TANGO CASHES IN

Manitoba Moose 2 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 7

March 11, 2016

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Eric Tangradi’s five points powered the Grand Rapids Griffins to their ninth straight victory, a 7-2 thrashing of the Manitoba Moose on Friday at Van Andel Arena.

Tangradi tied a franchise record for most points in a home game by factoring into each of the Griffins’ first five goals, as they built a 5-0 cushion en route to handing the league-worst Moose (18-34-4-5) their fourth consecutive loss.

Todd Nelson, whose squad set a Griffins record earlier this season with a 15-game winning streak, became the first head coach in team history to author two winning streaks of at least nine games at any point during his tenure. Grand Rapids (37-20-1-1) will look to make it 10 in a row on Saturday in a 7 p.m. rematch with the Moose.

The Griffins, who had not played host to Manitoba since the Moose’s previous iteration visited Van Andel Arena on Nov. 5, 2010, jumped ahead 3-0 before the game was 12 minutes old. Tangradi got things started during a power play at 2:10 when his centering pass from below the left goal line was blocked by sliding defenseman Peter Stoykewych, sending the puck fluttering inside the left post.

Moose goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who has logged 26 games with the parent Winnipeg Jets this season, was victimized soon after by a Manitoba turnover in the neutral zone. He made the initial save on Tangradi during the ensuing Griffins rush, but Andy Miele potted the rebound from the left side at the 7:13 mark.

Exactly four minutes later, Anthony Mantha capitalized on a beautiful, spinning setup by Miele, whipping a laser past Hellebuyck’s glove from the edge of the right circle.

The onslaught continued 21 seconds into the middle period, with Tangradi lifting a backhand into the top of the net off a slick centering feed from Mantha to make it 4-0. Tangradi then notched his fifth point of the night at 7:13, when Hellebuyck denied his deflection of an Xavier Ouellet shot from the point but was helpless to stop a completely uncovered Robbie Russo from converting the rebound.

The Moose broke Jared Coreau’s shutout bid with a pair of power play tallies early in the third, as Chase De Leo’s wrister from the left circle snuck through him at 5:07 before Dan DeSalvo popped home a rebound at the right post at 7:16.

But the Griffins responded with goals from Nick Jensen at 13:46 and Tyler Bertuzzi on the power play at 18:46 to quash any hopes the visitors had of a dramatic comeback. Miele and Russo earned assists on those respective goals to cap off four-point nights.

Coreau made 20 saves to log his 28th win of the campaign and move past Jimmy Howard (27 in 2005-06) into sole possession of sixth place on the Griffins’ single-season wins list. Hellebuyck went the distance for Manitoba and finished with 28 stops.

Notes: Miele was the last Griffin to record five points at home (1-4—5 on Dec. 19, 2014 vs. Toronto)…The only other two more prolific scoring performances in the franchise’s 20-year history came at Chicago’s Allstate Arena, by Tomas Tatar (2-5—7 on Nov. 27, 2010) and Kip Miller (2-4—6 on Jan. 10, 2002).

Three Stars: 1. GR Tangradi (two goals, three assists); 2. GR Miele (goal, three assists); 3.GR Russo (goal, three assists)