 29-28-4-5 (67 pts.) / Sat., April 16 at Milwaukee 6 p.m. CDT

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins