WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Four combined goals from Marco Kasper (2), Austin Czarnik and Zach Aston-Reese mounted a third-period comeback for the Grand Rapids Griffins, as they completed their second straight come-from-behind victory with a 4-3 win over the Manitoba Moose at the Canada Life Centre on Saturday. 

Kasper collected five points (3-2--5) in the two-game series against Manitoba, which has the rookie at 11 points (4-7--11) in his last 10 contests. The victory over the Moose extended the Griffins' road win streak to six games. 

Within a minute of the puck being dropped, Manitoba struck first when Nikita Chibrikov backhanded the puck past Michael Hutchinson from the low slot 58 seconds into the first period. Following a turnover at the Griffins’ blueline, Chibrikov continued his scoring against Grand Rapids, as he skated in on Hutchinson and fired a shot through the five-hole from the bottom of the left circle for a 2-0 Moose lead with 16:14 remaining in the opening frame. Chibrikov’s two tallies marked four goals in four games against the Griffins this season.

Over midway through the middle frame, Oskari Salminen denied a 2-on-1 opportunity, as he stopped Czarnik’s bullet from entering the wide-open net at 12:50. Following Salminen’s save, Thomas Caron swatted at the puck from behind the Griffins' net, which slid through the crease and bounced off Hutchinson's toe and into the net for a 3-0 Manitoba lead with 6:59 remaining in the stanza. Caron's goal was his second goal in as many games against Grand Rapids.

The Griffins found twine early in the third period when a left-circle shot from Kasper deflected off a Moose defender’s stick and past Salminen at 1:02. Roughly six minutes after his first goal, Kasper collected another tally with a sharp-angle shot from the right boards to make it a one-goal game with 12:50 remaining.

With Hutchinson pulled in the twilight of the final frame, Czarnik beat Salminen from the right point to tie the game 3-3 at 19:18. Exactly 30 seconds later, Dominik Shine and Aston-Reese closed in on Salminen while 2-on-1, which resulted in Aston-Reese ripping the puck behind Salminen for a 4-3 Grand Rapids lead with 12 seconds remaining. With a late third-period lead secured, the Griffins cruised to a 4-3 comeback win, which completed a weekend sweep of Manitoba.

Notes
- With six penalty minutes tonight, Shine passed Ed Patterson (457) for sole possession of eighth place on the Griffins' all-time penalty minutes list with 459.
- Both Czarnik (1-2--3) and Shine (2-1--3) extended their point streaks to three games.

Box Score
Grand Rapids 0 0 4 - 4
Manitoba 2 1 0 - 3

1st Period-1, Manitoba, Chibrikov 12 (Heinola, Malott), 0:58. 2, Manitoba, Chibrikov 13 (Malott), 3:46. Penalties-Edvinsson Gr (tripping), 8:56; Shine Gr (cross-checking), 17:43.

2nd Period-3, Manitoba, Caron 2 (Kemp), 13:01. Penalties-Capobianco Mb (cross-checking), 7:02; Shine Gr (high-sticking), 10:37; served by Caron Mb (too many men - bench minor), 18:10.

3rd Period-4, Grand Rapids, Kasper 5 (Edvinsson), 1:02. 5, Grand Rapids, Kasper 6 (Tuomisto), 7:10. 6, Grand Rapids, Czarnik 4 (Tuomisto), 19:18. 7, Grand Rapids, Aston-Reese 6 (Shine, Kasper), 19:48. Penalties-Shine Gr (cross-checking), 4:30.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 12-11-13-36. Manitoba 10-6-4-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 2; Manitoba 0 / 4.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Hutchinson 9-8-2 (20 shots-17 saves). Manitoba, Salminen 4-7-0 (36 shots-32 saves).
A-3,504

Three Stars
1. GR Kasper (two goals, assist); 2. MB Chibrikov (two goals); 3. GR Aston-Reese (game-winner)

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 16-15-4-1 (37 pts.) / Wed., Jan. 24 vs. Rockford 7 p.m.
Manitoba: 12-21-1-0 (25 pts.) / Tue., Jan. 23 vs. Chicago 7 p.m. CST

Photo by Manitoba Moose