Nov. 5, 2021

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Grand Rapids Griffins won their first road game of the season in thrilling fashion as Jonatan Berggren tallied the game-winning goal in overtime to propel the Griffins to a 6-5 victory over the Iowa Wild on Friday at Wells Fargo Arena.

Grand Rapids got off to a fast start in the opening period as the team scored the first goal of the night. At the 10:05 mark, team-leading assist man Taro Hirose skated down the right side of the Iowa zone and passed to Hayden Verbeek who stood at the bottom left wing and found an open Ryan Murphy at the goal mouth for a redirect score off the right post.

The Wild tied the game on a power play with 5:09 remaining. Kris Betten made a pass from the left side across the slot to Jon Lizotte at the right circle and he sent a one-timer past Calvin Pickard.

Heading into the second, Iowa started with the power play and looked to take the lead. Just 47 seconds into the frame Marco Rossi found Mason Shaw at the left circle who sent the puck past the blocker of Pickard.

With 8:35 left in the period, Shaw was tripped up on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot for the Wild. However, Pickard was up to the task and knocked away the attempt by Shaw.

At the 17:52 mark, Chase Pearson gathered the puck behind the net and centered a pass to Hirose near the left post. Hirose did the rest and registered his first goal of the season.

Just as the final period began, Cody McLeod was called for a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, giving the Griffins a power play opportunity. As the advantage started, Grand Rapids lost the faceoff and Iowa’s Shaw skated down the slot with the puck and shot from the bottom of the left circle scoring a shorthanded goal to put the Wild back on top at the 1:46 mark.

With 16:56 remaining, Grand Rapids was able to convert on the power play as Hirose notched his second assist when he found a streaking Riley Barber on the doorstep, putting the game back at even.

With 10:10 left in the third, Turner Elson reached in and grabbed the puck from the defense at the blue line and skated down the slot to bury a shot over the glove of Andrew Hammond to give Grand Rapids a one-game lead.

The Griffins scored their third unanswered tally at the 12:08 mark of the final frame. Kirill Tyutyayev connected with Verbeek on the left side of the Wild zone on a 2-on-1 fastbreak for the easy score, giving the Griffins a two-goal advantage.

A Grand Rapids penalty with 6:44 left put Iowa on the power play. Former Griffin Joe Hicketts passed to Rossi who then fired the puck in the net from the left circle at 15:12.

Former Grand Rapids teammates Hicketts and Dominic Turgeon joined forces to tie the game up for Iowa. Hicketts smashed a shot from the blue line that was redirected up front by Turgeon with 1:54 remaining.

Berggren capped off the night when he scored the game winner at the 2:39 mark in overtime, giving him three goals in the last three contests. Elson sent the puck to the left circle and Berggren sailed the disc over the blocker of Hammond to give the Griffins the 6-5 victory.

Notes

• Max Humitz made his Griffins season debut and also bagged one helper.

• Barber, Hirose, Pearson and Berggren are now on a three-game point streak.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 1 1 3 1 – 6
Iowa 1 1 3 0 - 5

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Murphy 2 (Verbeek, Hirose), 10:05. 2, Iowa, Lizotte 1 (Bitten, Turgeon), 14:51 (PP). Penalties-Renouf Gr (holding), 13:37; Spezia Gr (cross-checking), 18:49.

2nd Period-3, Iowa, Shaw 3 (Rossi, Swaney), 0:47 (PP). 4, Grand Rapids, Hirose 1 (Pearson, Barber), 17:52. Penalties-Addison Ia (hooking), 2:17; Barber Gr (delay of game), 6:06; Bennett Ia (tripping), 9:38.

3rd Period-5, Iowa, Shaw 4 (Mermis), 1:46 (SH). 6, Grand Rapids, Barber 4 (Hirose, Pearson), 3:04 (PP). 7, Grand Rapids, Elson 2 (Pearson), 9:50. 8, Grand Rapids, Verbeek 2 (Tyutyayev, Humitz), 12:08. 9, Iowa, Rossi 2 (Hicketts), 15:12 (PP). 10, Iowa, Turgeon 1 (Hicketts, Cramarossa), 18:06. Penalties-McLeod Ia (major - boarding, game misconduct - boarding), 1:33; Martin Gr (high-sticking), 13:16; Ottenbreit Ia (tripping), 19:40.

OT Period-11, Grand Rapids, Berggren 3 (Elson), 2:39. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 8-7-10-3-28. Iowa 10-9-13-1-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 5; Iowa 3 / 4.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Pickard 3-2-0 (33 shots-28 saves). Iowa, Hammond 2-1-1 (28 shots-22 saves).
A-5,218

Three Stars

1. GR Hirose (goal, two assists); IA Shaw (two goals); GR Verbeek (goal, assist)

Record/ Next Game

Grand Rapids: 3-4-0-1 (7 pts.) / Sat., Nov. 6 at Rockford 7 p.m. EDT

Iowa: 4-2-1-0 (9 pts.) / Sat., Nov. 6 at Milwaukee 6 p.m. CDT

Photo Tim Garland/Wild