CLEVELAND ROCKS

CLEVELAND – Ryan Sproul’s slapshot from the right circle with 1:28 remaining in overtime gave the Grand Rapids Griffins a 3-2 victory over the Lake Erie Monsters on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Griffins won for the 22nd time in 27 games to improve to 24-12-1-1 on the season. The result also elevated Grand Rapids to second place in the Central Division and third overall in the Western Conference.

Tyler Bertuzzi started the scoring on the power play for the Griffins at the halfway point of the opening period. Eric Tangradi gained the zone on the left side and fed Bertuzzi at the left point, who then worked his way down to the top of the left circle and fired a snapshot off the inside of Anton Forsberg’s right post and in.

Lake Erie (20-14-4-3) answered with a goal from Oliver Bjorkstrand at the 17:16 mark. Dillon Heatherington’s pass from the left point found Bjorkstrand, who skated down to the left circle and sent a wrist shot over Jared Coreau’s blocker-side shoulder.

Bjorkstrand scored his second of the night to give Lake Erie their first lead of the contest with 6:43 left in the middle frame. John Ramage’s slapshot from the right point forced a pad save from Coreau, but Bjorkstrand came up with the rebound below the right circle, shooting past a screened Coreau to the glove side.

Mitch Callahan tied the score for Grand Rapids on the power play 46 seconds into the third period. Nathan Paetsch’s fluttering shot from the right point was blocked in front by Callahan, who made his return to the Griffins’ lineup after missing 14 games with a broken jaw. Callahan outmuscled Jamie Sifers in front of the cage to get to the rebound and push the puck past Forsberg’s left pad.

Lake Erie was unable to capitalize on a Jakub Kindl holding-the-stick penalty with 30 seconds left in regulation. The Griffins took advantage of the Monsters’ missed opportunity 3:32 into the extra session when Sproul stole the puck from Bjorkstrand at the point, blasting a slapshot from the right circle past Forsberg’s glove-side shoulder.

Grand Rapids finished 2-for-4 on the power play, while Lake Erie failed to score on three opportunities. Coreau turned aside 30 of 32 shots to tie Rockford IceHogs' netminder Michael Leighton with a league-leading 20th win of the campaign. Forsberg stopped 43 of 46 shots in a losing effort.

The Griffins kick off a four-game home stand at Van Andel Arena with a weekend series against the Rochester Americans on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Three Stars: 1. GR Sproul (game-winning goal); 2. GR Coreau (W, 30 saves); 3. LE Bjorkstrand (two goals)

Notes: Paetsch played his 500th AHL game on Wednesday, with 251 of those coming as a Griffin…With his third-period assist, Andy Miele became the ninth-fastest player in franchise history to register 100 points, needing just 109 games to reach the milestone…Wednesday marked the first time the Griffins played three consecutive overtime games since Feb. 6-13, 2015.

CLEVELAND – Ryan Sproul’s slapshot from the right circle with 1:28 remaining in overtime gave the Grand Rapids Griffins a 3-2 victory over the Lake Erie Monsters on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Griffins won for the 22nd time in 27 games to improve to 24-12-1-1 on the season. The result also elevated Grand Rapids to second place in the Central Division and third overall in the Western Conference.

Tyler Bertuzzi started the scoring on the power play for the Griffins at the halfway point of the opening period. Eric Tangradi gained the zone on the left side and fed Bertuzzi at the left point, who then worked his way down to the top of the left circle and fired a snapshot off the inside of Anton Forsberg’s right post and in.

Lake Erie (20-14-4-3) answered with a goal from Oliver Bjorkstrand at the 17:16 mark. Dillon Heatherington’s pass from the left point found Bjorkstrand, who skated down to the left circle and sent a wrist shot over Jared Coreau’s blocker-side shoulder.

Bjorkstrand scored his second of the night to give Lake Erie their first lead of the contest with 6:43 left in the middle frame. John Ramage’s slapshot from the right point forced a pad save from Coreau, but Bjorkstrand came up with the rebound below the right circle, shooting past a screened Coreau to the glove side.

Mitch Callahan tied the score for Grand Rapids on the power play 46 seconds into the third period. Nathan Paetsch’s fluttering shot from the right point was blocked in front by Callahan, who made his return to the Griffins’ lineup after missing 14 games with a broken jaw. Callahan outmuscled Jamie Sifers in front of the cage to get to the rebound and push the puck past Forsberg’s left pad.

Lake Erie was unable to capitalize on a Jakub Kindl holding-the-stick penalty with 30 seconds left in regulation. The Griffins took advantage of the Monsters’ missed opportunity 3:32 into the extra session when Sproul stole the puck from Bjorkstrand at the point, blasting a slapshot from the right circle past Forsberg’s glove-side shoulder.

Grand Rapids finished 2-for-4 on the power play, while Lake Erie failed to score on three opportunities. Coreau turned aside 30 of 32 shots to tie Rockford IceHogs' netminder Michael Leighton with a league-leading 20th win of the campaign. Forsberg stopped 43 of 46 shots in a losing effort.

The Griffins kick off a four-game home stand at Van Andel Arena with a weekend series against the Rochester Americans on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Three Stars: 1. GR Sproul (game-winning goal); 2. GR Coreau (W, 30 saves); 3. LE Bjorkstrand (two goals)

Notes: Paetsch played his 500th AHL game on Wednesday, with 251 of those coming as a Griffin…With his third-period assist, Andy Miele became the ninth-fastest player in franchise history to register 100 points, needing just 109 games to reach the milestone…Wednesday marked the first time the Griffins played three consecutive overtime games since Feb. 6-13, 2015.