Iowa Wild 1 at GRIFFINS 4

Nov. 4, 2016

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins stormed out to a 4-0 lead against the visiting Iowa Wild on Friday night and secured a 4-1 victory to spoil the return of former Griffins Jeff Hoggan and Teemu Pulkkinen to Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins (5-3-0-0) continued their dominance against the Wild (4-5-0-0) at the Van, notching their eighth straight home win against Iowa and winning for the 20th time in 24 overall meetings between the clubs. Grand Rapids is back in action at home on Saturday night to face the Chicago Wolves at 7 p.m.

Hoggan, who served as a four-year captain with the Griffins and helped the team win the 2013 Calder Cup, was playing in his first game at Van Andel Arena since Game 6 of last season’s Central Division Finals while Pulkkinen was appearing in his first AHL game since helping Grand Rapids advance to the 2015 Western Conference Finals.

Grand Rapids’ penalty kill was put to the test early and often in the opening frame as Ben Street skated to the box just 38 seconds into the contest. The Griffins were up to the task in the first period and throughout the entire game, fending off three minor infractions in the first 20 minutes and finishing the game a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill. On the power play, Grand Rapids was able to convert on 1-of-5 chances.

At the 4:51 mark, Grand Rapids lit up the scoreboard first. After Robbie Russo’s shot from the right point was deflected into the corner, Kyle Criscuolo won a foot race to the loose puck and steered it back to an open Evgeny Svechnikov waiting at the doorstep. Svechnikov beat Steve Michalek for his second professional goal, and his first at Van Andel Arena.

In between the three penalties in the first period, the Griffins occupied themselves in front of the net, firing away 16 shots, the most in a period this season.

After Iowa was whistled for interference 14 ticks into the second stanza, the Griffins nearly doubled their advantage with 18:13 showing on the clock but Michalek made an off-balance diving stop to deny attempts from Svechnikov and Criscuolo.

Grand Rapids would eventually make it a 2-0 game with 49 seconds left in the period. After Matt Lorito chased down the loose puck in the left corner, he brought it above the left circle and found an uncovered Russo at the right circle faceoff dot, who did the rest. Russo’s third marker of the season came just moments after checking Hoggan into the boards, which led the former teammates to exchange pleasantries.

The Griffins pushed the lead up to three just 3:13 into the final 20 minutes. After Nathan Paetsch’s shot from the left point was knocked down, Dominic Turgeon collected the puck and fired a low shot that Colin Campbell got a stick on and redirected past Michalek for his first tally of the season. Turgeon picked up his first professional point on the assist.

While on the man advantage, Lorito delivered Grand Rapids’ fourth goal of the night with 12:31 to go. After Joe Hicketts feigned a shot from high in the slot, he fed Lorito at the bottom of the right circle. Michalek initially deflected Lorito’s attempt, only to see it flutter to the back of the net.

Jared Coreau’s shutout bid was denied just 10 seconds after the Lorito goal as Alex Tuch put the Wild on the scoresheet. Coreau finished with 30 saves to notch his 50th AHL victory while Michalek turned aside 41-of-45 shots in a losing effort.

Notes: After the game, Detroit reassigned forward Zach Nastasiuk to Toledo…Martin Frk, who was assigned by Detroit on Tuesday after being claimed off waivers from Carolina, made his season debut with the Griffins on Friday.

Three Stars: 1. GR Lorito (goal, assist) 2. GR Russo (game-winning goal, assist) 3. GR Coreau (W, 30 saves)