GRAND RAPID GRIFFINS 8 at Rochester Americans 1

Oct. 4, 2013

Rochester, N.Y. – The Grand Rapids Griffins broke a three-year losing streak in season openers by trouncing the Rochester Americans 8-1 at Blue Cross Arena.

The Calder Cup-defending Griffins started the season off with a bang, netting two goals in the first period. Following a roughing call on Rochester’s Drew Bagnall, Gustav Nyquist took only 27 seconds on the power play to score the first goal of the year for Grand Rapids at 14:09. Nyquist came into possession of the puck at center ice and exchanged passes with Tomas Jurco before poking it into the net.

In his first game as a Griffin, defenseman Alexey Marchenko netted a wrister off of a pass from forward David McIntyre at 17:45. Marchenko nearly scored another as he banged a shot off the pipes in the last seconds of the opening period.

The Griffins carried the momentum over from the first period and had a busy middle frame, scoring five goals and firing 22 total shots.

Triston Grant and defenseman Ryan Sproul scored back-to-back goals assisted by Nyquist at 10:54 and 12:01 before the Americans responded with a tally of their own. Rochester’s Luke Adam scored on a rebound at 13:01 after the puck bounced around netminder Tom McCollum’s crease.

The Griffins quickly stole the spotlight back, however, as Jeff Hoggan scored on a rocket off of the faceoff at 14:41. Shortly after at 16:37, Sproul netted his second of the night in a similar fashion as Hoggan, finding the back of the net after Calle Jarnkrok’s faceoff win.

Immediately after Sproul’s tally, Rochester goaltender Matt Hackett was pulled from the net and replaced by Nathan Lieuwen, but Lieuwen faced similar woes. Mitch Callahan quickly pounced on the fresh goaltender and buried the Griffins’ seventh goal of the night with an assist from Adam Almquist, his third of the evening.

Riley Sheahan was the only scorer in the third period, aiding the Griffins in shattering their franchise record for margin of victory in an opener. The previous record was four goals, set on Oct. 16, 2004 against the Chicago Wolves. The game also broke two franchise records for the most goals scored: one for season openers and one for road openers.

McCollum earned the victory behind 18 saves, Hackett managed to stop 24 of 30 shots and Lieuwen blocked five of seven.

Three Stars: 1. GR Nyquist (one goal, two assists); 2. GR Sproul (two goals); 3. GR Almquist (three assists)