TWICE IS NICE

San Antonio Rampage 2 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 4

Feb. 14, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Jeff Hoggan and Andy Miele each scored a pair of goals on Saturday to power the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 4-2 victory over the San Antonio Rampage at Van Andel Arena.

Grand Rapids has now earned points in five straight games (3-0-2-0) and nine of its last 10 outings (7-1-2-0). San Antonio had won six straight meetings with the Griffins, including two in overtime and two via the shootout, since Grand Rapids’ last series win on Feb. 24, 2013.

The Griffins (26-17-5-1) will look to continue their point streak on Sunday when they pay a 5 p.m. EST visit to the Chicago Wolves, with whom they are tied for third place in the Midwest Division and sixth place in the Western Conference. They’ll then return home on Wednesday to begin a stretch of three games in four nights at Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins’ captain scored the lone goal of the opening period during a power play at 13:56, as Hoggan set up in front of the San Antonio net to bang his own rebound past Michael Houser while getting leveled from behind by Garrett Wilson.

The Rampage (28-17-4-0) tied the score 1:17 into the second, finishing off a shift in which they forced several turnovers while keeping the puck in the Griffins’ zone for the better part of a minute. Mark Mancari skated the puck from the top of the left circle across to the right side before unleashing a shot that seemed destined for the far corner of the net, but Connor Brickley flashed through the goal mouth to deflect it past Jared Coreau.

Brickley again lit the lamp with help from Mancari just 3:06 later, finding a loose puck below the left circle and putting home a backhand for his 16th goal of the campaign.

Miele made it a 2-2 contest at the 7:39 mark by converting a give-and-go with Marek Tvrdon, who threaded his return feed through two defenders to Miele in the right circle for the equalizer.

Hoggan, who spent two seasons with the Rampage from 2008-10, put the Griffins ahead with just 45 seconds left in the middle frame, matching Brickley’s output by lifting Chris Bruton’s centering pass into the top of the net from close range. It marked his first two-goal game since Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against Abbotsford on May 2, 2014, and his first two-goal regular season game since Dec. 20, 2013 versus Rockford.

Less than eight minutes into the third period, the Griffins momentarily thought they had taken a two-goal lead when Xavier Ouellet’s blast from the right point was redirected into the net by Landon Ferraro, but referee Jake Brenk immediately waved off the goal, ruling that the puck was deflected with a high stick.

Grand Rapids would still get the last laugh, however, as a blocked shot by Andreas Athanasiou in the final seconds led to a Miele empty-netter with 11 seconds remaining, sealing the win for the Griffins.

Coreau ran his winning streak to five games by making 24 saves, in the process lowering his goals against average to 2.17 and pushing him into the top 10 in the AHL in that category. Houser turned away 32 shots in the loss.

After the game, the Griffins announced that left wing Mitch Callahan, who ranks third on the team in scoring with 38 points (16-22—38) in 48 games, is expected to miss the rest of the season with a right ACL tear suffered in Friday’s overtime loss to the Rampage.

Three Stars: 1. GR Hoggan (two goals); 2. SA Brickley (two goals); 3. GR Miele (two goals)

San Antonio Rampage 2 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 4

Feb. 14, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Jeff Hoggan and Andy Miele each scored a pair of goals on Saturday to power the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 4-2 victory over the San Antonio Rampage at Van Andel Arena.

Grand Rapids has now earned points in five straight games (3-0-2-0) and nine of its last 10 outings (7-1-2-0). San Antonio had won six straight meetings with the Griffins, including two in overtime and two via the shootout, since Grand Rapids’ last series win on Feb. 24, 2013.

The Griffins (26-17-5-1) will look to continue their point streak on Sunday when they pay a 5 p.m. EST visit to the Chicago Wolves, with whom they are tied for third place in the Midwest Division and sixth place in the Western Conference. They’ll then return home on Wednesday to begin a stretch of three games in four nights at Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins’ captain scored the lone goal of the opening period during a power play at 13:56, as Hoggan set up in front of the San Antonio net to bang his own rebound past Michael Houser while getting leveled from behind by Garrett Wilson.

The Rampage (28-17-4-0) tied the score 1:17 into the second, finishing off a shift in which they forced several turnovers while keeping the puck in the Griffins’ zone for the better part of a minute. Mark Mancari skated the puck from the top of the left circle across to the right side before unleashing a shot that seemed destined for the far corner of the net, but Connor Brickley flashed through the goal mouth to deflect it past Jared Coreau.

Brickley again lit the lamp with help from Mancari just 3:06 later, finding a loose puck below the left circle and putting home a backhand for his 16th goal of the campaign.

Miele made it a 2-2 contest at the 7:39 mark by converting a give-and-go with Marek Tvrdon, who threaded his return feed through two defenders to Miele in the right circle for the equalizer.

Hoggan, who spent two seasons with the Rampage from 2008-10, put the Griffins ahead with just 45 seconds left in the middle frame, matching Brickley’s output by lifting Chris Bruton’s centering pass into the top of the net from close range. It marked his first two-goal game since Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against Abbotsford on May 2, 2014, and his first two-goal regular season game since Dec. 20, 2013 versus Rockford.

Less than eight minutes into the third period, the Griffins momentarily thought they had taken a two-goal lead when Xavier Ouellet’s blast from the right point was redirected into the net by Landon Ferraro, but referee Jake Brenk immediately waved off the goal, ruling that the puck was deflected with a high stick.

Grand Rapids would still get the last laugh, however, as a blocked shot by Andreas Athanasiou in the final seconds led to a Miele empty-netter with 11 seconds remaining, sealing the win for the Griffins.

Coreau ran his winning streak to five games by making 24 saves, in the process lowering his goals against average to 2.17 and pushing him into the top 10 in the AHL in that category. Houser turned away 32 shots in the loss.

After the game, the Griffins announced that left wing Mitch Callahan, who ranks third on the team in scoring with 38 points (16-22—38) in 48 games, is expected to miss the rest of the season with a right ACL tear suffered in Friday’s overtime loss to the Rampage.

Three Stars: 1. GR Hoggan (two goals); 2. SA Brickley (two goals); 3. GR Miele (two goals)