Nov. 9, 2022

CLEVELAND - The Grand Rapids Griffins lost their second consecutive game with a 5-2 defeat to the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday and ended their season-high eight-game road trip with a 3-5-0-0 mark.

Steven Kampfer led the Griffins with his first tally of the season along with an assist on Donovan Sebrango’s opening goal. Taro Hirose notched his ninth assist of the year, moving him into a tie for seventh in the AHL. Victor Brattstrom recorded 17 saves and suffered his first loss of the campaign. The contest marked the Griffins’ 2000th regular-season game.

Defense defined the first twenty minutes of action with both teams being held to a combined 12 total shots. The Griffins were the first to strike at 18:10 of the first when Sebrango sent a one-timer from the blue line behind Daniil Tarasov for a 1-0 advantage.

Offenses found their rhythm in the middle frame, starting with Kampfer scoring his first goal of the season from the crease at 3:36. The alternate captain rifled in the puck after Pontus Andreasson slid a cross-ice pass from the left circle to Kampfer in front of the cage to make it 2-0.

The Monsters rallied to take the lead with a trio of goals in just under five minutes. Tyler Angle lit the lamp twice for Cleveland (8:07, 12:46) and Carson Meyer deflected Josh Dunne’s shot from the slot behind Brattstrom with 7:03 to go in the second stanza to hand Cleveland a 3-2 lead.

The Monsters tallied another goal at 10:25 of the third, as Owen Sillinger reentered the game from the penalty box and scored from between the circles to make it 4-2. After pulling Brattstrom with 1:34 to go and a Cleveland delay of game penalty four seconds later, Grand Rapids suddenly had a two-man advantage late. However, Cole Fonstad scored short-handed on an empty net with 32 seconds remaining to cap off a 5-2 win.

Notes
- The Griffins finished below 0.500 on a road trip of six or more games for the first time since 2008-09. During the seven such road trips in the interim, Grand Rapids compiled a 26-13-1-5 record (0.644).
- Grand Rapids were without two of their leading point scorers as Austin Czarnik (5-5–10) and Matt Luff (3-4–7) were out on recall with Detroit.
- Andreasson’s apple tonight gives him three in as many games after recording two in an overtime win against Iowa on Nov. 4.
- Coming into the contest, the Griffins had points in nine straight games overall against the Monsters (8-0-1-0). The defeat is also just the fourth regulation loss in Cleveland since the 2017-18 season.

Box Score
Grand Rapids 1 1 0 - 2
Cleveland 0 3 2 - 5

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Sebrango 3 (Hirose, Kampfer), 18:10. Penalties-Meyer Cle (cross-checking), 19:51.

2nd Period-2, Grand Rapids, Kampfer 1 (Andreasson), 3:36. 3, Cleveland, Angle 2 (Richards, Jiricek), 8:07. 4, Cleveland, Angle 3 (Richards), 12:46. 5, Cleveland, Meyer 4 (Dunne), 12:57. Penalties-Jiricek Cle (interference), 17:20; Barton Gr (interference), 17:49.

3rd Period-6, Cleveland, Sillinger 1 (Fonstad, Sweezey), 10:25. 7, Cleveland, Fonstad 2 (Bayreuther), 19:28 (SH). Penalties-Dunne Cle (high-sticking), 4:18; Sillinger Cle (tripping), 8:15; Shine Gr (charging), 16:06; Meyer Cle (delay of game), 18:30.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 8-15-9-32. Cleveland 4-9-9-22.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 5; Cleveland 0 / 2.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Brattstrom 2-1-0 (22 shots-17 saves). Cleveland, Tarasov 1-0-0 (32 shots-30 saves).

A-5,958

Three Stars
1. CLE Angle (two goals); 2. CLE Justin Richards (two assists); 3. CLE Tarasov (W, 30 saves).

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 5-6-0-0 (10 pts.) / Fri., Nov. 11 vs. Toronto 7 p.m.
Cleveland: 6-5-0-0 (12 pts.) / Fri., Nov. 11 at Rochester 7:05 p.m.

Photo by Cleveland Monsters