CLEVELAND --  Behind two goals from Sheldon Dries, the Grand Rapids Griffins rolled to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Arena on Friday night, claiming their fourth-straight season-opening victory.

Grand Rapids finished 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, highlighted by two 5-on-3 kills. On offense, 11 Griffins finished with a point, while Michal Postava showed 18 saves on 20 shots. Sutter Muzzatti tallied his first pro goal during his debut and Théo Rochette scored his first in the AHL. Along with Muzzatti and Rochette, Noah Dower Nilsson and Justice Christensen all made their AHL debuts. 

The Griffins opened the scoring about halfway through the first period when Kienan Draper found William Lagesson with a cross-ice pass from the left point, and Lagesson buried a slapshot from the bottom of the right circle for a 1-0 lead at the 9:21 mark in the first frame.

Dries increased the Griffins advantage after skating up to the left faceoff dot and firing the puck through Pheonix Copley’s five-hole directly off the draw with 5:28 left in the first.

Guillaume Richard responded for Cleveland just 18 seconds later with his shot past Postava’s blocker from the slot to make it 2-1.

Grand Rapids committed consecutive penalties about four minutes into the second period, resulting in 1:31 of 5-on-3 opportunity for the Monsters. However, the Griffins killed off both power plays to keep the 2-1 lead.

At the 8:57 mark of the period during a power play, Muzzatti lit the lamp, jamming in a rebound off a Jesse Kiiskinen shot past the right goal post to give the Griffins a 3-1 advantage. The Monsters struck back quickly yet again, when Luke Tuch scored on a close-range slapshot just 21 seconds after the Griffins’ tally.

With 5:26 left in the second, Grand Rapids found itself on another 5-on-3 disadvantage for 1:19, but the Griffins survived Cleveland’s attack and took a 3-2 lead into the third.

Dries tallied his second goal of the contest at 3:56 of the final period, redirecting a shot from Dominik Shine past Copley to give his team insurance. After Cleveland pulled its goaltender with 1:47 remaining, Rochette scored his first goal at the AHL level on the empty net to cap off the 5-2 win for Grand Rapids.

Notes

• The Griffins are 16-10-3-4 against Cleveland over the last five seasons.
• With Dan Watson at the helm, the Griffins have not lost a season opener (4-0-0-0).
• Draper and Dower Nilsson each registered their first AHL points with assists.
• Ronnie Attard, Wilmer Skoog, Cameron Butler, Jacob Bryson, Dower Nilsson, Muzzatti, Christensen and Rochette all made their Griffins debut. 

Box Score
Grand Rapids 2 1 2 - 5
Cleveland 1 1 0 - 2

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Lagesson 1 (Draper, Butler), 9:21. 2, Grand Rapids, Dries 1   14:32. 3, Cleveland, Richard 1 (Marrelli, Pinelli), 14:50. Penalties-Butler Gr (hooking), 3:04; White Cle (interference), 6:31; Butler Gr (slashing), 13:12; McCue Cle (slashing), 13:12.

2nd Period-4, Grand Rapids, Muzzatti 1 (Kiiskinen, Becher), 8:57 (PP). 5, Cleveland, Tuch 1 (Dumais, Keskinen), 9:18. Penalties-Kannok Leipert Gr (roughing), 3:40; Moyle Gr (fighting), 3:40; Singleton Cle (fighting), 3:40; Lagesson Gr (cross-checking), 4:09; Lorentz Cle (high-sticking), 8:07; Buckberger Cle (holding), 11:06; Kannok Leipert Gr (hooking), 13:53; Christensen Gr (interference), 14:34; Keskinen Cle (slashing), 16:04.

3rd Period-6, Grand Rapids, Dries 2 (Shine), 3:56. 7, Grand Rapids, Rochette 1 (Dower Nilsson, James), 19:35 (EN). Penalties-Tuch Cle (interference), 5:18; White Cle (tripping), 10:58.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 7-10-9-26. Cleveland 8-8-4-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 6; Cleveland 0 / 5.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Postava 1-0-0 (20 shots-18 saves). Cleveland, Copley 0-1-0 (25 shots-21 saves).
A-12,097 

Three Stars

1. GR Dries (two goals); 2. GR Lagesson (goal); 3. GR Postava (W, 18 saves)

Record/ Next Game
Grand Rapids: 1-0-0-0 (2 pts.) / Sun., Oct. 4 at Cleveland 3 p.m.
Cleveland: 0-1-0-0 (0 pts.) / Sun., Oct. 4 vs. Grand Rapids 3 p.m. 

Photo by Cleveland Monsters