WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The Grand Rapids Griffins fell in familiar 2-1 fashion to the Manitoba Moose Wednesday at the MTS Centre after suffering the same fate one night before. The final of four consecutive club meetings, Grand Rapids claimed both home contests over the past weekend with Saturday’s ending in a shootout while the Moose took back-to-back victories on their home ice.

Lee Goren provided the first goal for the Moose 6:55 into the game as he bounced a shot off Jimmy Howard from a shade behind the goal line on the right side of the mesh. Shaun Heshka launched the initial shot that rebounded to Goren, and the tally marked Manitoba’s first even strength goal against the Griffins over the four-game set as each of the previous six came with the man advantage.

Grand Rapids dominated the action during the middle frame holding the Moose to only four shots and their persistence paid off at 10:23. Matt Ellis fed a pass to Matt Hussey who turned on the jets to skate in alone and lit the lamp on a second attempt backhander for a shorthanded goal.

The Griffins managed to silence the Manitoba power play until just four ticks past the opening minute of the third period. Left wide open in the goal mouth, Jason Jaffray received the puck from Jesse Schultz and lifted a backhand shot over Howard’s glove to tap the water bottle. The goal stood as the game winner for Manitoba as Grand Rapids could not find the equalizer and Howard finished with 16 saves on 18 shots.

The Griffins return to the Van Andel Arena and a four-game home-stand starting Friday as they welcome the Milwaukee Admirals, game time is set for 7 p.m. EST.