Milwaukee Admirals 5 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3

Feb. 24, 2017

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Down 4-0 early in the third period on a bevy of bounces that went the wrong way, the Grand Rapids Griffins mounted a furious comeback on Friday to pull within a goal of the Milwaukee Admirals, but the visitors eventually added an empty-net goal to escape Van Andel Arena with a 5-3 victory.

After sinking the Admirals in nine straight trips to West Michigan, the Griffins have now dropped consecutive games to their Central Division rivals on home ice. The result broke Grand Rapids’ four-game winning streak, stretched Milwaukee’s own run to four games and tightened the standings, as the first-place Griffins (34-15-1-2, 71 points) lead the idle Chicago Wolves by two points and the Admirals (31-17-3-2) now by just four. The two clubs will stage a rematch in front of a sellout crowd at Van Andel Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Both goaltenders were up to the task during the opening period, with Milwaukee’s Marek Mazanec turning aside 10 shots and Jared Coreau – making his first Griffins appearance since Dec. 17 on a conditioning loan from Detroit – logging seven saves.

The Griffins killed off overlapping minor penalties midway through the middle frame, including 71 seconds of 5-on-3 power play time for the Admirals, but Milwaukee finally broke through at the 11:04 mark. Off a turnover at the Grand Rapids blue line, Anthony Richard fired a wrister from the top of the circles that Coreau denied, but the rebound went directly to an unmarked Frederick Gaudreau, who cashed in a backhand from the right of the cage.

Milwaukee extended its lead with 2:51 left in the period. From the left corner, Trevor Murphy threw a pass into the slot that bounced off a skate before finding the stick of Justin Kirkland, who scored into a gaping net.

Two goals in the first 5:54 of the third period made it a 4-0 game. Fifty-five seconds in, Gaudreau tallied his second by batting in a puck that had sailed wide right of Coreau’s glove and was otherwise destined for the corner, before Pontus Aberg finished off a scrum with a tap in near the left post.

The Griffins pulled themselves off the mat in spectacular fashion by scoring three times in less than six minutes to close within one goal with 5:59 still showing on the clock. With the Griffins on their own two-man advantage, Mitch Callahan beat Mazanec from the bottom of the left circle off Matt Lorito’s backdoor pass at 8:26 to put Grand Rapids on the board.

Martin Frk made it 4-2 by chipping home his own rebound from the slot at 12:42, and Tyler Bertuzzi slipped a backhand under Mazanec from close quarters for an unassisted goal at 14:01 to ignite the crowd of 8,573 and impel the Admirals to call their timeout in an attempt to settle their ranks.

Just after Derek Army got away with a high stick that opened a three-stitch cut on the chin of Nathan Paetsch, Grand Rapids was whistled for a too-many-men penalty with just over three minutes remaining. A Conor Allen roughing call then gave Milwaukee another 5-on-3 power play for 1:37, with only 2:50 showing on the game clock. The Griffins again killed off the Admirals’ advantage, but after they pulled Coreau for an extra attacker with less than a minute to go, Adam Payerl scored into the empty net with 22 seconds left to seal it.

Coreau finished with 24 saves in his first action since Feb. 12 while Mazanec countered with 26 in the win.

Three Stars: 1. MIL Gaudreau (two goals); 2. MIL Richard (two assists); 3. GR Frk (goal, assist)