Charlotte Checkers 3 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 1

March 31, 2017

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A Grand Rapids Griffins squad missing six of its top players to either injuries or call-ups was unable to muster much offense on Friday, as the Central Division leaders fell 3-1 to the Charlotte Checkers at Van Andel Arena.

Daniel Altshuller made 30 saves and came within 54 seconds of a shutout, and the Checkers took full advantage of their depleted opponent to improve to 9-1-1-0 in their last 11 games, putting a tighter but still tenuous grip on the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central.

The Griffins played without five of their top nine scorers as well as their most productive defenseman. Matt Lorito (20-33—53), Eric Tangradi (15-26—41) and Tyler Bertuzzi (11-24—35) all sat out due to injuries, while leading scorer Ben Street (25-29-54), Tomas Nosek (15-25—40) and blueliner Robbie Russo (7-24—31) remain on recall to the Detroit Red Wings. The sextet represented 40 percent of the team’s goal output and 41 percent of its point total entering play tonight.

Grand Rapids (43-20-1-4), whose lead over second-place Chicago has shrunk to one point with the Griffins still holding a game in hand, will look to snap a two-game skid on Saturday when it starts a three-game road trip with an 8 p.m. EDT faceoff in Rockford against the IceHogs.

The Checkers (35-28-5-0) jumped the Griffins 10:10 into the contest, capitalizing on an odd-man rush when Valentin Zykov snapped a shot past Jared Coreau’s glove from the right circle. That stood up as the only goal of a first period in which Charlotte enjoyed a commanding 14-7 shot advantage.

A scoreless middle frame saw the Griffins out shoot the Checkers 13-8, but they were stifled by Atlshuller and the Charlotte defense, including on their lone power play chance of the game to that point.

The visitors tripled their lead before the seven-minute mark of the third period, thanks to a pair of goals by Finnish newcomer Aleksi Saarela. He blistered a shot into the far corner from the left circle at the 3:38 mark then sidestepped a fallen defender to convert a breakaway at 6:39.

Andrew Miller registered the first assist on each Charlotte goal for a three-point evening.

The Griffins averted the shutout in the final minute, with Matthew Ford roofing the puck over Altshuller from the left circle off a feed from Evgeny Svechnikov, who now has a point in four of the last five games.

Coreau, who has lost two straight following a four-game winning streak, finished with 27 saves. It was anticipated earlier this week that his former creasemate, Tom McCollum, would get the start on the other end, but the longtime Griffin missed the game due to personal reasons and did not make the trip to Grand Rapids. In nine games since joining Charlotte on loan from the Calgary Flames on March 8, McCollum is 7-1-1 with a 1.88 goals against average and a 0.935 save percentage, and he’s provided the spark for Charlotte’s rise from sixth place and four points out of playoff contention to what has become a two-point margin over fifth-place Cleveland.

Notes: Charlotte is now 2-0 at Van Andel Arena and 4-2 overall this season against the Griffins, whose all-time home record in the series dropped to 6-10…Right wing Givani Smith, Detroit’s second pick and the 46th overall selection in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, made his professional debut for Grand Rapids…Andrej Nestrasil, a member of the Griffins’ 2013 Calder Cup championship team, made his first Van Andel Arena appearance in more than two years, having spent much of the interim with Charlotte’s parent club, the Carolina Hurricanes.

Three Stars: 1. CHA Altshuller (W, 30 saves); 2. CHA Saarela (two goals); 3. CHA Miller (three assists)