GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 6 at Lake Erie Monsters 4

April 16, 2015

CLEVELAND — In his 11th game this year, Alden Hirschfeld scored his first goal of the season at 13:58 and it stood up to be the game-winning tally as the Grand Rapids Griffins earned two important points in the standings in defeating the Lake Erie Monsters 6-4 Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The winning tally came when Jeff Hoggan chased down the puck in the attacking zone and found Hirschfeld inside the slot where he slapped the puck in the net past Calvin Pickard to go ahead 5-4.

With 74 games played, Grand Rapids (45-21-6-2) reclaimed the Midwest Division lead over Rockford. They also jumped from fourth to second in the Western Conference, leaping over San Antonio in the process. The Griffins will have the opportunity to win the Midwest Division with wins over Charlotte this weekend. The first game of a two-game set will take place tomorrow at Van Andel Arena with puck drop set for 7 p.m.

Against the Monsters, the Griffins had to overcome blown leads of two-goals on two separate occasions. Tomas Nosek and Marek Tvrdon scored in the opening period to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Nosek’s 11th goal of the campaign came 1:14 of the first period when he slid the puck between Mat Clark’s legs before skating around him and put a backhander by Pickard.

Tvrdon’s 10th goal came when he snuck past the defense and tipped a pass from Louis-Marc Aubry on the far side at 18:15. Lake Erie got on the scoreboard 22 seconds later when Freddie Hamilton received a drop pass from Chris Bigras and put a shot inside the left post past Tom McCollum.

The Monsters (33-29-8-4) tied the game at two apiece at 12:58 when a bad line change by the Griffins caused Joey Hishon to have an open break on McCollum and Hishon scored when he backhanded the puck past McCollum’s glove.

Hirschfeld wasn’t the only Griffin to score his first goal of the season tonight, as Tyler Bertuzzi scored in his professional debut at 17:05 of the second period. Bertuzzi took a pass from Scott Czarnowczan and fired a shot that went in after it deflected off Pickard’s glove.

The Griffins went ahead 4-2 at 18:33 when Nosek shook off a defender and slid a one-handed pass across the crease to Kevin Porter and Porter poked the puck in the net past a sliding Pickard for his 14th goal of the season.

Lake Erie wouldn’t go down without a fight as they scored twice before Hirschfeld’s winning goal. Tomas Vincour scored 28 seconds into the third period when his shot went past McCollum inside the right post. The tying goal came at 10:52 when Andrew Agozzino trailed a rush with Ben Street and Agozzino chipped a pass from Street over McCollum’s glove under the crossbar.

Lake Erie pulled Pickard for an extra attacker in the final minutes but couldn’t tie the game. After the Griffins iced the puck multiple times trying to clear the puck, Mark Zengerle scored the last goal of the night with his empty netter as he raced to the puck before crossing the goal line and scored from a tight angle with 35 seconds left.

McCollum made 26 saves and earned his 19th win of the season. Pickard turned away 24 of 29 shots in the loss.

Three Stars: 1. GR Hirschfeld (game-winning goal); 2. LE Hishon (goal); 3. LE Hamilton (goal, assist)

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 6 at Lake Erie Monsters 4

April 16, 2015

CLEVELAND — In his 11th game this year, Alden Hirschfeld scored his first goal of the season at 13:58 and it stood up to be the game-winning tally as the Grand Rapids Griffins earned two important points in the standings in defeating the Lake Erie Monsters 6-4 Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The winning tally came when Jeff Hoggan chased down the puck in the attacking zone and found Hirschfeld inside the slot where he slapped the puck in the net past Calvin Pickard to go ahead 5-4.

With 74 games played, Grand Rapids (45-21-6-2) reclaimed the Midwest Division lead over Rockford. They also jumped from fourth to second in the Western Conference, leaping over San Antonio in the process. The Griffins will have the opportunity to win the Midwest Division with wins over Charlotte this weekend. The first game of a two-game set will take place tomorrow at Van Andel Arena with puck drop set for 7 p.m.

Against the Monsters, the Griffins had to overcome blown leads of two-goals on two separate occasions. Tomas Nosek and Marek Tvrdon scored in the opening period to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Nosek’s 11th goal of the campaign came 1:14 of the first period when he slid the puck between Mat Clark’s legs before skating around him and put a backhander by Pickard.

Tvrdon’s 10th goal came when he snuck past the defense and tipped a pass from Louis-Marc Aubry on the far side at 18:15. Lake Erie got on the scoreboard 22 seconds later when Freddie Hamilton received a drop pass from Chris Bigras and put a shot inside the left post past Tom McCollum.

The Monsters (33-29-8-4) tied the game at two apiece at 12:58 when a bad line change by the Griffins caused Joey Hishon to have an open break on McCollum and Hishon scored when he backhanded the puck past McCollum’s glove.

Hirschfeld wasn’t the only Griffin to score his first goal of the season tonight, as Tyler Bertuzzi scored in his professional debut at 17:05 of the second period. Bertuzzi took a pass from Scott Czarnowczan and fired a shot that went in after it deflected off Pickard’s glove.

The Griffins went ahead 4-2 at 18:33 when Nosek shook off a defender and slid a one-handed pass across the crease to Kevin Porter and Porter poked the puck in the net past a sliding Pickard for his 14th goal of the season.

Lake Erie wouldn’t go down without a fight as they scored twice before Hirschfeld’s winning goal. Tomas Vincour scored 28 seconds into the third period when his shot went past McCollum inside the right post. The tying goal came at 10:52 when Andrew Agozzino trailed a rush with Ben Street and Agozzino chipped a pass from Street over McCollum’s glove under the crossbar.

Lake Erie pulled Pickard for an extra attacker in the final minutes but couldn’t tie the game. After the Griffins iced the puck multiple times trying to clear the puck, Mark Zengerle scored the last goal of the night with his empty netter as he raced to the puck before crossing the goal line and scored from a tight angle with 35 seconds left.

McCollum made 26 saves and earned his 19th win of the season. Pickard turned away 24 of 29 shots in the loss.

Three Stars: 1. GR Hirschfeld (game-winning goal); 2. LE Hishon (goal); 3. LE Hamilton (goal, assist)