HAUNTED HOUSE?

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A peculiar start to the Grand Rapids Griffins’ season grew even stranger on Sunday evening, as the Peoria Rivermen skated to a 7-1 victory at Van Andel Arena.

Undefeated on the road at 5-0 and approaching the franchise record for best road start, the Griffins fell to 0-3 at home for the first time in the team’s 12 seasons. They’ll try to notch that first win on Thursday when the Rochester Americans visit at 7 p.m. Detroit Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman will make an on-ice appearance in support of Fifth Third Bank’s stick drive to benefit the Griffins Youth Foundation.

While firing off the game’s first 11 shots, the Rivermen (5-3-0-1) took the lead 5:26 into the opening period. Moments after a Griffins penalty expired but with Peoria still controlling the puck in the Grand Rapids zone, Adam Berkhoel turned aside a Roman Polak blast, but Nicholas Drazenovic converted the rebound from a scrum to the right of the net.

Grand Rapids (5-3-0-0) pulled even 2:16 into the second when, from behind the net, Mark Hartigan found Randall Gelech out front for a one-timer over Marek Schwarz’s glove. The deadlock was short-lived, however, as Micki DuPont’s shot from the left point changed direction on its way past Berkhoel for a power play tally at the 3:52 mark.

The Griffins missed a chance to again knot the score with 12:33 left in the frame, firing wide right of a gaping net during a two-on-none break. That miss proved costly about a minute later, when Julian Talbot slipped a shot through Berkhoel’s pads at 8:31 for a 3-1 Rivermen advantage. Peoria’s Trent Whitfield dug the hole deeper on a goal with 1:32 left in the period, giving the visitors a three-goal cushion entering the final 20 minutes.

The Rivermen blew the game wide open in the third period, chasing Berkhoel on goals by Chris Porter (3:45) and Hans Benson (9:03) and welcoming Cody Rudkowsky with Nikolay Lemtyugov’s marker at 13:10.

Peoria enjoyed a colossal 41-14 margin in shots on the night. Schwarz earned the win with 13 saves, Berkhoel made 26 stops in the loss, and Rudkowsky denied eight of nine shots in his Griffins debut.

The game was billed as “Pink at the Rink,” a breast cancer awareness benefit for Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grand Rapids. All Griffins players wore pink ribbons on their helmets and pink laces in their skates, while several used pink tape on their sticks. A variety of auctions and fundraisers on the night generated nearly $2,000 for the charity.