March 9, 2019

MILWAUKEE – Patrik Rybar stopped 30 shots and the Grand Rapids Griffins used four different scorers to upend the Milwaukee Admirals 4-0 on Saturday night at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Grand Rapids (33-17-6-4, 76 points) moves into sole possession of second place in the hotly contested Central Division, trailing Chicago by one point and leading Iowa by two.

The Griffins notched two goals 17 seconds apart in the opening period and then tacked on two more in a 1:14 span late in the third stanza.

Rybar backed up the 24-save clean sheet he had in his last start against the Admirals on Jan. 19 with another masterful performance tonight. In four appearances versus Milwaukee (25-24-12-1) this season, Rybar is 3-0-1 with a 0.74 goals against average and a 0.973 save percentage. He has run his shutout streak against Milwaukee to 171:49.

After collecting five out of a possible six points this week, the Griffins are back in action on Friday, March 15 when they welcome the Rockford IceHogs to Van Andel Arena at 7 p.m.

Grand Rapids grabbed a 1-0 lead at 7:35 of the first period. One second after Phil Di Giuseppe’s roughing minor expired, Chris Terry from the right circle sent a shot through traffic. Matt Ford, flashing across the crease to the right post, displayed his hand-eye coordination and tipped the puck between Troy Grosenick’s pads for his ninth tally of the season.

Thanks to Dominik Shine, it took only 17 seconds for the Griffins to double their advantage. After rookie Givani Smith gained the zone and set up shop near the left half wall, he delivered a centering pass to a streaking Shine out front. Pulling up at the far post and with position on the Milwaukee defender, Shine got a stick on Smith’s low-rising delivery.

Grand Rapids outshot Milwaukee 15-8 in the middle frame and held its two-goal edge going into the second intermission.

The Griffins maintained their lead until 15:13 of the third period when Terry made it a 3-0 game. Stealing the puck from Vince Pedrie at the red line, Terry skated into the left circle and went top shelf over Grosenick’s catching glove for his team-leading 27th goal of the year.

Martin Frk put the final nail in Milwaukee’s coffin 1:14 later after being set up by Turner Elson on a 2-on-1. Elson, motoring up the left side, executed a well-timed feed to Frk, who lifted the puck by the sprawling netminder. Elson’s assist marked his 31st point of the season, establishing a new career high.

Grand Rapids has fended off its last 16 penalties, including a 3-for-3 effort tonight.

Grosenick finished with 32 saves as the Griffins outshot Milwaukee 36-30.

Notes: Grand Rapids was 0-for-4 on the power play…The Griffins improve to 5-1-0-1 in the 10-game season series…Grand Rapids is 11-3-0-0 all time at Panther Arena in the regular season…In three games this week, Terry tallied seven points (3-4—7)…Frk extended his point streak to four games and goal streak to three…Seventeen seconds marks the fastest consecutive goals by the Griffins this season.

Three Stars: 1. GR Terry (goal, assist); 2. GR Rybar (W, SO, 30 saves); 3. GR Shine (goal)

Photo by Milwaukee Admirals