Milwaukee Admirals 1 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 4

Dec. 9, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins used a trio of third-period goals on Wednesday to claim their ninth consecutive win, a 4-1 triumph over the Milwaukee Admirals at Van Andel Arena.

Martin Frk potted the eventual game-winner 2:05 into the frame, but the outcome wasn’t assured until Eric Tangradi scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season with less than two minutes remaining. Meanwhile, Jared Coreau stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his fifth straight win, as the Griffins held their opponent to a single goal for the third consecutive game and to two or fewer goals for the seventh straight outing. They’ve surrendered a total of seven goals during that span.

The Griffins’ nine-game run is tied for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history, behind only an 11-game tear posted by the 2005-06 edition that went on to win the AHL’s regular season title. Grand Rapids’ eight-game winning streak on home ice is also two games shy of equaling the team standard set twice before, most recently by the 2003-04 squad.

Grand Rapids will try to push its winning streak into double digits on Saturday when the Griffins visit Central Division-leading Rockford at 8 p.m. EST.

Mitch Callahan put the Griffins on the board 7:15 into the first period. After Andy Miele had the puck knocked off his stick while driving down the slot, a trailing Callahan pounced on it at the edge of the right circle and whipped it just inside the far post of Juuse Saros.

Just over a minute later during a Grand Rapids power play, Coreau gambled by sprinting toward the top of the right circle in a race for a loose puck, but Felix Girard got there first and flung the puck through two defenders into the empty net from the right corner for a shorthanded goal at 8:26.

Following the 1-1 tie at intermission, the second period transpired without scoring but not without a close call for each team. Less than four minutes in, an odd-man rush into the Milwaukee zone saw Andreas Athanasiou center a pass for Frk, who got off an unsuccessful shot before crashing into Saros and being whistled off for goaltender interference.

Nearing the midpoint of the frame, Coreau ventured into the left corner to retrieve the puck and sent an errant cross-ice pass that was collected by Kevin Fiala just inside the blue line and blasted past the diving netminder, but the goal was negated by a too-many-men penalty against the Admirals.

Frk redeemed himself by giving the Griffins a 2-1 lead early in the third, finding the rebound of a Tangradi shot at the right faceoff dot and firing it past Saros, who appeared to have been screened by his own defenseman.

Tangradi salted the game away with 1:41 remaining thanks in large part to the deft stickhandling of Athanasiou, who sped into the Admirals’ zone and split two defenders before turning into the left circle and backhanding a pass for Tangradi on the doorstep. Louis-Marc Aubry’s empty-netter with 34 seconds left provided the final margin.

Milwaukee’s five-game road winning streak, which tied for the AHL’s season high, was snapped, along with the eight-game winning streak of Saros, who finished with 29 saves.

Notes: Grand Rapids last won eight straight home games during the 2013-14 season (Oct. 30-Dec. 7)…The Griffins are now 5-0 when playing at home on “Winning Wednesday” this season…The second-place Admirals are 13-3 over their last 16 games, with two of those losses coming at the hands of the Griffins by a cumulative 10-1 score...Grand Rapids released goalie Pat Nagle from his professional tryout after the game. In addition, the Detroit Red Wings reassigned goaltender Jake Paterson to the Griffins from the ECHL's Toledo Walleye.

Three Stars: 1. GR Frk (game-winning goal); 2. GR Callahan (goal); 3. GR Tangradi (goal, assist)

Milwaukee Admirals 1 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 4

Dec. 9, 2015

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins used a trio of third-period goals on Wednesday to claim their ninth consecutive win, a 4-1 triumph over the Milwaukee Admirals at Van Andel Arena.

Martin Frk potted the eventual game-winner 2:05 into the frame, but the outcome wasn’t assured until Eric Tangradi scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season with less than two minutes remaining. Meanwhile, Jared Coreau stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his fifth straight win, as the Griffins held their opponent to a single goal for the third consecutive game and to two or fewer goals for the seventh straight outing. They’ve surrendered a total of seven goals during that span.

The Griffins’ nine-game run is tied for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history, behind only an 11-game tear posted by the 2005-06 edition that went on to win the AHL’s regular season title. Grand Rapids’ eight-game winning streak on home ice is also two games shy of equaling the team standard set twice before, most recently by the 2003-04 squad.

Grand Rapids will try to push its winning streak into double digits on Saturday when the Griffins visit Central Division-leading Rockford at 8 p.m. EST.

Mitch Callahan put the Griffins on the board 7:15 into the first period. After Andy Miele had the puck knocked off his stick while driving down the slot, a trailing Callahan pounced on it at the edge of the right circle and whipped it just inside the far post of Juuse Saros.

Just over a minute later during a Grand Rapids power play, Coreau gambled by sprinting toward the top of the right circle in a race for a loose puck, but Felix Girard got there first and flung the puck through two defenders into the empty net from the right corner for a shorthanded goal at 8:26.

Following the 1-1 tie at intermission, the second period transpired without scoring but not without a close call for each team. Less than four minutes in, an odd-man rush into the Milwaukee zone saw Andreas Athanasiou center a pass for Frk, who got off an unsuccessful shot before crashing into Saros and being whistled off for goaltender interference.

Nearing the midpoint of the frame, Coreau ventured into the left corner to retrieve the puck and sent an errant cross-ice pass that was collected by Kevin Fiala just inside the blue line and blasted past the diving netminder, but the goal was negated by a too-many-men penalty against the Admirals.

Frk redeemed himself by giving the Griffins a 2-1 lead early in the third, finding the rebound of a Tangradi shot at the right faceoff dot and firing it past Saros, who appeared to have been screened by his own defenseman.

Tangradi salted the game away with 1:41 remaining thanks in large part to the deft stickhandling of Athanasiou, who sped into the Admirals’ zone and split two defenders before turning into the left circle and backhanding a pass for Tangradi on the doorstep. Louis-Marc Aubry’s empty-netter with 34 seconds left provided the final margin.

Milwaukee’s five-game road winning streak, which tied for the AHL’s season high, was snapped, along with the eight-game winning streak of Saros, who finished with 29 saves.

Notes: Grand Rapids last won eight straight home games during the 2013-14 season (Oct. 30-Dec. 7)…The Griffins are now 5-0 when playing at home on “Winning Wednesday” this season…The second-place Admirals are 13-3 over their last 16 games, with two of those losses coming at the hands of the Griffins by a cumulative 10-1 score...Grand Rapids released goalie Pat Nagle from his professional tryout after the game. In addition, the Detroit Red Wings reassigned goaltender Jake Paterson to the Griffins from the ECHL's Toledo Walleye.

Three Stars: 1. GR Frk (game-winning goal); 2. GR Callahan (goal); 3. GR Tangradi (goal, assist)