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Iowa Wild 2 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3 SO

Feb. 25, 2018

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Matej Machovsky stopped 26 of 28 shots plus all three shootout attempts to earn a victory for the Grand Rapids Griffins in his first AHL start, a 3-2 decision over the Iowa Wild on Sunday at Van Andel Arena.

Matt Lorito’s goal late in the second period tied the score at 2-2 and was the last time the puck hit twine until Dominic Turgeon scored for Grand Rapids in the first round of the shootout, which turned out to be the only goal for either team in the skills session.

The win improved the Griffins’ record to 30-19-1-6 and keeps them in second place in the Central Division race. Grand Rapids, 11-1-0-2 in its last 14 contests and 20-4-0-3 in its last 27, will continue its season-high six-game homestand on Wednesday when the Tucson Roadrunners pay a 7 p.m. visit to Van Andel Arena.

The teams traded power play goals about 10 minutes apart during the first period. Just 1:10 into the frame, Eric Tangradi set a perfect screen in front of Iowa netminder Niklas Svedberg, enabling Filip Hronek’s wrist shot from the point to sneak inside the left post.

The Wild (26-17-7-4) answered at 11:04 when Sam Anas slipped a shot from the left circle through the five-hole of Machovsky, who saw his first AHL action on Wednesday in relief against Chicago. Machovsky was flawless the rest of the period, preserving the 1-1 tie despite Iowa’s 15-8 advantage in shots.

Gerald Mayhew, a second-year forward out of Ferris State University, staked the visitors to a 2-1 lead with 5:26 remaining in the second period, ripping a shot past Machovsky’s glove from the right dot. But the Griffins got it back less than two minutes later, when Lorito took position below the right circle and buried Colin Campbell’s feed from the end boards at the 16:17 mark.

A scoreless third period saw the Wild enjoy the best scoring chances after Campbell was sent to the box for boarding with less than seven minutes remaining, but the Griffins survived a scramble around their net to push the game to overtime.

Lorito had a great chance to end matters early in the extra frame, but his backhand try from the doorstep was gobbled up by Svedberg. Grand Rapids eventually outshot Iowa 4-1 in overtime to no avail, but after Machovsky stopped Anas to open the shootout, Turgeon popped a backhand past Svedberg’s glove to give the Griffins the upper hand. Zack Mitchell missed for the Wild in round two before Tangradi was denied on his try, and Machovsky sealed the win by making a right pad save on Justin Kloos. It was just the third win for Grand Rapids in nine shootouts this season.

Svedberg made 32 saves after finishing with 31 in the Griffins’ 2-1 win on Saturday, but he and the Wild leave Grand Rapids with just one point and now find themselves in fourth place in the standings.

Notes: The crowd of 10,367 – marking the Griffins’ sixth straight weekend home game with an attendance in excess of 10,000 – was accompanied by 434 canines who enjoyed the Jake Engel Memorial Bring Your Dog Game.

Three Stars: 1. GR Lorito (goal, assist); 2. IA Anas (power play goal, assist); 3. GR Hronek (power play goal)