GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- In their meeting against the first-place Texas Stars on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena, the Grand Rapids Griffins suffered a 4-0 shutout loss at the hands of former Griffin Magnus Hellberg. 

A familiar skater returned to Grand Rapids’ lineup in the outing, as Emmitt Finnie graced the Griffins’ ice for the first time since last season. Meanwhile, Tim Gettinger skated in his 100th game as a Griffin. In his third start of the season (1-2-0), goaltender Jan Bednar turned away 28 shots, maintaining a .919 save percentage and a 2.12 goals-against average.

The Griffins hung around with the Stars early on, but Texas scored the only goal it would need when Matej Blumel backhanded a shot past Bednar in the right circle at 12:42. Grand Rapids was outshot 13-5 in the opening frame. 

Texas added to its lead 7:21 into the second period when Gavin White found the back of the net with a wrist shot from the blue line. Then, just 23 seconds later, the Stars skated back into the Griffins’ zone and Matthew Seminoff increased Texas’ advantage to three with a backhand from the left circle. Grand Rapids earned a pair of power-play chances at 11:40 and 15:29, looking to mark its first tally, but came up empty-handed on both and the Griffins exited the second frame down 3-0. 

Just 1:33 into the final period, Sean Chisholm collected his own rebound from a 2-on-1 breakaway shot and found the back of the net for his first professional goal. The Griffins attempted to break the shutout in the final minutes but failed to sneak the puck past Hellberg, as they fell 4-0. 

Notes

• The Griffins committed zero penalties in the outing for the second time this season. 

Box Score

Texas 1 2 1 - 4
Grand Rapids 0 0 0 - 0

1st Period-1, Texas, Blümel 36 (Hyry, Capobianco), 12:42. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-2, Texas, White 2 (Wheatcroft, Pettersen), 7:21. 3, Texas, Seminoff 2 (Becker), 7:44. Penalties-Capobianco Tex (tripping), 11:40; Capobianco Tex (delay of game), 15:29.

3rd Period-4, Texas, Chisholm 1 (Hughes, White), 1:33. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Texas 13-10-9-32. Grand Rapids 5-10-9-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Texas 0 / 0; Grand Rapids 0 / 2.
Goalies-Texas, Hellberg 22-11-1 (24 shots-24 saves). Grand Rapids, Bednar 1-2-0 (32 shots-28 saves).
A-6,478

Three Stars

1. TEX Hellberg (W, SO, 24 saves); 2. TEX White (goal, assist); 3. Chisolm (first professional goal)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 32-25-4-2 (70 pts.) / Wed., April 2 vs. Chicago 7 p.m. 

Texas: 38-20-3-0 (79 pts.) / Fri., March 28 at Cleveland 6 p.m. CDT

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins