Nov. 26, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Griffins could not overcome the Manitoba Moose's power-play unit in a 4-1 loss on Saturday at Van Andel Arena.

Pontus Andreasson extended his point streak to four games with an assist on Joel L’Esperance’s goal in the second period. L’Esperance has lit the lamp in back-to-back games and is now Grand Rapids’ leading scorer with eight tallies. Before allowing a goal with 4:05 to go in the second period, the Griffins and Jussi Olkinuora had held Manitoba scoreless for 95:55 dating back to Friday’s matchup.

Defense reigned supreme in the first frame as the teams combined for only 13 shots in the opening 20 minutes. Tyler Spezia had a chance to take the lead at 10:10 after receiving a pass from Andreasson in the goalmouth, but Oskari Salminen reached out with his pads for the save. Olkinuora fended off four shots in the final 1:37, keeping the game tied heading into the second.

The Moose finally recorded a goal in the weekend series with a tally from Greg Meireles at 15:55. With 1:58 remaining in the middle stanza, Austin Czarnik made an acrobatic pass while falling down along the boards to L’Esperance in the slot on a power play. The Brighton, Mich., native skated into the crease and fired the puck into the bottom right of the cage to tie it at 1-1.

The Moose would run away with the game after Alex Limoges (4:53) and Declan Chisholm (10:06) scored two power-play goals in the third. After pulling Olkinuora with 1:48 left, Jeff Malott notched an empty netter 19 seconds later to leave Grand Rapids with a 4-1 win.

Notes
- Olkinuora had made 48 consecutive saves – including 45 against the Moose – dating back to the third period of Grand Rapids’ 6-5 win at San Diego on Nov. 18.
- The Griffins are 68-38-1-1-9 all-time against Manitoba after tonight’s loss.

Box Score
Manitoba 0 1 3 - 4
Grand Rapids 0 1 0 - 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Stenlund Mb (hooking), 9:50; Friend Mb (fighting), 12:19; Lacroix Gr (fighting), 12:19.

2nd Period-1, Manitoba, Meireles 2 (Boland, Chisholm), 15:55. 2, Grand Rapids, L’Esperance 8 (Czarnik, Andreasson), 18:02 (PP). Penalties-Johansson Gr (slashing), 3:25; Lucius Mb (boarding), 13:14; Andreasson Gr (slashing), 13:51; Bauer Mb (roughing), 16:04; Meireles Mb (roughing), 16:04; Lacroix Gr (roughing), 16:04; Stewart Mb (slashing), 18:02.

3rd Period-3, Manitoba, Limoges 5 (Malott, Stenlund), 4:53 (PP). 4, Manitoba, Chisholm 3 (Lucius, Limoges), 10:06 (PP). 5, Manitoba, Malott 7 (Stenlund), 18:31 (EN). Penalties-L’Esperance Gr (cross-checking), 4:31; L’Esperance Gr (holding), 9:20; Lashoff Gr (cross-checking), 9:54; Andreasson Gr (hooking), 16:01.

Shots on Goal-Manitoba 7-14-8-29. Grand Rapids 6-14-5-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Manitoba 2 / 6; Grand Rapids 1 / 4.
Goalies-Manitoba, Salminen 6-3-0 (25 shots-24 saves). Grand Rapids, Olkinuora 5-5-0 (28 shots-25 saves).
A-5,324

Three Stars
1. MB Limoges (goal, assist); 2. MB Chisholm (goal, assist); 3. MB Salminen (W, 24 saves).

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 8-9-1-0 (17 pts.) / Fri., Dec. 2 vs. Texas 7 p.m. EST
Manitoba: 9-5-2-0 (20 pts.) / Thu., Dec. 1 vs. Milwaukee 11 a.m. CST

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins