THE STREAK COMES TO AN END

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3 at Lake Erie Monsters 4

March 21, 2015

CLEVELAND - A thorn in the side of the Grand Rapids Griffins throughout the season, Sami Aittokallio and the Lake Erie Monsters handed the Griffins their first regulation loss since January 31 with a 4-3 win Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The loss snapped a record 19-game point streak. Despite the loss, the Griffins have a one point lead over Utica in the Western Conference and a five point lead in the Midwest Division over Rockford. They return to Van Andel Arena Sunday afternoon when the Adirondack Flames pays its only visit of the season at 4 p.m.

The Monsters were led by Tomas Vincour, as his second goal of the night proved to be the game winner at 8:31 of the second period. Trevor Cheek was against the boards and centered the puck towards Griffins goalie Jared Coreau. Vincour got by Andreas Athanasiou and tipped Cheek’s pass into the net.

The home team scored early in the first period at 1:58 following a bench minor penalty for too many men when Stefan Elliott fired a wrister inside the far left post as Reid Petryk screened Coreau.

Grand Rapids (38-18-6-2) evened the score 2:10 after Elliott’s goal on the power play when Marek Tvrdon scored his eighth goal of the season when he converted the rebound following a slap shot from Xavier Ouellet.

The Griffins took the lead for the first time of the night at 10:31 as Landon Ferraro fired the puck at Aittokallio and Ryan Sproul snuck the rebound between Aittokallio’s stick and the right post at 10:31.

Vincour’s first goal of the night came just as the first period ended when Sproul’s attempt to clear the puck went to Vincour’s stick and he fired a wrister below the left crossbar with .9 seconds left in the period.

The Griffins reclaimed the lead 1:46 into the second period when Tomas Nosek scored a shorthanded goal. He stole the puck from Elliott, streaked down the left wing and put a backhander past Aittokallio as he was sliding right to left.

Soon following Nosek’s goal, Lake Erie tied the game 3-3 when Kenny Ryan and Troy Bourke had a two-on-one rush toward Coreau. Coreau made the initial save from Ryan, but Bourke scored on the rebound at 3:26.

Following Vincour’s go-ahead goal, the Monsters and Griffins kept each other off the scoreboard over the last 31:39. The third period saw each team with a power play, but they were successfully killed.

The Griffins pulled Coreau for an extra attacker in the final minutes but Aittokallio kept the puck out of the net. Grand Rapids had its best chance to tie with 15 seconds left when Ferraro saw Miele on the doorstep but a Monsters defender stopped the pass and Aittokallio covered the puck.

The Monsters (28-25-6-4) entered tonight’s contest 23rd in scoring in the AHL with an average of 2.63 goals per game. Following tonight’s win, they have averaged 3.44 goals per game in nine games against the Griffins.

Aittokallio improved his record against Grand Rapids this season to 4-1-0-0 with his 34 save performance. Coreau snapped a seven-game winning streak, making 31 saves.

Three Stars: 1. LE Vincour (two goals); 2. LE Aittokallio (W, 34 saves); 3. LE Bourke (goal).

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3 at Lake Erie Monsters 4

March 21, 2015

CLEVELAND - A thorn in the side of the Grand Rapids Griffins throughout the season, Sami Aittokallio and the Lake Erie Monsters handed the Griffins their first regulation loss since January 31 with a 4-3 win Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The loss snapped a record 19-game point streak. Despite the loss, the Griffins have a one point lead over Utica in the Western Conference and a five point lead in the Midwest Division over Rockford. They return to Van Andel Arena Sunday afternoon when the Adirondack Flames pays its only visit of the season at 4 p.m.

The Monsters were led by Tomas Vincour, as his second goal of the night proved to be the game winner at 8:31 of the second period. Trevor Cheek was against the boards and centered the puck towards Griffins goalie Jared Coreau. Vincour got by Andreas Athanasiou and tipped Cheek’s pass into the net.

The home team scored early in the first period at 1:58 following a bench minor penalty for too many men when Stefan Elliott fired a wrister inside the far left post as Reid Petryk screened Coreau.

Grand Rapids (38-18-6-2) evened the score 2:10 after Elliott’s goal on the power play when Marek Tvrdon scored his eighth goal of the season when he converted the rebound following a slap shot from Xavier Ouellet.

The Griffins took the lead for the first time of the night at 10:31 as Landon Ferraro fired the puck at Aittokallio and Ryan Sproul snuck the rebound between Aittokallio’s stick and the right post at 10:31.

Vincour’s first goal of the night came just as the first period ended when Sproul’s attempt to clear the puck went to Vincour’s stick and he fired a wrister below the left crossbar with .9 seconds left in the period.

The Griffins reclaimed the lead 1:46 into the second period when Tomas Nosek scored a shorthanded goal. He stole the puck from Elliott, streaked down the left wing and put a backhander past Aittokallio as he was sliding right to left.

Soon following Nosek’s goal, Lake Erie tied the game 3-3 when Kenny Ryan and Troy Bourke had a two-on-one rush toward Coreau. Coreau made the initial save from Ryan, but Bourke scored on the rebound at 3:26.

Following Vincour’s go-ahead goal, the Monsters and Griffins kept each other off the scoreboard over the last 31:39. The third period saw each team with a power play, but they were successfully killed.

The Griffins pulled Coreau for an extra attacker in the final minutes but Aittokallio kept the puck out of the net. Grand Rapids had its best chance to tie with 15 seconds left when Ferraro saw Miele on the doorstep but a Monsters defender stopped the pass and Aittokallio covered the puck.

The Monsters (28-25-6-4) entered tonight’s contest 23rd in scoring in the AHL with an average of 2.63 goals per game. Following tonight’s win, they have averaged 3.44 goals per game in nine games against the Griffins.

Aittokallio improved his record against Grand Rapids this season to 4-1-0-0 with his 34 save performance. Coreau snapped a seven-game winning streak, making 31 saves.

Three Stars: 1. LE Vincour (two goals); 2. LE Aittokallio (W, 34 saves); 3. LE Bourke (goal).