Oct. 15, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Courtesy of an Austin Czarnik hat trick, the Grand Rapids Griffins outpaced the San Diego Gulls in an 8-5 barnburner at Van Andel Arena on Saturday. Eight Griffins amassed two or more points, including two with three tallies.

All three of Czarnik’s goals came on special teams with two on the power play and one shorthanded. Simon Edvinsson (1-2–3) joined Czarnik with three points on the night.

Matt Luff began the eight-goal performance for Grand Rapids 1:16 into the initial period with his second goal of the season, as Steven Kampfer fired a shot into the chest of Lukas Dostal and Luff finished it on the left side of the net. Czarnik followed with the first of his hat trick just 25 seconds later with a power-play tally from the top of the right circle to make it 2-0. The Gulls responded at 3:24 with a deflection goal from Glenn Gawdin to cut the deficit in half.

Czarnik came back once again with 5:17 elapsed in the frame for his second score of the night, this time from the slot as Grand Rapids was shorthanded. Cross Hanas, in his second professional game, received a behind-the-back feed from Dominik Shine to extend the lead to 4-1 with 8:12 left to go in the period. Hanas’ first pro goal forced the Gulls to make a change with Olle Eriksson Ek replacing Dostal.

San Diego’s Brayden Tracey ended the six-goal stanza with a high-slot shot that sailed over the glove of Victor Brattstrom at 17:30.

Pucks continued to fly into the cage during the middle frame, starting with Joel L’Esperance’s second goal in as many nights. Taro Hirose and Luff combined to find L’Esperance for a tic-tac-toe tally just 4:14 in the period to increase the lead to three. Nikolas Brouillard answered on a power-play slapshot with 14:50 to go for his second goal of the season series.

Czarnik capped off his night during a man-advantage when he rifled a shot into the top right corner to make it 6-3, and Kirill Tyutyayev pushed the lead up to four at 12:39 with his first tally as a Griffin.

Having 1:41 to spare in the frame, Gawdin’s backhander on the power play brought the Gulls within three.

After Olli Juolevi scored 7:51 into the third period, the Gulls had a chance to make it a game on a 5-on-3 advantage with 6:04 remaining. The penalty kill proved too much for San Diego, as the Griffins fought off their opponent and Edvinsson notched his first goal in North America on an empty net at 17:20 to seal the deal at Van Andel Arena.

Czarnik carries significant momentum into Wednesday’s matchup against the Milwaukee Admirals with five points in just two games.

Notes

• Grand Rapids moved to 5-3-0-0 all time against San Diego.

• The weekend series between San Diego and Grand Rapids included 21 total goals.

• The Griffins’ eight goals tied for the fifth-highest scoring home game in franchise history.

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins