DES MOINES, Iowa -- With a 5-2 victory over the Iowa Wild at the Casey’s Center on Wednesday, the Grand Rapids Griffins reached 50 wins in the fewest games in the team’s 30-year history (2005-06, 71 games) and their 26 road victories tied the most in franchise history (2002-03).

The Griffins’ 50 wins are the most since 2005-06, and their 105 points and .750 points percentage clinched the best record in franchise history (2005-06, .719). Tyler Angle tallied a goal and his 20th assist, and Amadeus Lombardi potted his 15th tally and a helper. Ondrej Becher notched the game-winner for his ninth of the season, and Michal Postava’s 24-save performance improved his record to 16-6-0. Former Michigan Wolverine Kienan Draper and the University of North Dakota’s Dylan James made their AHL debuts. 

Grand Rapids lit the lamp 86 seconds into the first period when Lombardi sent a wrister from the far point through traffic to claim a 1-0 advantage. Angle gave the Griffins a two-goal edge when he picked up a loose puck along the near boards, carried it down low and stuffed it past Cal Petersen’s right skate at the 14:02 mark. Just 27 seconds later, Becher walked into the slot and fired one past the right post. While on the power play, Wojciech Stachowiak popped in a one-timer from the right hashes to take a 4-0 lead with 2:28 remaining.

While on a 2-on-1 and shorthanded in the second slate, Alex Doucet fed the puck across the zone to James at the top of the right circle, and he snapped it at Petersen, who gloved the Griffins’ best chance at 8:22. The Wild tallied one with 9:46 on the clock when Oskar Olausson potted it inside the left post. Iowa cut its deficit to two with 85 seconds to play when Caedan Bankier centered one from the goal line to David Spacek, who banked it past Postava’s glove side. 

At 3:28 in the final slate, Eduards Tralmaks received a pass in the right circle from Erik Gustafsson at the far point, and he slapped a point-blank attempt at Petersen, but failed to convert. With 1:20 left, Iowa pulled its netminder for an extra attacker and Alex Kannok Leipert notched the empty-netter with eight seconds to go, leading to the Griffins’ 5-2 win.

Notes

• The Griffins finished the season series against the Wild with a 7-1-0-0 record, and went 4-0-0-0 on the road.
• Grand Rapids improved to 23-0 when leading after the first period, and 34-0 when ahead after two frames. 

Box Score

Grand Rapids 4 0 1 - 5

Iowa 0 2 0 - 2

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Lombardi 15 (Buium, Angle), 1:26. 2, Grand Rapids, Angle 6 (Lombardi), 14:02. 3, Grand Rapids, Becher 9 (Tralmaks), 14:29. 4, Grand Rapids, Stachowiak 13 (Genborg, Johansson), 17:32 (PP). Penalties-Heidt Ia (tripping), 6:31; Sandelin Ia (slashing), 16:22; Lambos Ia (interference), 18:51.

2nd Period-5, Iowa, Olausson 11 (Marek, Sandelin), 10:14. 6, Iowa, Špaček 7 (Bankier), 18:35. Penalties-Genborg Gr (holding), 7:29; Schmidt Ia (double minor - high-sticking), 11:31.

3rd Period-7, Grand Rapids, Kannok Leipert 2   19:52 (EN). Penalties-Stachowiak Gr (tripping), 3:32; Gustafsson Gr (hooking), 10:31; Lorenz Ia (hooking), 15:56.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 11-6-11-28. Iowa 7-13-6-26.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 6; Iowa 0 / 3.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Postava 16-6-0 (26 shots-24 saves). Iowa, Petersen 13-16-2 (27 shots-23 saves).

A-3,680

Three Stars

1. GR Lombardi (goal, assist) 2. GR Angle (goal, assist) 3. GR Becher (game-winner)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 50-15-4-1 (105 pts.) / Fri., April 17 at Milwaukee 8 p.m. EDT

Iowa: 26-35-6-3 (61 pts.) / Fri., April 17 vs. Manitoba 7 p.m. CDT

Photo by Iowa Wild