Milwaukee Admirals 4 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 0

Jan. 31, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins’ second three-in-three of the season, coupled with an illness-plagued roster, contributed to a 4-0 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday at Van Andel Arena.

Coming off shutout victories in Iowa on Thursday and Milwaukee on Friday, the Griffins found themselves on the other end of a whitewash this time, a result that wasn’t helped by the absence of the AHL’s leading scorer, Teemu Pulkkinen, as well as Tomas Nosek and Louis-Marc Aubry, all of whom fell ill on the bus ride back from Wisconsin last night.

The Griffins (23-17-3-1), whose four-game winning streak was snapped one night after they ended the Admirals’ nine-game tear, will play a rare road matinee on Wednesday when they visit the Toronto Marlies at 11 a.m.

Milwaukee (25-13-2-3) struck first with a power play goal just 1:24 into the contest. After winning a faceoff in the left circle, Colton Sissons skated across the top of the crease to redirect Taylor Aronson’s wrister from the point past Jonas Gustavsson, who made his first Griffins appearance this season after being assigned by the Detroit Red Wings for conditioning earlier today.

Grand Rapids, which Jared Coreau backstopped to its road shutouts the last two nights, had its team shutout streak snapped at 141:56. The franchise record of 184:07 was set from March 1-7, 2002, which marked the only other time in Griffins history that three straight games ended with one team showing a zero on the scoreboard.

The Admirals doubled their lead at 2:02 of the second. Austin Watson sent a pass from behind the net to the bottom of the right circle and a wide-open Pontus Aberg, who slammed the puck inside the near post before Gustavsson could slide across. The visitors added another goal with 1:32 remaining in the frame to make it 3-0, as Sissons set up just outside the paint to deflect a pinballing puck into the back of the net.

Coach Jeff Blashill elected to pull Gustavsson in favor of an extra attacker with more than seven minutes remaining in the game, in an attempt to jump-start his offense and finally solve Magnus Hellberg. But the strategy proved fruitless when Ian White collected the puck in his own zone and threw it 150 feet down the ice into the vacated cage at the 13:07 mark.

Hellberg, who finished with 26 saves, became the eighth opposing netminder to shut out the Griffins twice or more in the same season, having already authored a 22-save, 4-0 victory over Grand Rapids at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Nov. 7. Charlotte’s John Muse was the most recent, blanking Grand Rapids twice last season, while Rochester’s Tom Askey set the record by shutting out the Griffins three times during the 2001-02 campaign.

Gustavsson, who stopped 26 shots in a 2-1 win over Charlotte in his prior conditioning start with the Griffins on Feb 17, 2013, turned aside 29 of 32 in his return to Van Andel Arena. He became the first player in Griffins history to wear No. 50, which is the highest number ever worn by a Grand Rapids goalie.

Notes: Three of the five meetings between Grand Rapids and Milwaukee this season have ended in a shutout, with the Griffins winning 3-0 on the road last night and the Admirals winning in both teams’ barns by 4-0 counts…The Griffins are 11-4-1-1 in their last 17 home games.

Three Stars: 1. MIL Hellberg (W, 26 saves, SO); 2. MIL Sissons (two goals); 3. MIL Aronson (two assists)

Milwaukee Admirals 4 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 0

Jan. 31, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins’ second three-in-three of the season, coupled with an illness-plagued roster, contributed to a 4-0 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday at Van Andel Arena.

Coming off shutout victories in Iowa on Thursday and Milwaukee on Friday, the Griffins found themselves on the other end of a whitewash this time, a result that wasn’t helped by the absence of the AHL’s leading scorer, Teemu Pulkkinen, as well as Tomas Nosek and Louis-Marc Aubry, all of whom fell ill on the bus ride back from Wisconsin last night.

The Griffins (23-17-3-1), whose four-game winning streak was snapped one night after they ended the Admirals’ nine-game tear, will play a rare road matinee on Wednesday when they visit the Toronto Marlies at 11 a.m.

Milwaukee (25-13-2-3) struck first with a power play goal just 1:24 into the contest. After winning a faceoff in the left circle, Colton Sissons skated across the top of the crease to redirect Taylor Aronson’s wrister from the point past Jonas Gustavsson, who made his first Griffins appearance this season after being assigned by the Detroit Red Wings for conditioning earlier today.

Grand Rapids, which Jared Coreau backstopped to its road shutouts the last two nights, had its team shutout streak snapped at 141:56. The franchise record of 184:07 was set from March 1-7, 2002, which marked the only other time in Griffins history that three straight games ended with one team showing a zero on the scoreboard.

The Admirals doubled their lead at 2:02 of the second. Austin Watson sent a pass from behind the net to the bottom of the right circle and a wide-open Pontus Aberg, who slammed the puck inside the near post before Gustavsson could slide across. The visitors added another goal with 1:32 remaining in the frame to make it 3-0, as Sissons set up just outside the paint to deflect a pinballing puck into the back of the net.

Coach Jeff Blashill elected to pull Gustavsson in favor of an extra attacker with more than seven minutes remaining in the game, in an attempt to jump-start his offense and finally solve Magnus Hellberg. But the strategy proved fruitless when Ian White collected the puck in his own zone and threw it 150 feet down the ice into the vacated cage at the 13:07 mark.

Hellberg, who finished with 26 saves, became the eighth opposing netminder to shut out the Griffins twice or more in the same season, having already authored a 22-save, 4-0 victory over Grand Rapids at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Nov. 7. Charlotte’s John Muse was the most recent, blanking Grand Rapids twice last season, while Rochester’s Tom Askey set the record by shutting out the Griffins three times during the 2001-02 campaign.

Gustavsson, who stopped 26 shots in a 2-1 win over Charlotte in his prior conditioning start with the Griffins on Feb 17, 2013, turned aside 29 of 32 in his return to Van Andel Arena. He became the first player in Griffins history to wear No. 50, which is the highest number ever worn by a Grand Rapids goalie.

Notes: Three of the five meetings between Grand Rapids and Milwaukee this season have ended in a shutout, with the Griffins winning 3-0 on the road last night and the Admirals winning in both teams’ barns by 4-0 counts…The Griffins are 11-4-1-1 in their last 17 home games.

Three Stars: 1. MIL Hellberg (W, 26 saves, SO); 2. MIL Sissons (two goals); 3. MIL Aronson (two assists)