Dec. 8, 2018

DES MOINES, Iowa — In a battle with the Central Division-leading Iowa Wild, the Grand Rapids Griffins surrendered three third-period goals en route to a 5-2 loss at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday.

Riding a nine-game point streak headed into the matchup, Grand Rapids gave up its first regulation loss since falling to the Ontario Reign on Nov. 16. The win secured Iowa’s (14-5-4-2) placement in the rankings, cementing a two-point lead over the Milwaukee Admirals, who sit at second with 32 points.

Now with a 14-8-1-2 record, Grand Rapids will head to Milwaukee on Tuesday to close out their three-game stretch on the road and battle for second place within the division. Puck drop is set for 8:00 p.m. EST.

The Wild went hunting early, scoring two goals within the first five minutes to establish an early cushion. At 3:25, Colton Beck skated the puck up the right side of the Griffins’ zone and slapped it to Justin Kloos across the slot, who jammed it past goaltender Patrik Rybar for the first goal of the game.

Not even a minute later, Gerald Mayhew extended the lead to 2-0. Iowa forward Matt Read gained control of the puck near the boards and brought it towards the slot, then took a shot that Mayhew cut into the net at 4:19.

Leading goal-scorer Chris Terry, who now tops the league with 16 goals on the season, trimmed the deficit to one after cleaning up a shot from Libor Sulak at 14:30. The shot bounced off Motte at the right side of the net to the opposite end of the goal, where Terry netted it before the goaltender could make the diving save.

The second period’s lone goal was scored by Matt Puempel, who finally notched the equalizer with 3:16 left in the frame. Vili Saarijarvi chucked the puck towards the net from the blue line, and Puempel tipped it over Motte’s right shoulder to tie the game at 2-2 headed into the third period.

The Wild jumped right back out to a two-goal lead in the third period, starting at 4:43 when Dominic Turgeon attempted to clear the puck from the Griffins’ zone during a penalty kill. He chopped it towards the blue line, but defenseman Ryan Murphy put a stick on it to send the puck flying to the slot, where Sokolov took control and flung it past Rybar to put Iowa in the lead.

Exactly three minutes later, Beck stole the puck from Sulak near the Griffins’ blue line and sent it to Iowa’s Luke Kunin stationed in front of Rybar. Kunin finished it off from out front to double Grand Rapids' score once again.

The Wild rode that momentum to another Sokolov power play goal at 12:00, when he slotted the puck between Rybar’s pads from the bottom of the right-wing circle to extend Iowa’s lead to three.

Twenty-two saves garnered Motte third-star honors for the win, while Rybar tacked on 25 saves.

Notes: Grand Rapids’ penalty kill, which saw a streak of 27 penalties killed end on Friday against the Rockford IceHogs, went 4-for-6 on the night...The Griffins power play unit tallied an 0-for-3 finish...Filip Hronek’s eight-game assist streak ended, tying the franchise record with center Valtteri Filppula in 2006.

Three Stars: 1. IA Sokolov (two power play goals); 2. IA Beck (three assists); 3. lA Motte (W, 22 saves)

Photo by Iowa Wild