GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Sheldon Dries (1-1—2) earned the overtime-winner and extended his point streak to three games, as the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Chicago Wolves 3-2 on Saturday at Van Andel Arena. 

Axel Sandin-Pellikka notched the game-tying goal on the power play, and Eduards Tralmaks recorded his 22nd of the campaign. The Griffins improved to 46-13-4-1 through 64 games (97 pts.), and 24-7-3-0 on home ice. Eddie Genborg potted an assist to claim his first AHL point, while Erik Gustafsson tallied two helpers. Wojciech Stachowiak bagged an assist for his fourth point in two outings, and Sebastian Cossa recorded 22 saves to move to 25-7-4. 

With 7:21 to play in the opening period, Domenick Fensore soared up the near side and let a sharp-angle wrister fly over Cossa’s glove to tally a 1-0 lead for the Wolves. Just 49 seconds later, Joel Nystrom slapped one from the right circle to grab a two-goal advantage. Ondrej Becher skated up center ice on a breakaway and fired it at Amir Miftakhov, but he gloved the Griffins’ opportunity with 2:06 to go. 

Grand Rapids saw a glimpse in the second frame when Sandin-Pellikka ripped it from the left hashes, and then tried to knock in his rebound, but failed to convert at the 7:51 mark. Dries danced around Chicago defenders and attempted to backhand the puck in, but it bounced off the post with 10:37 on the clock.

Tralmaks cut the Griffins’ deficit to one at 7:10 of the final slate when he rocketed one in from the high slot. While on the power play, Cossa headed to the bench with 2:28 remaining for a two-man advantage. Gustafsson fed the puck to Sandin-Pellikka at the blue line, and he sniped it in with two minutes left to tie it at 2-2. 

In overtime at the 3:08 mark, Dries picked up the puck while alone in the slot, walked in and snapped it home to defeat the Wolves 3-2.

Notes

• The Griffins’ three unanswered goals marked just the second time this season the team has come back from a two-goal deficit.
• Grand Rapids went 1-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-2 on its league-leading penalty kill.
• Currently, the Griffins’ magic number over the Ontario Reign to clinch the Western Conference title is seven points.

Box Score

Chicago 2 0 0 0 - 2

Grand Rapids 0 0 2 1 - 3

1st Period-1, Chicago, Fensore 10 (Foote), 12:39. 2, Chicago, Nyström 1 (Unger Sörum, Pavlychev), 13:27. Penalties-Legault Chi (tripping), 10:17.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

3rd Period-3, Grand Rapids, Tralmaks 22 (Tuomisto, Stachowiak), 7:10. 4, Grand Rapids, Sandin-Pellikka 2 (Gustafsson, Dries), 18:00 (PP). Penalties-Turcotte Chi (hooking), 5:00; Tuomisto Gr (tripping), 7:29; Vierling Chi (tripping), 17:27; Tralmaks Gr (interference), 18:29.

OT Period-5, Grand Rapids, Dries 21 (Genborg, Gustafsson), 3:08. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Chicago 7-13-4-0-24. Grand Rapids 9-10-14-1-34.

Power Play Opportunities-Chicago 0 / 2; Grand Rapids 1 / 3.

Goalies-Chicago, Miftakhov 9-8-7 (34 shots-31 saves). Grand Rapids, Cossa 25-7-4 (24 shots-22 saves).

A-9,500

Three Stars

1. GR Dries (game-winner, assist) 2. GR Sandin-Pellikka (power-play goal) 3. CHI Miftakhov (L, 31 saves)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 46-13-4-1 (97 pts.) / Wed., April 1 at Rockford 8 p.m. EDT

Chicago: 30-19-7-6 (73 pts.) / Sun., March 29 vs. Milwaukee 3 p.m. CDT

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins