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BARONS BEST GRIFFINS

Mar 24, 2012
GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 2 at Oklahoma City Barons 5

March 24, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY –
The Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Barons proved too much to handle on Saturday night, skating to a 5-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins at the Cox Convention Center.

Oklahoma City (41-17-4-5) opened the scoring at 10:17 of the opening frame when Mark Arcobello tipped a Taylor Chorney shot past Tom McCollum. The Barons doubled their lead at 17:59 when Triston Grant lofted a shot through traffic that McCollum never saw for his 11th goal of the season.

It took just 41 seconds into the second period for the Griffins (29-26-6-4) to cut into the Barons’ lead. Doug Janik recorded his eighth goal of the season when he collected a pass from Tomas Tatar and beat Oklahoma City goaltender Yann Danis up high with a shot.

But the Barons restored their two-goal lead when they found themselves with numbers heading into the Grand Rapids zone. Josh Green centered a pass to Magnus Paajarvi, who chipped it over McCollum for his fifth goal of the season at 3:18.

With a five-on-three man advantage, the Griffins struck to make the score 3-2. Jamie Johnson tallied his 20th goal of the season after a nice passing play, with Johnson ultimately slamming home a feed from Chris Conner at 8:31 of the middle frame.

Philippe Cornet gave the Barons a 4-2 advantage at the 18:11 mark of the second period. Cornet notched his 24th goal of the season by tipping a shot from Bryan Helmer past McCollum.

The Griffins generated several good chances in the closing moments of the second, but Danis was up to the challenge. Danis made several key stops before the second intermission, contributing to his 31 saves on the night.

The Barons went up 5-2 just 1:24 into the third period, as Green recorded his third point on the night with his 15th goal of the season.

The two teams will square off in Oklahoma City again tomorrow at 5 p.m. EDT.

Three Stars: 1. OKC Green (goal, two assists); 2. OKC Rodney (three assists); 3. OKC Danis (W, 31 saves)

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