GRIFFINS CLOBBER BARONS, MOVE INTO TIE ATOP CONFERENCE

Oklahoma City Barons 1 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 7

March 4, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After sustaining an early blow in Wednesday’s battle between the top two teams in the Western Conference, the Grand Rapids Griffins stormed back to claim a 7-1 win over Oklahoma City and move into a tie with the Barons atop the standings at 74 points.

Thanks in part to Teemu Pulkkinen’s second hat trick in his last nine games with Grand Rapids, the Griffins posted their ninth straight victory, tying for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history and marking their longest run under coach Jeff Blashill. Grand Rapids also improved to 11-0-2-0 in its last 13 games and 15-1-2-0 in its last 18 outings, while pushing its home run to 6-0-2-0 with a fifth straight win at Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins (34-17-5-1), who also increased their Midwest Division lead to four points over idle Rockford, will return to the road for their next four games, beginning with an 8 p.m. EST tilt in Milwaukee on Friday.

The Barons (34-16-3-3) got the early jump on reigning AHL Player of the Week Petr Mrazek, who rode consecutive shutouts into the game before ceding a goal just 1:53 in. Jujhar Khaira fanned on a point-blank attempt but the puck slid right to Martin Gernat, who put a shot inside the right post to snap Mrazek’s shutout streak at 146:21.

Pulkkinen, who maintained his AHL goal leadership while missing Grand Rapids’ last six games on recall to Detroit, pounded home No. 31 at the 12:15 mark. Taking a pass in the left circle, he snapped a shot through traffic and past Laurent Brossoit.

Red-hot rookie Mark Zengerle gave the Griffins a 2-1 advantage just 2:21 later, setting up outside the crease to redirect Nick Jensen’s point blast, giving him points in 10 of the last 11 games. Andy Miele earned his second assist of the period on the play, giving him 55 points on the season, good for third in the AHL.

Pulkkinen notched his second goal 8:11 into the middle period from the high slot, taking a centering pass from Kevin Porter and launching a shot that Brossoit was unable to corral before it eventually trickled over the line. With that goal, Pulkkinen passed Manchester’s Brian O’Neill and re-assumed the league’s scoring lead.

Andreas Athanasiou made it a 4-1 contest with 2:36 left before intermission, before an apparent third goal by Pulkkinen less than a minute later was waved off by the referee, who ruled that Miele had made incidental contact with the goaltender.

No matter. After Tyler Bunz entered the game in relief of Brossoit to start the third, Pulkkinen cemented his hat trick just 1:20 into the stanza, rocketing a loose puck past Bunz from the top of the right circle for his 60th point in just 45 games as a Griffin.

Anthony Mantha scored on a deflection 21 seconds later – the goal was originally credited to Jeff Hoggan – to push the margin to five, before Tomas Nosek tallied the night’s final goal from the doorstep at 8:22.

Mrazek logged his sixth consecutive win since returning from his three-month tour of duty with the Red Wings and his eighth straight overall in a Grand Rapids sweater, finishing with 34 saves. Brossoit took the loss, stopping 23 of 27 shots, while Bunz turned aside seven of 10 as the understudy.

Notes: Greg Ireland led the Griffins to a record 11 consecutive wins from March 5-31, 2006, while the squads of Curt Fraser (Oct. 23-Nov. 13, 2009) and Bruce Cassidy (Dec. 22, 2000-Jan. 12, 2001) each posted nine-game runs…The Griffins’ last four wins have come by a margin of at least four goals each and by a cumulative score of 22-3.

Three Stars: 1. GR Pulkkinen (hat trick); 2. GR Mrazek (W, 34 saves); 3. GR Zengerle (goal, assist)

Oklahoma City Barons 1 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 7

March 4, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After sustaining an early blow in Wednesday’s battle between the top two teams in the Western Conference, the Grand Rapids Griffins stormed back to claim a 7-1 win over Oklahoma City and move into a tie with the Barons atop the standings at 74 points.

Thanks in part to Teemu Pulkkinen’s second hat trick in his last nine games with Grand Rapids, the Griffins posted their ninth straight victory, tying for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history and marking their longest run under coach Jeff Blashill. Grand Rapids also improved to 11-0-2-0 in its last 13 games and 15-1-2-0 in its last 18 outings, while pushing its home run to 6-0-2-0 with a fifth straight win at Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins (34-17-5-1), who also increased their Midwest Division lead to four points over idle Rockford, will return to the road for their next four games, beginning with an 8 p.m. EST tilt in Milwaukee on Friday.

The Barons (34-16-3-3) got the early jump on reigning AHL Player of the Week Petr Mrazek, who rode consecutive shutouts into the game before ceding a goal just 1:53 in. Jujhar Khaira fanned on a point-blank attempt but the puck slid right to Martin Gernat, who put a shot inside the right post to snap Mrazek’s shutout streak at 146:21.

Pulkkinen, who maintained his AHL goal leadership while missing Grand Rapids’ last six games on recall to Detroit, pounded home No. 31 at the 12:15 mark. Taking a pass in the left circle, he snapped a shot through traffic and past Laurent Brossoit.

Red-hot rookie Mark Zengerle gave the Griffins a 2-1 advantage just 2:21 later, setting up outside the crease to redirect Nick Jensen’s point blast, giving him points in 10 of the last 11 games. Andy Miele earned his second assist of the period on the play, giving him 55 points on the season, good for third in the AHL.

Pulkkinen notched his second goal 8:11 into the middle period from the high slot, taking a centering pass from Kevin Porter and launching a shot that Brossoit was unable to corral before it eventually trickled over the line. With that goal, Pulkkinen passed Manchester’s Brian O’Neill and re-assumed the league’s scoring lead.

Andreas Athanasiou made it a 4-1 contest with 2:36 left before intermission, before an apparent third goal by Pulkkinen less than a minute later was waved off by the referee, who ruled that Miele had made incidental contact with the goaltender.

No matter. After Tyler Bunz entered the game in relief of Brossoit to start the third, Pulkkinen cemented his hat trick just 1:20 into the stanza, rocketing a loose puck past Bunz from the top of the right circle for his 60th point in just 45 games as a Griffin.

Anthony Mantha scored on a deflection 21 seconds later – the goal was originally credited to Jeff Hoggan – to push the margin to five, before Tomas Nosek tallied the night’s final goal from the doorstep at 8:22.

Mrazek logged his sixth consecutive win since returning from his three-month tour of duty with the Red Wings and his eighth straight overall in a Grand Rapids sweater, finishing with 34 saves. Brossoit took the loss, stopping 23 of 27 shots, while Bunz turned aside seven of 10 as the understudy.

Notes: Greg Ireland led the Griffins to a record 11 consecutive wins from March 5-31, 2006, while the squads of Curt Fraser (Oct. 23-Nov. 13, 2009) and Bruce Cassidy (Dec. 22, 2000-Jan. 12, 2001) each posted nine-game runs…The Griffins’ last four wins have come by a margin of at least four goals each and by a cumulative score of 22-3.

Three Stars: 1. GR Pulkkinen (hat trick); 2. GR Mrazek (W, 34 saves); 3. GR Zengerle (goal, assist)