GRIFFINS TORCH FLAMES

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 6 AT Adirondack Flames 1

Nov. 29, 2014

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. – Grand Rapids only needed the second and third periods to score a season-high six goals as they posted a 6-1 victory over the Adirondack Flames Saturday night at Glen Falls Civic Center.

After a scoreless first period that featured 12 shots by the Griffins to nine by the Flames, it was the home team that got on the scoreboard first at 48 seconds into the second period when Bill Arnold netted a rebound after Emile Poirier's shot attempt in front of Griffins goaltender Jared Coreau to score his fifth goal of the season.

The Adirondack (12-8-1-0) lead didn’t last long, as Grand Rapids tied the game 50 seconds later when Mitch Callahan snuck a backhanded shot inside the goalpost to the right of Flames goalie Brad Thiessen for his first of two goals on the night.

Grand Rapids continued their second period dominance with two more goals before the end of the period where they outshot Adirondack 21-16 in the middle frame. The first came from Landon Ferraro at 5:56 when Thiessen mishandled the puck behind his net in which Kevin Porter knocked it towards the goal crease where Ferraro poked the puck into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

The second goal came from captain Jeff Hoggan when he batted a loose puck waist-high into the net to earn his second goal of the season at 10:42. The scoring didn’t stop for the Griffins as they added three more in the third period. Andreas Athanasiou scored the first at 1:38 when he skated around Bryce Van Brabant, took a wrist shot on Thiessen and converted the rebound to score for the fourth time this campaign.

Nick Jensen’s third tally of the season was the only power play goal scored tonight as he took a pass from Teemu Pulkkinen, made a toe drag around a Flames defender and fired a wrist shot past Thiessen at 13:22.

The final goal from Grand Rapids (9-7-2-0) was Callahan’s second of the night and eighth of the season. He was the trailing player on an odd-man rush where Pulkkinen fed him the puck and Callahan blasted a slap shot under the crossbar at 14:39.

Earning his first win in his sixth appearance with the Griffins, Coreau stopped 35 of 36 Adirondack shots. Thiessen made 39 saves out of the 45 shots he faced. Adirondack was 0-3 on the power play and Grand Rapids converted once from the four power play opportunities.

The Griffins are idle until Tuesday when they close a four-game road trip against Toronto at 7 p.m.

Notes: Coreau became the 30th goalie to win a regular season game in Griffins franchise history.

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