SNOWED UNDER

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. A short road trip became a tundra quest for the Grand Rapids Griffins on their way to the Bradley Center, and their visit proved to be just as treacherous in a 5-2 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals Friday night.

The wrath of a winter storm front doubled the bus voyage from Grand Rapids from four to eight hours on Thursday, before the Admirals delivered a blizzard of their own in the form of three first-period goals. Milwaukee was aided by a whopping 13 power plays on the night.

Defenseman Chris Durno pick-pocketed the Griffins defense to throw a pass from the left corner right in front, hitting Brandon Segal in stride with speed in the slot. Segal fired a dart past the glove of Drew MacIntyre for a 1-0 lead at 5:03.

Just after Brad Bonello had returned from the penalty box to end a 5-on-3 for Milwaukee, Rich Peverly made good on the remaining power play time to push the Admirals advantage to 2-0. A delayed penalty on a subsequent power play provided enough opportunity for Milwaukee to victimize MacIntyre yet again, as Darren Haydar lit the lamp to extend the margin to 3-0 and chase MacIntyre at 13:56 of the first.

Grand Rapids began to fight back with 12:21 remaining in the second, as Eric Manlow broke in from the blue line down the left side. Ryan Keller took a crisp pass between the circles and punched home his first AHL goal to make the score 3-1.

Milwaukee answered immediately on Haydars second goal of the night and tenth of the season for a 4-1 edge at 9:53.

In the third period, the Admirals put the game out of reach on another 5-on-3 chance as Shea Weber ripped a shot past Joey MacDonald with 16:47 remaining. Libor Pivko notched his third assist of the night on the goal.

A short-handed tally by Valtteri Filppula off of his own rebound cut the lead to 5-2 at 13:49. It was the Finland natives 11th goal of the season, tied for second on the club with Donald MacLean behind current Red Wing Jiri Hudler.

The Griffins travel back across Lake Michigan for a Saturday night home tilt against the Cleveland Barons, a North Division rival against whom Grand Rapids is a perfect 3-0-0-0 so far this season.