NINE RED LIGHTS DANCING

Iowa Wild 2 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 9

Dec. 27, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Teemu Pulkkinen’s four-point performance on Saturday sparked an AHL season-high nine-goal explosion for the Grand Rapids Griffins, who cruised to a 9-2 victory over the Iowa Wild before a sellout crowd of 10,834 at Van Andel Arena.

The nine goals and seven-goal margin of victory each fell one shy of the franchise record for a home game, as the Griffins continued their recent offensive mastery within friendly confines. Combined with last Friday’s 7-1 win over Toronto, Grand Rapids tallied at least seven goals in consecutive home outings for the first time ever and set a record with 16 combined goals over back-to-back games at Van Andel Arena, surpassing the mark of 14 accomplished twice before.

With two goals and an assist, Tomas Nosek was also among the six Griffins to enjoy a multi-point evening, as 16 of the team’s 18 skaters recorded at least one point. Tom McCollum was the beneficiary of his teammates’ largesse, making 32 saves after being reassigned by Detroit this morning.

Grand Rapids (15-11-3-0), now 12-5-2-0 since Nov. 12, will travel to Chicago on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. EST showdown with the Wolves. The Griffins are currently tied with Milwaukee for third place in the Midwest Division at 33 points, just four behind second-place Chicago.

The Griffins built a two-goal lead through the first 20 minutes on the strength of three backdoor goals against Johan Gustafsson and the Wild defense, the first coming only 14 seconds into the contest. After stealing the puck in the right circle, Mitch Callahan sent a pass to the high slot to Pulkkinen, who immediately found Andy Miele near the left post for an easy tap-in.

Iowa got the goal back at the 3:20 mark, when Marc Hagel shook free from Nick Jensen along the end boards and found Tyler Graovac in the left circle for a one-timer that sailed into the far corner of McCollum’s net.

Landon Ferraro re-established Grand Rapids’ advantage at 6:45, slamming home Anthony Mantha’s feed to match Miele with his 10th goal of the campaign. Pulkkinen’s team-high 16th goal capped off the scoring in the final minute of the frame, as he drove a cross-ice pass from Ryan Sproul into the back of the net from the left circle with 43 seconds remaining.

Callahan extended the cushion to 4-1 with yet another backdoor tally, this one on the power play 2:35 into the second. Pulkkinen collected the puck along the right half-wall and threw it at the net to a crashing Callahan for the deflection.

The onslaught continued with two more Griffins goals that made it a 6-1 contest before the night’s midpoint. Nosek took a pass at center ice, sped up the right side, turnstiled a Wild defender in the right circle and walked past another uninterested opponent en route to stuffing the puck past Gustafsson at 4:42, before an unmarked Marek Tvrdon cashed in on a Kevin Porter pass in the slot 1:22 later for his first AHL goal.

Iowa (10-19-1-1) was afforded a chance at respectability when awarded 1:19 of a 5-on-3 power play midway through the frame, but the visitors could do nothing to capitalize on the opportunity.

Nathan Paetsch’s rocket from the left circle at 11:59 put the margin at 7-1, before Nosek tallied his second of the evening from atop the right circle at 17:00 to give Grand Rapids a seven-goal lead through 40 minutes.

After allowing eight goals on 27 shots, Gustafsson was mercifully relieved to start the third period in favor of David DeSander, a West Michigan resident who was signed to a tryout earlier today when John Curry was recalled to Minnesota. The 31-year-old DeSander had not played professionally since logging 12 games in the defunct All American Hockey League during 2010-11, but he allowed only one goal on seven shots during his period of work, as Colin Campbell beat him 5:53 into his stint.

Iowa’s Jordan Schroeder finished off a scramble around the Griffins’ net by scoring on a sharp angle from the right side during a power play with 47 seconds left to account for the final margin.

Notes: The Griffins set their record for home goals in a 10-5 win over Cincinnati on Oct. 24, 2001 and established their mark for largest margin of victory at home (8) in a 9-1 victory over Utah on Feb. 24, 2002…Grand Rapids had totaled 14 goals in consecutive home games most recently during the 2008-09 season (an 8-4 win over Rochester on Jan. 31 and a 6-3 victory against Chicago on Feb. 6)…Jensen and Louis-Marc Aubry were the only Griffins skaters held off the scoresheet.

Three Stars: 1. GR Pulkkinen (goal, three assists); 2. GR Nosek (two goals, assist); 3. GR Tvrdon (goal, assist)