GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 4 at Milwaukee Admirals 2

Jan. 3, 2018

MILWAUKEE – The Grand Rapids Griffins continued their winning ways on Wednesday night with a 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Grand Rapids (15-15-1-4) has now won four games in a row and five of the last six. Milwaukee (16-13-4-0) has now lost three of its last four games. The two teams will meet up again on January 17th at Van Andel Arena.

The Griffins got on the board midway through the first period at the 9:30 mark when Axel Holmstrom scored his third goal of the season. Admirals goaltender, Anders Lindback, made a bad pass towards the left board when Evgeny Svechnikov intercepted the puck and charged the net. Drawing Lindback and another defender’s attention, the right winger found a wide open Holmstrom in front of the net for the easy tap in.

Grand Rapids added to the lead one minute later. Matt Puempel tallied his 13th goal of the year when he swatted the puck into the net off of a rebound. Vili Saarijarvi took the initial shot from the right circle which was stopped by Lindback, but the puck deflected straight up into the air for a waiting Puempel in front of the crease.

The Admirals scored a power play goal early on in the second period when Bobby Butler netted his 14th goal at the 2:32 mark. Trevor Smith collected the puck at the right circle and made a quick cross-ice pass to Butler in the left circle. The right winger took his time, wound up his shot, and sent a laser towards Jared Coreau. The Griffins goaltender got most of it, but it snuck just past under his right arm and crawled into the net to make the score 2-1.

Corey Elkins pushed the lead back to two goals 7:22 into the final period. The center fought off two defenders behind the net for the puck and quickly skated towards the net. The wraparound shot caught the Milwaukee goaltender by surprise as the puck snuck into the net just inside the right post.

Just 39 seconds later Milwaukee inched closer with a goal by Harry Zolnierczyk. The left winger picked up the puck in the neutral zone and skated up the left board. He let off a slap shot from the left circle that sailed under Coreau’s glove and into the net to make the score 3-2 with 11:59 left in regulation.

With exactly 6:00 remaining in the game, the Griffins added one more goal. Matt Lorito tallied his 10th goal of the year off of a breakaway. Coreau made a save that sent the puck towards the neutral zone and was picked up by Dominic Turgeon. The center found a streaking Colin Campbell who skated into the Milwaukee zone. The Toronto, Ontario native passed the puck between two defenders to an open Lorito for the easy goal.

Jared Coreau finished the contest with 27 saves, while Anders Lindback collected 32 pucks on the night.

Three Stars: 1. GR Lorito (goal); 2. GR Campbell (assist); 3. MIL Butler (goal)