Nov. 30, 2018

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Special teams proved to be exceptional for the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday, as they rode season-best performances of 3-for-6 on the power play and 7-for-7 on the penalty kill to a 4-3 victory over the San Antonio Rampage at Van Andel Arena.

Matt Puempel and Wade Megan both scored 5-on-3 goals for the Griffins, bookending a 5-on-4 tally by Turner Elson that staked Grand Rapids to a 3-0 lead early in the second. It was the first game this season in which the team notched multiple power play goals.

Meanwhile, the Griffins’ shorthanded unit held the opposition without a power play goal for the sixth consecutive game and has now denied all 22 chances since Nov. 17. Not coincidentally, that night marked the return of penalty killer extraordinaire Colin Campbell to the lineup from injury and the start of what has become Grand Rapids’ season-high six-game point streak (5-0-0-1).

The third-place Griffins (12-7-0-2), who are 10-2-0-2 in their last 14 outings and boast a home record of 7-2-0-2, will continue their homestand on Saturday when the Texas Stars pay a 7 p.m. visit.

Just after the Griffins killed their first penalty of the night, a holding call on Filip Hronek, the dynamic defenseman teamed with a pair of skilled forwards to score a beautiful goal that gave Grand Rapids the advantage 6:23 into the opening period. Headmanning the puck up the right side, Megan executed a nifty bounce pass off the boards to Elson just inside the Rampage zone, creating a 2-on-1 in front of San Antonio netminder Ville Husso. Elson quickly fed the puck to Hronek in the left circle for a one-timer that blistered the back of the net and extended Hronek’s point streak to five games, tying the career-high he established in February.

Puempel scored his 5-on-3 goal 4:20 later to double the Griffins’ lead, as he took as pass from Chris Terry atop the right circle and snapped a shot through traffic past Husso’s blocker. Hronek also earned an assist for his second point of the period.

Grand Rapids extended its lead to 3-0 during another man-advantage 2:21 into the second frame. Filip Zadina launched a shot from the top of the right circle that Husso stopped, but Elson was waiting on the doorstep to knock the rebound under the netminder’s pads.

Mackenzie MacEachern answered for San Antonio in short order to trim the margin back to two, slipping a shot between Patrik Rybar and the near post from the bottom of the right circle at 5:27. A defensive breakdown then enabled the Rampage to pull within one at 8:51, when Joey LaLeggia’s pass from the left side found Jordan Kyrou alone in front of Rybar for a tap-in.

Presented with another extended two-man advantage and a chance to restore order with less than six minutes remaining in the period, the Griffins did not squander their opportunity. Megan took root in front of Husso to redirect Zadina’s slap shot from the right side at 16:08. But soon after the Rampage’s second penalty expired, Klim Kostin snuck behind the Griffins’ defense and slipped the puck through Rybar’s five-hole to make it a 4-3 contest with 2:57 remaining in the period.

There was no scoring but plenty of action in the third as the Griffins were forced to kill three more penalties, including 24 seconds of a 5-on-3 in the last five minutes, before holding their ground during the final minute after Husso had been pulled for an extra attacker.

Rybar stopped 26 shots to improve to 5-2-2 on the campaign while Husso turned aside 19 for the Rampage, who remain in the Central Division cellar at 8-14-0-0.

Notes: In addition to his five-game point streak (3-5—8), Hronek now has points in nine of the last 11 games (4-8—12), while Elson has points in seven of nine outings (6-6—12)…The special jerseys that the Griffins wore for their fourth annual Red Kettle Game were auctioned off afterward, with proceeds benefiting The Salvation Army…Faceoff of the game was delayed 20 minutes past the normal 7:10 p.m. puck drop due to an ice issue.

Three Stars: 1. GR Hronek (goal, assist); 2. GR Elson (power play goal, assist); 3. SA Kostin (goal, assist)

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins