BARONS GROUND GRIFFINS IN OVERTIME

March 11, 2011 - GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 5 at Oklahoma City Barons 6 OT

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Grand Rapids Griffins battled the Oklahoma City Barons in a game of back-and-forth, before falling 6-5 in overtime, putting an end to their four-game winning streak Friday at the Cox Convention Center.

The Griffins (30-25-2-8) kicked off a three-in-three southern road swing by visiting the Barons (34-24-2-5) in the first of a back-to-back set. The two teams will face off again Saturday at 8:05 p.m. at the Cox Convention Center as the Griffins hope to close the five point gap between third-place Hamilton and a guaranteed playoff berth.

Francis Pare knocked two goals past Jeff Drouin-Delauriers, the first at 4:39 followed by the second at 17:08 to claim a 2-0 advantage for the Griffins in the opening period. The Barons were quick to respond with two consecutive power play goals early in the second frame. Colin McDonald found the net just ten seconds into the frame, followed closely by Mark Arcobello at 1:28, who tied the game 2-2.

Grand Rapids returned fire at 3:56, when Jamie Tardif tallied a power play goal to regain a 3-2 advantage. Oklahoma City battled back to claim 4-3 lead with two more back-to-back goals off the sticks of Chris Vandevelde at 16:45 and Arcobello at 17:06.

Ilari Filppula found the net for the Griffins early in the final stanza, tying the game 4-4 at 4:01. Following suit, Tardif notched his second power play goal at 9:18 reclaiming the lead for Grand Rapids. Victory was short-lived, when Teemu Hartikainen slipped the puck past Jordan Pearce and tied the game 5-5 at 10:14 of the period.

Anthony Aiello notched the game-winning 6-5 goal for the Barons just 36 seconds into overtime. Both teams were nearly even in shots, in which Pearce and Drouin-Delauriers each posted 30 stops.

Three Stars: 1. OKC Aiello (GWG, 2 assists); 2. OKC Arcobello (2 goals, 1 assist); 3. GR Filppula (1 goal, 2 assists)