Jan. 4, 2023

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Griffins ended their three-game losing skid in a 3-1 victory over the Cleveland Monsters on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena.

Seven Griffins tallied points, including goals from Joel L’Esperance, Alex Chiasson and Dominik Shine as well as assists from Steven Kampfer, Simon Edvinsson, Taro Hirose and Austin Czarnik. In his Griffins debut, Alex Nedeljkovic recorded 26 saves on 27 shots in the first game of his conditioning stint.

L’Esperance and Kampfer combined for the lone goal of the initial frame, as Kampfer slid a pass from the top of the right circle right into L’Esperance’s stick in the goalmouth that the Brighton, Mich., native tapped in at 8:42.

Cleveland recorded the first seven shots of the middle stanza, but was unable to record a goal in that span. Nedeljkovic and Jet Greaves fended off 15 total shots to hold each other scoreless in the second.

At 7:24 in the final frame, Hirose lasered a pass to Chiasson in the crease that the veteran tucked just inside the right post to go up 2-0. Owen Sillinger cut the Griffins’ lead to one, tallying a goal with 4:48 remaining from the left circle. However, Shine closed the door on Cleveland with an empty-net goal at 19:01 to snap their losing streak.

Notes
- The only other season in Grand Rapids history during which two NHL goalies (Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg) played here on conditioning stint was 2005-06, when both Chris Osgood (3 GP, 2-1, 3.34 GAA, 0.882%) and Manny Legace (1 gp, 1-0, 2.00, 0.909%) donned the Griffins’ wings instead of Detroit’s.
- Cross Hanas returned to the Griffins lineup after an injury sidelined him since Nov. 25.
- In his 300th AHL contest, Kampfer also tallied his 100th AHL assist.

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

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, L’Esperance 12 (Kampfer, Edvinsson), 8:42. Penalties-McIsaac Gr (holding), 14:30; Hanas Gr (slashing), 17:04.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-served by Andreasson Gr (bench minor - too many men), 5:53; Fix-Wolansky Cle (cross-checking), 13:02.

3rd Period-2, Grand Rapids, Chiasson 5 (Hirose, Czarnik), 7:24 (PP). 3, Cleveland, Sillinger 4 (Angle, Fonstad), 15:12. 4, Grand Rapids, Shine 7 19:01 (EN). Penalties-Fix-Wolansky Cle (hooking), 7:09.

Shots on Goal-Cleveland 10-10-7-27. Grand Rapids 12-5-5-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Cleveland 0 / 3; Grand Rapids 1 / 2.
Goalies-Cleveland, Greaves 5-6-2 (21 shots-19 saves). Grand Rapids, Nedeljkovic 1-0-0 (27 shots-26 saves).
A-5,384

Three Stars
1. GR Nedeljkovic (W, 26 saves); 2. GR Chiasson (goal); 3. GR L’Esperance (goal).

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 12-17-1-0 (25 pts.) / Fri., Jan. 6 vs. Texas 7 p.m.
Cleveland: 12-14-1-2 (27 pts.) / Fri., Jan. 6 at Chicago 7 p.m. CST

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins