April 22, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - In the final home game of the regular season, the Grand Rapids Griffins fell to the Chicago Wolves 4-2 on Friday at Van Andel Arena. This was the second straight sellout crowd of 10,834 and the third of the campaign.

The Griffins put in a valiant effort against the Central-Division champions despite a severely depleted roster. Head coach Ben Simon and defenseman Jared McIsaac were not at the arena due to COVID-19 protocols, Chase Pearson and Seth Barton left the game early, leaving Grand Rapids short two skaters for much of the night, and several other players battled through a flu bug.

To extend their franchise-record playoff streak to eight seasons, the Griffins will need to win each of their final three games, have Iowa beat Texas on Saturday before losing its final two games against Rockford in regulation, and also have Texas lose its final game at Manitoba. The Stars would have to earn no more than one point in those two losses.

After tallying a two-point outing, Riley Barber has now recorded points in 14 straight games (12-7—19), which is the longest streak in the AHL this season. Jonatan Berggren’s outstanding rookie season continued in the outing, as he pushed his point streak to eight games (5-7—12). With 58 points (20-38—58), Berggren has now tied Gustav Nyquist (2011-12) for second on the Griffins rookie-scoring list. The Swede’s 20 goals also tie him with Evgeny Svechnikov (2016-17) and Glen Metropolit (1997-98) for the eighth-most by a Griffins rookie.

After a scoreless opening frame, Chicago tallied the game’s first goal at 2:39 in the second. Chris Bigras gathered a rebound after Josh Leivo’s attempt and sent the puck past the glove of Kaden Fulcher. Fulcher made just his third appearance for the Griffins this season and made a season-high 30 saves.

Grand Rapids tied the contest when Berggren fired a wrister toward the net from the left circle and a Chicago defender deflected the puck into the right corner with 14:45 remaining in the second.

At 6:25, the Wolves regained their lead when Andrew Poturalski skated down the left wing and sniped a shot inside the right post. Poturalski has notched points in all 10 contests against Grand Rapids this season (8-13—21).

With 10:49 remaining in the middle frame, Richard Panik from the left post sent the disc past Fulcher’s stick, giving Chicago a 3-1 advantage.

On a 4-on-4 at 5:26 in the third, Berggren stole the puck from Chicago and connected with Barber at the left circle. The seventh-year pro then fired a shot over the blocker of Jack LaFontaine, cutting the deficit to one.

Chicago grew its lead to two when Noel Gunler got to a loose disc behind the net and punched it past Fulcher at the right post with 9:20 remaining in the contest.

The Griffins took Fulcher off the ice for one-last offensive push but were unsuccessful, as Chicago came away with a 4-2 victory.

Notes

• Grand Rapids failed to catch a home victory against the Wolves this season, losing all six meetings (0-5-1-0).
• The Griffins’ average crowd of 7,028 ranks second in the AHL, which marked Grand Rapids’ 13^th straight season of averaging 7,000-plus (excluding the 2020-21 COVID season).
• Local goaltender David DeSander was signed by the Griffins as an emergency backup netminder just prior to the game, as Victor Brattstrom was unable to play.

Box Score
Chicago 0 3 1 - 4
Grand Rapids 0 1 1 - 2

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-served by Cotton Chi (bench minor - too many men), 2:10; Leivo Chi (high-sticking), 7:33; Noesen Chi (elbowing, misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:46.

2nd Period-1, Chicago, Bigras 5 (Leivo, Gunler), 2:39. 2, Grand Rapids, Berggren 20 (Barber, Ghafari), 5:15. 3, Chicago, Poturalski 26 (Chatfield, Panik), 6:25. 4, Chicago, Panik 9 (Leivo, Poturalski), 9:11. Penalties-Lashoff Gr (slashing), 2:56; Mattheos Chi (slashing), 17:40.

3rd Period-5, Grand Rapids, Barber 22 (Berggren), 5:26. 6, Chicago, Gunler 2 (Leivo, Drury), 10:40. Penalties-Sellgren Chi (slashing), 4:17; Criscuolo Gr (high-sticking), 4:17.

Shots on Goal-Chicago 8-14-12-34. Grand Rapids 9-9-11-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Chicago 0 / 1; Grand Rapids 0 / 4.
Goalies-Chicago, LaFontaine 3-3-4 (29 shots-27 saves). Grand Rapids, Fulcher 1-2-0 (34 shots-30 saves).
A-10,834

Three Stars
1. CHI Leivo (three assists); 2. CHI Panik (game-winning goal, assist); 3. GR Barber (goal, assist)

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 32-33-6-2 (72 pts.) / Sun., April 24 at Chicago 4 p.m. EDT
Chicago: 47-15-5-5 (104 pts.) / Sat., April 23 vs. Milwaukee 7 p.m. CDT

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins