Feb. 5, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Five different Griffins scored to help power Grand Rapids past the Ontario Reign 5-3 on Saturday at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins snapped a season-high seven-game winless streak (0-6-1-0) with the franchise’s first victory over the Reign.

Joe Veleno continued his dominance, notching goals in back-to-back games and setting a new AHL career high with three points (1-2—3). Luke Witkowski recorded his first goal as a Griffin while Patrick Curry got his first point of the campaign. Former Griffin Martin Frk also notched a tally in consecutive contests.

In the opening frame, Grand Rapids’ 23 shots were the most this season and just one shy of the franchise record for shots in a period. The Griffins, who scored two shorthanded goals in the second period, had totaled two shorthanded goals in their previous 74 games entering tonight. Coming into the contest, Ontario had given up just one shorthanded tally in 36 outings.

Ontario got things going at 12:58 in the first. Samuel Fagemo was behind the net and passed the puck to Gabriel Vilardi. Vilardi at the left post then sent a one-timer into the right corner of the net.

The Griffins responded with three goals in the span of 1:37. On a power play chance, Taro Hirose found Jonatan Berggren at the right post. Berggren then fired a shot past the glove of netminder Jacob Ingham with 5:54 remaining.

Exactly 50 seconds later Wyatt Newpower sent the puck toward the cage, which allowed Witkowski to get a tap-in goal at 14:56, giving Grand Rapids a 2-1 lead.

With 4:17 remaining in the first, Jared McIsaac from the blue line fired a wrister through traffic and into the right corner to extend the Griffins’ lead to two.

The Reign recorded a shorthanded tally at 17:41 to cap off a five-goal opening period. Austin Wagner stole the puck and went down the ice on a 2-on-1 break, connecting with Brett Sutter. Sutter then sent the rubber past the stick of goaltender Victor Brattstrom, who earned his third win of the season and first since Jan. 14.

Grand Rapids scored its own undermanned goal at 6:55 in the middle stanza. Veleno stole the puck from the defense, then went left-to-right to put the disc past the glove of Ingham.

The Griffins notched another short hander with 5:21 remaining. Veleno snatched the disc and found Tyler Spezia in the slot. Spezia fired the rubber into the left corner of the net, giving Grand Rapids a 5-2 advantage.

The lone third-period goal came at 19:13, as Frk waited for the puck at the goal mouth and tapped it in past Brattstrom.

Notes

• Ontario trailed by three goals or more in only two of its first 36 games of the season.
• Grand Rapids killed off all seven penalties against the AHL’s best power play.
• The Griffins scored on the man advantage in consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 14-15 against Manitoba.
• Since being reassigned on Feb. 3, Veleno has four points (2-2—4) in two games.
• Hirose extended his assist streak to three contests (0-3—3).
  
  

Box Score
Ontario 2 0 1 - 3
Grand Rapids 3 2 0 - 5

1st Period-1, Ontario, Vilardi 11 (Fagemo, Gaunce), 12:58. 2, Grand Rapids, Berggren 9 (Hirose, Veleno), 14:06 (PP). 3, Grand Rapids, Witkowski 1 (Newpower, Spezia), 14:56. 4, Grand Rapids, McIsaac 4 (Bradford, Curry), 15:43. 5, Ontario, Sutter 7 (Wagner), 17:41 (SH). Penalties-Kupari Ont (holding), 13:18; Kupari Ont (hooking), 16:58; Frk Ont (tripping), 19:24.

2nd Period-6, Grand Rapids, Veleno 5 6:55 (SH). 7, Grand Rapids, Spezia 8 (Veleno), 14:39 (SH). Penalties-Lashoff Gr (hooking), 6:23; Witkowski Gr (slashing), 11:07; McIsaac Gr (slashing), 13:02; Sebrango Gr (kneeing), 15:40; Gaunce Ont (roughing), 20:00; Martin Gr (roughing), 20:00.

3rd Period-8, Ontario, Anderson-Dolan 16 (Vilardi, Turcotte), 19:13. Penalties-Gaunce Ont (fighting), 2:37; Martin Gr (interference, fighting), 2:37; Spence Ont (holding), 3:24; Yan Gr (hooking), 8:06; McIsaac Gr (tripping), 15:11.

Shots on Goal-Ontario 10-11-10-31. Grand Rapids 23-11-3-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Ontario 0 / 7; Grand Rapids 1 / 4.
Goalies-Ontario, Ingham 2-1-1 (37 shots-32 saves). Grand Rapids, Brattstrom 3-6-2 (31 shots-28 saves).
A-9,273

Three Stars
1. GR Veleno (shorthanded game-winning goal, two assists); GR Spezia (shorthanded goal, assist); 3. GR McIsaac (goal)

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 16-17-5-2 (39 pts.) / Thurs., Feb. 10 at Iowa 8 p.m. EST
Ontario: 24-8-3-2 (53 pts.) / Fri., Feb. 11 at Stockton 7 p.m. PST

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins