Feb. 11, 2023

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - In front of a sellout crowd, the Grand Rapids Griffins suffered a series sweep to the Manitoba Moose in a 5-1 loss at Van Andel Arena on Saturday.

Jakub Vrana’s opening-frame assist pushed his point streak to six games, the longest by a Griffin this season (4-4–8). The Prague, Czechia, native also has 10 points in his last nine outings (6-4–10). Austin Czarnik lit the lamp in the first period and has 10 points in as many outings (4-6–10).

Manitoba quickly got on the board with a goal at 0:54 in the initial stanza from Jansen Harkins on an odd-man rush. The Griffins were undeterred, pressuring Oskari Salminen with 19 shots in the first period. With 2:57 to go, Czarnik capitalized by squeezing the puck past Salminen on his own rebound from the right circle to knot the contest at one apiece.

Just 1:03 into the second, Grand Rapids allowed its first power-play goal since Jan. 29 (Chicago Wolves, 5-3 W) with Alex Limoges burying a shot from the top of the right circle. Back to back turnovers from the Griffins turned into two tallies, as Kristian Reichel scored on an open net while shorthanded at 6:03 and was followed by Cole Maier in the slot to go up 4-1 with 6:48 to go in the middle stanza.

Alex Nedeljkovic took over for Victor Brattstrom in net for the entirety of the final period, but Dominic Toninato was still able to score on the doorstep during a 4-on-3 power play with 4:44 remaining to cap off the series sweep.

Notes
- Saturday’s game was the third-sellout crowd this season (0-2-1-0) and the second-consecutive Saturday sellout.
- Czarnik’s tally puts him one away from tying Joel L’Esperance (14) for the team lead in goals scored this campaign.

Box Score
Manitoba 1 3 1 - 5
Grand Rapids 1 0 0 - 1

1st Period-1, Manitoba, Harkins 9 (Reichel), 0:54. 2, Grand Rapids, Czarnik 13 (Vrana, L’Esperance), 17:03. Penalties-Maier Mb (high-sticking), 3:51; Malott Mb (hooking), 7:50.

2nd Period-3, Manitoba, Limoges 12 (Boland, Chisholm), 1:03 (PP). 4, Manitoba, Reichel 8 6:03 (SH). 5, Manitoba, Maier 10 (Harkins, Sautner), 13:12. Penalties-Spezia Gr (tripping), 0:23; Maier Mb (double minor - high-sticking), 5:31; Heinola Mb (holding), 13:26; Johansson Gr (interference), 15:39.

3rd Period-6, Manitoba, Toninato 10 (Chisholm, Heinola), 15:16 (PP). Penalties-Newpower Gr (delay of game), 6:37; Bongiovanni Mb (roughing), 14:03; Sebrango Gr (roughing), 14:03; Johansson Gr (high-sticking), 14:24.

Shots on Goal-Manitoba 13-6-9-28. Grand Rapids 19-9-8-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Manitoba 2 / 4; Grand Rapids 0 / 5.
Goalies-Manitoba, Salminen 13-8-2 (36 shots-35 saves). Grand Rapids, Brattstrom 3-7-2 (19 shots-15 saves); Nedeljkovic 7-4-2 (9 shots-8 saves).
A-10,834

Three Stars
1. MB Harkins (goal, assist); 2. MB Salminen (W, 35 saves); 3. MB Reichel (goal, assist).

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 19-22-2-2 (42 pts.) / Wed., Feb. 15 vs. Rockford 7 p.m. EST
Manitoba: 24-15-3-2 (53 pts.) / Mon., Feb. 13 at Toronto 6:00 p.m. CST

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins