CURSES AGAIN FOR THE CRUNCH

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Kyle Quincey’s first goal since Nov. 3 tied the score late in the third period, and the Grand Rapids Griffins skunked the Syracuse Crunch 2-0 in the shootout to earn a 4-3 win on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins (27-21-4-2), who posted their 10th consecutive victory over the Crunch (19-28-2-7), continued their success on home ice by claiming their sixth straight win at Van Andel Arena and their ninth triumph in their last 10 contests in friendly confines.

Now two points ahead of idle Iowa in the race for the conference’s final playoff spot, Grand Rapids will continue its stretch of four games in five nights by visiting the Peoria Rivermen Friday at 8:30 p.m.

Desperately trying to avoid another loss to the Griffins, and with four members of the parent Columbus Blue Jackets’ hockey operations brass in attendance, the Crunch jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. Alexandre Picard crashed the net for a power play goal just 3:59 in, and Oliver Labelle fired past Stefan Liv into a gaping cage 1:24 later.

It took the Griffins until the 5:03 mark of the second period to dent Ty Conklin, as Evan McGrath rushed in to score from the left side. Grand Rapids then got the equalizer while undermanned – the team’s seventh shorthanded goal in the last six games – when Derek Meech finished off a 2-on-1 thanks to a beautiful pass by Ryan Oulahen. The goal was Meech’s third shortie of the season, tying Clay Wilson’s club record for defensemen, and it pushed his point streak to six games, three times longer than his previous best.

The Griffins, meanwhile, extended their franchise record by scoring a shorthanded goal for the fourth straight game.

Syracuse regained a 3-2 lead 2:19 into the third period despite a heroic effort by Liv. From the left side, Geoff Platt fired a one-timer that Liv made a diving stick save on, but the rebound came back to Platt and he potted his second shot just inside the far post. But Quincey forced overtime with just 3:36 remaining on a blast from the top of the left circle, igniting a particularly large and boisterous weekday crowd of 7,034.

Following an uneventful overtime, McGrath and Kip Miller scored in the shootout’s second and fourth rounds, while Liv denied all four shooters he faced. Both netminders finished with 33 saves, but Liv made the most of his to notch his fourth straight win.