GRIFFINS MAKE HISTORY, BEAT MARLIES TO ADVANCE

Calder Cup Playoffs – Western Conference Quarterfinals – Game 5 – Grand Rapids Wins Series, 3-2

Toronto Marlies 1 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3

May 3, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Sunday became the 11th team in AHL history to win a best-of-five series after having trailed 0-2, completing their remarkable comeback with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies at Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins, who lost Games 1 and 2 on the road last weekend before winning straight on home ice, became the first team since the 2013 Providence Bruins to accomplish the feat, in the process improving to 5-1 overall and 5-0 at home when facing playoff elimination under coach Jeff Blashill. Grand Rapids is also 3-0 in winner-take-all contests during the three-year tenure of Blashill, who has now won six of seven playoff series at the Griffins’ helm.

The Griffins advance to the Western Conference Semifinals to face the division rival Rockford IceHogs. Games 1 and 2 will take place at Van Andel Arena this Wednesday and Friday.

Grand Rapids came out firing from the drop of the puck, launching five shots in the game’s first 1:11, building up an 11-1 margin over the first seven minutes and finally breaking through Antoine Bibeau on its 12th shot at the 8:49 mark. From the right point, Alexey Marchenko put a shot on net that Louis-Marc Aubry tipped past Bibeau, who spent the first four games of the series as the understudy to Christopher Gibson.

Grand Rapids continued to swarm around the Toronto net, finishing with the period with an 18-9 cushion in shots, but Bibeau remained stout between the pipes to keep the Marlies’ deficit at one heading into intermission.

Sam Carrick put Toronto on the board 2:24 into the second period, collecting a loose puck on the doorstep and roofing it over Tom McCollum. An opportunity for Jeff Hoggan to reclaim the lead less than two minutes later was denied by the paddle of Bibeau, but the Griffins eventually took advantage of a Marlies mistake to seize that 2-1 lead with 7:25 left in the period.

Bibeau dropped the puck for Viktor Loov at the side of his crease, but when the defenseman whiffed on his attempt to control the puck, Alden Hirschfeld came crashing in on the forecheck to pop the orphaned disk inside the right post. Loov had been suspended by the AHL for Games 3 and 4 after his vicious check to the head of Zach Nastasiuk during last Sunday’s Game 2 in Toronto.

The Griffins’ penalty kill came up huge to deny 1:27 of a Toronto 5-on-3 power play that spanned the second and third periods, before Andreas Athanasiou made it a 3-1 game with Grand Rapids’ second straight unassisted goal. Gathering the puck in his own corner following a big save by McCollum, he sped up the right boards, undressed T.J. Brennan inside the Marlies’ blue line and picked the top right corner at the 3:38 mark for his fourth tally of the playoffs.

It was then Toronto’s turn to kill off a two-man advantage for the Griffins, whose fruitless 1:35 opportunity saw Bibeau rob Nathan Paetsch’s back-door one-timer with a brilliant glove save with 11:24 showing on the clock.

The Marlies pulled Bibeau in favor of an extra attacker for most of the final four minutes but could not affect the final outcome. The Toronto netminder turned in a solid 39-save performance but was upstaged by McCollum, who finished off the Marlies by turning back all but one of the 36 shots he faced on the night.

Notes: For the first time in franchise history, the Griffins have reached the second round of the playoffs in three consecutive years…This is the second time in Blashill’s head coaching career that he has brought a team back from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five series. He also did it with the USHL’s Indiana Ice in 2010…Detroit GM Ken Holland, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan were all in attendance.

Three Stars: 1. GR Athanasiou (goal, assist); 2. GR McCollum (W, 35 saves); 3. GR Aubry (goal)

Calder Cup Playoffs – Western Conference Quarterfinals – Game 5 – Grand Rapids Wins Series, 3-2

Toronto Marlies 1 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3

May 3, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Sunday became the 11th team in AHL history to win a best-of-five series after having trailed 0-2, completing their remarkable comeback with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies at Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins, who lost Games 1 and 2 on the road last weekend before winning straight on home ice, became the first team since the 2013 Providence Bruins to accomplish the feat, in the process improving to 5-1 overall and 5-0 at home when facing playoff elimination under coach Jeff Blashill. Grand Rapids is also 3-0 in winner-take-all contests during the three-year tenure of Blashill, who has now won six of seven playoff series at the Griffins’ helm.

The Griffins advance to the Western Conference Semifinals to face the division rival Rockford IceHogs. Games 1 and 2 will take place at Van Andel Arena this Wednesday and Friday.

Grand Rapids came out firing from the drop of the puck, launching five shots in the game’s first 1:11, building up an 11-1 margin over the first seven minutes and finally breaking through Antoine Bibeau on its 12th shot at the 8:49 mark. From the right point, Alexey Marchenko put a shot on net that Louis-Marc Aubry tipped past Bibeau, who spent the first four games of the series as the understudy to Christopher Gibson.

Grand Rapids continued to swarm around the Toronto net, finishing with the period with an 18-9 cushion in shots, but Bibeau remained stout between the pipes to keep the Marlies’ deficit at one heading into intermission.

Sam Carrick put Toronto on the board 2:24 into the second period, collecting a loose puck on the doorstep and roofing it over Tom McCollum. An opportunity for Jeff Hoggan to reclaim the lead less than two minutes later was denied by the paddle of Bibeau, but the Griffins eventually took advantage of a Marlies mistake to seize that 2-1 lead with 7:25 left in the period.

Bibeau dropped the puck for Viktor Loov at the side of his crease, but when the defenseman whiffed on his attempt to control the puck, Alden Hirschfeld came crashing in on the forecheck to pop the orphaned disk inside the right post. Loov had been suspended by the AHL for Games 3 and 4 after his vicious check to the head of Zach Nastasiuk during last Sunday’s Game 2 in Toronto.

The Griffins’ penalty kill came up huge to deny 1:27 of a Toronto 5-on-3 power play that spanned the second and third periods, before Andreas Athanasiou made it a 3-1 game with Grand Rapids’ second straight unassisted goal. Gathering the puck in his own corner following a big save by McCollum, he sped up the right boards, undressed T.J. Brennan inside the Marlies’ blue line and picked the top right corner at the 3:38 mark for his fourth tally of the playoffs.

It was then Toronto’s turn to kill off a two-man advantage for the Griffins, whose fruitless 1:35 opportunity saw Bibeau rob Nathan Paetsch’s back-door one-timer with a brilliant glove save with 11:24 showing on the clock.

The Marlies pulled Bibeau in favor of an extra attacker for most of the final four minutes but could not affect the final outcome. The Toronto netminder turned in a solid 39-save performance but was upstaged by McCollum, who finished off the Marlies by turning back all but one of the 36 shots he faced on the night.

Notes: For the first time in franchise history, the Griffins have reached the second round of the playoffs in three consecutive years…This is the second time in Blashill’s head coaching career that he has brought a team back from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five series. He also did it with the USHL’s Indiana Ice in 2010…Detroit GM Ken Holland, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan were all in attendance.

Three Stars: 1. GR Athanasiou (goal, assist); 2. GR McCollum (W, 35 saves); 3. GR Aubry (goal)