Griffins take down Milwaukee in overtime, clinch home ice for Calder Cup Division Semifinals

GRAND RAPIDS -- The Grand Rapids Griffins needed a favorable result on Sunday to ensure home-ice advantage in the American Hockey League Calder Cup Playoffs.

Thanks to a rally in the third period, the Griffins overcame a small deficit to defeat their longtime rival and Central Division Champion Milwaukee Admirals, 2-1, in overtime.

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The Griffins trailed the AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators by one heading into the third period. Grand Rapids had so many good chances, but were turned away by Admirals’ netminder Troy Grosenick. Finally, on the power play before the halfway mark of the frame, a great setup from Taro Hirose and Zach Aston-Reese led to Joel L’Esperance hammering home his 16th goal of the season to tie the game.

That ended up doing the trick. Since the Griffins ensured the game went to overtime, that was enough to clinch second place in the Central over the Rockford IceHogs.

However, Grand Rapids wanted to send the fans home happy. After a couple of good saves from GR’s Sebastian Cossa, Carter Mazur tapped in an Austin Czarnik shot for his 17th goal of the season, giving the Griffins the win.

Head coach Dan Watson admitted that the team knew what they had to do going out for the third period. He said that was extra motivation for the team that controlled the play for the final 20 minutes of regulation.

“Something big was at stake,” Watson said. “Home ice is big here. It’s big in any league you play in the playoffs. Whenever you can get it, you want it. Our guys dug in and were able to score the power play goal, a nice overtime goal to make sure we got the two points.”

The game started with playoff-like intensity, with the Griffins flying out of the gate, creating many scoring chances. Though Grand Rapids led the shot count in the first period, 14-5, the game remained scoreless through 20 minutes.

The momentum shifted in the second period, as Milwaukee’s scoring attack picked up with a couple of power plays. They were rewarded just past the halfway mark of the frame, with Alex Campbell jamming home his third goal of the season on the man advantage to break the deadlock. The Admirals ended up outshooting the Griffins 9-6.

Watson said one of the biggest things about this team, which was highlighted on Sunday night, is he Griffins’ ability not to quit, despite trailing late in games.

“We’ve been pretty resilient over the course of the season. A lot of comeback wins, I think it’s eight now trailing going into the third period. Team doesn’t quit, and that’s something you need, guys to build that resiliency, being able to handle adversity.”

Grand Rapids ends the season with a 4-3-1 record against Milwaukee.

With the two teams engaging in a playoff-like atmosphere, Jonatan Berggren says the game is a good tune-up for the real postseason.

“We knew before the game,” Berggren explained. “It was going to be a playoff-like game. I think we battled hard...such a battle every shift. I think this was a good test for us.”

The Griffins outshot the Admirals 38-22, and Cossa made 21 saves for his 22nd win of the season. When the game was tied at one and Grand Rapids was hanging on late in the third to simply get a point, the Hamilton, Ontario native had to make big stops. Cossa understood how important his performance was on Sunday.

“It’s getting to playoff time,” Cossa said. “[Third period] was a playoff period. Not nervous or anything, I was excited for the moment. Definitely felt comfortable in there.”

Grosenick was solid in his second overtime loss of the year, making 36 saves.

The Griffins went 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Admirals went 1-for-3.