March 6, 2019

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Behind Chris Terry's career-high five-point night, the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday claimed their AHL-best 22nd home win and moved back into a tie for first place in the Central Division with a 5-2 victory over the Texas Stars at Van Andel Arena.

Grand Rapids, now even with Chicago at 73 points, had owned at least a share of the division lead since Jan. 18 until falling off its perch on March 1. The Griffins and Wolves sit one point ahead of third-place Iowa.

Terry factored in every tally with two goals and three assists to notch the Griffins’ first five-point game in nearly three years, while Patrik Rybar was solid throughout and stellar at times between the pipes, finishing with 28 saves.

The Griffins, 32-17-5-4 overall and 22-5-2-3 within friendly confines, will host their eighth annual Purple Community Game on Friday. Game time against the Iowa Wild is 7 p.m.

After being outshot 7-1 over the game’s first seven-plus minutes, the Griffins nearly struck first during a power play nine minutes in. From atop the right circle, Carter Camper threaded a backdoor pass to Wade Megan for a redirection, but Philippe Desrosiers slid across to deny both the initial try and Megan’s follow-up attempt.

Minutes later, two quick penalties on the Stars gave the Griffins 1:53 of a 5-on-3 power play, and they capitalized with 18 seconds remaining in the two-man advantage. Off a Megan feed, Terry’s shot from the left hashmarks nicked off Desrosiers but slid just inside the right post at the 12:54 mark, giving Terry his 25th goal of the campaign and his first since Jan. 31 at Texas.

The Stars answered 59 seconds before intermission. Rybar made a stop on Michael Mersch’s shot from the right side, but Justin Dowling pounced on the rebound below the left circle and scooped a backhand into a yawning net. Texas then went ahead 2-1 early in the second period, as Mersch planted himself in the slot to deflect Dillon Heatherington’s blast from the left point past Rybar at 3:41.

Grand Rapids’ power play again paid dividends just over five minutes later to make it a 2-2 contest. Terry sent a pass from the left circle across to Martin Frk, who whipped a shot past Desrosiers at 8:54 for his second goal since rejoining the Griffins in mid-February.

Camper reclaimed the lead for the Griffins exactly five minutes into the third, extending his point streak to a season-high six games with the first of Grand Rapids’ three unanswered goals during the period. Taking a pass from Terry in the neutral zone, he skated into the Texas end with speed and maneuvered into the right circle, getting Desrosiers to overcommit before slipping a shot inside the far post.

Christoffer Ehn provided insurance by chipping a backhand past Desrosiers with 2:24 remaining, before Terry closed out both the scoring and his prolific performance with an empty-netter at 19:40.

The Griffins’ special teams were spectacular, killing off all six Texas power plays while capitalizing on two of their six chances against the Stars and Desrosiers, who stopped 19 of 23 on the night.

Texas (28-25-4-3) remains in a tie with Rockford for the fourth and final playoff position in the Central Division.

Notes: Eric Tangradi recorded the Griffins’ last five-point game, a two-goal, three-assist effort on March 11, 2016 against Manitoba…Terry had registered four points in a game on five prior occasions, all in the AHL and most recently for Laval on Dec. 20, 2017 versus Syracuse.

Three Stars: 1. GR Terry (two goals, three assists); 2. GR Rybar (W, 28 saves); 3. GR Camper (game-winning goal)

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins