GRIFFINS BLANKED BY MONSTERS

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 0 at Lake Erie Monsters 1

April 20, 2013

CLEVELAND – Calvin Pickard proved unbeatable on Saturday night, preventing the Grand Rapids Griffins from spoiling the Lake Erie Monsters’ season finale with a 1-0 shutout decision at Quicken Loans Arena.

After clinching the Midwest Division title with a 3-1 win over Peoria last night, the Griffins (41-26-4-4) chose to go with a different lineup tonight, as regulars Adam Almquist, Landon Ferraro, Gleason Fournier, Luke Glendening and Jan Mursak were given the night off. The result marked the first game of a six-game season series that the Griffins didn’t pick up a point against the Monsters (35-31-3-7).

Among those entering the lineup were Teemu Pulkkinen, making his North American debut, and Ryan Sproul, in his first professional game. Pulkkinen registered one shot and two penalty minutes, and Sproul was credited with four shots on goal.

A scoreless first period paved the way for an early second-period goal by Luke Walker, in what turned out to be the only tally of the game. Walker collected a pass from Dean Strong and walked towards the Griffins’ net on a two-on-one. The Monsters forward hesitated for a moment before wiring a close-range slap shot over the glove of Petr Mrazek for his 12th goal of the season at 2:48.

Fourteen of the Griffins’ 29 shots came in the second frame, with their best chance coming moments after a penalty to Lake Erie’s Jamie MacQueen expired. Chad Billins fed the puck to Brett Skinner, who teed up a shot on a wide-open net that a diving Pickard snared with his glove.

On the other end, Mrazek held Grand Rapids in the game with 32 saves on the night, including a goal line stop late in the second period that required video review to uphold and a diving glove save on Walker midway through the third to keep it a one-goal game.

The Griffins will wrap up the regular season tomorrow against Chicago at 5 p.m. EDT and will learn their first-round playoff opponent by the end of the night.

Three Stars: 1. LE Pickard (SO, W, 29 saves); 2. LE Walker (game-winning goal); 3. LE Strong (assist)