Cleveland Monsters 4 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 5 SO

Nov. 9, 2016

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday defeated the AHL’s incumbent champions for the second time this season and the fourth time in five tries dating to last spring’s playoffs, taking a 5-4 shootout decision over the Cleveland Monsters at Van Andel Arena.

Martin Frk scored his first two goals since returning to the Detroit Red Wings organization to spearhead the Griffins’ comeback from a 3-1 deficit, and rookie Evgeny Svechnikov tallied in the fourth round of the shootout to help Grand Rapids improve its record to 6-4-0-0. Cleveland, meanwhile, is now winless in six straight contests (0-5-0-1) and has struggled to go 1-7-0-1 since beginning its Calder Cup defense with two straight victories.

Grand Rapids will look to make it two in a row on Friday when the Rockford IceHogs pay a 7 p.m. visit to Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins and Monsters traded goals just 20 seconds apart in the early going. A Ben Street shot attempt from the high slot deflected off a defender and onto the stick of Anthony Mantha, who jammed it past Anton Forsberg from just outside the right post at 4:21. Mantha’s eighth goal of the campaign tied St. John’s Charles Hudon for league primacy, but the Monsters quickly answered when Jordan Maletta snuck around the defense and sped in on Jared Coreau before lifting a backhand into the top of the net.

Cleveland claimed the lead at the 9:35 mark, as an unmarked Aaron Palushaj took a pass low in the left circle and slipped a backhand between Coreau’s blocker and the near post. The visitors’ onslaught continued with 3:39 remaining in the frame, with Jacob Graves netting his first pro goal from between the circles to make it 3-1.

Frk got one back for the Griffins before the period expired, ripping a shot past Forsberg from the left circle during a power play at 17:03 for his first goal in his third game back with Grand Rapids since being claimed by Detroit on waivers from Carolina.

After a first period in which the Griffins outshot the Monsters 18-12, the goaltenders enjoyed a respite during a scoreless second period that saw Grand Rapids hold an 8-7 edge in shots.

By the time the third period was four minutes old, the Griffins had scored twice in a 44-second span to seize a 4-3 advantage. A second power play blast by Frk from the same spot on the ice tied matters 3:02 in before Matt Lorito put the home team on top by potting a Kyle Criscuolo pass on the doorstep.

The Monsters battled back to once again forge a deadlock and ultimately send the game to overtime, as Oliver Bjorkstrand burst into the Griffins’ zone and fired a shot that trickled through Coreau at 6:32.

Grand Rapids’ netminder was a busy man during the first minute of the 3-on-3 extra session, denying four shots to keep the Griffins alive, while on the other end, Mitch Callahan nearly snuck a redirection past Forsberg and Tomas Nosek rang a shot off the left post. A slashing call on Nosek with 1:37 left resulted in the Monsters’ third power play of the night, but Coreau stopped a John Ramage slapper through traffic just before the buzzer sounded to force the Griffins’ first shootout of the season.

Mantha’s roof shot in round two was answered by Palushaj to start round four, and after Justin Scott clanged the right post on Cleveland’s fourth try, Svechnikov connected with a backhand to delight the Winning Wednesday crowd, earning every fan in attendance a free ticket to next Wednesday’s home game against the Texas Stars.

Coreau rebounded from that shaky first period to post 43 saves, including 20 during the third period and another seven in overtime. Forsberg nearly matched him stop for stop, finishing with 42.

Note: The Griffins had played 52 regular season games in succession without going to a shootout, dating to a 4-3 win over the Monsters on Jan. 9 at Van Andel Arena.

Three Stars: 1. GR Svechnikov (shootout-winning goal); 2. GR Frk (two power play goals); 3. CLE Graves (goal, assist)