ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Two goals from Sheldon Dries coupled with a shootout-winner from Amadeus Lombardi lifted the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 4-3 shootout win for their fifth straight victory and completed the weekend sweep of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday at the PPL Center. Carter Gylander earned his first AHL victory during his debut, making 33 saves and stopping all three shootout attempts. 

The Griffins are 6-1-0-0 (12 pts.) for the first time in franchise history, beating out their previous best of 4-0-2-1 in 2008-09 (11 pts.) and 5-1-1-0 in 2000-01 (11 pts.). The last time Grand Rapids won three road games in three days was April 5-7, 2002. The 11 goals surrendered are the fewest in franchise history over the first seven games of a season, beating their previous low of 13 in 2004-05. Brogan Rafferty posted two assists, Austin Watson increased his assist streak to three games, and Cross Hanas netted a goal for his second consecutive contest. 

Dries put Grand Rapids up early with his first goal as a Griffin at 6:58 in the first period. Dries skated behind the defense and hit a backhanded shot through the pads of Eetu Makiniemi that trickled into the net. The Phantoms attempted to respond during a power play in the final minute of the first, but Gylander made multiple big saves to keep the Phantoms scoreless. 

Just 30 seconds into the second period, the Phantoms’ power play from the end of the first rolled over, and Lehigh Valley tied the game. Anthony Ricard fired a shot from the right circle into the upper-right corner past Gylander. The Griffins jumped back out on top when Hanas scored off a rebound at 13:55. After Hanas sent a shot off Makiniemi, the puck bounced right back to him, and he finished the opportunity.   

The Phantoms tied the score 2-2 with 15:50 remaining when Alexis Gendron broke free and snuck the puck past the right leg of Gylander. Shortly after, Lehigh Valley took its first lead of the weekend at 5:34. Hunter McDonald sent a shot in from the blue line and Garrett Wilson tipped it in for a Phantoms lead. 

With 1:50 remaining and Gylander pulled, Dries scored his second of the game to tie the score 3-3. Dries redirected a shot from Lombardi past the left leg of Makiniemi for the goal. Neither team could cash-in during the remainder of regulation and the game was sent to overtime. 

The overtime period saw a flurry of chances for both teams to score, but neither found paydirt and the game was extended to a shootout. Lombardi went first for the Griffins in the shootout and sent a shot past Makiniemi to give Grand Rapids an early lead. Gylander went on to turn away all three Phantom attempts and the Griffins skated off with the win. 

Notes 

• Grand Rapids won all three games in three days this weekend. 
• Lombardi has five goals and seven points (5-2—7) in his last four outings. 

Box Score 

Grand Rapids 1 1 1 0 - 4
Lehigh Valley 0 1 2 0 - 3

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Dries 1 (Rafferty), 6:58. Penalties-Johannes Gr (interference), 2:31; Tuomisto Gr (roughing), 6:17; Grans Lv (roughing), 6:17; Belpedio Lv (slashing), 7:18; Viro Gr (high-sticking), 19:10.

2nd Period-2, Lehigh Valley, Richard 3 (Gaucher, Tuomaala), 0:30 (PP). 3, Grand Rapids, Hanas 2 (Watson, Tuomisto), 13:55. Penalties-Gaucher Lv (tripping), 5:56; Tuomaala Lv (tripping), 14:20.

3rd Period-4, Lehigh Valley, Gendron 1 (Gaucher), 4:10. 5, Lehigh Valley, Wilson 1 (McDonald, Gendron), 5:34. 6, Grand Rapids, Dries 2 (Lombardi, Rafferty), 18:10. Penalties-No Penalties

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout - Grand Rapids 1 (Lombardi G, Snively NG), Lehigh Valley 0 (Avon NG, Richard NG, Lycksell NG).
Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 11-14-6-2-1-34. Lehigh Valley 12-8-13-3-0-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 3; Lehigh Valley 1 / 2.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Gylander 1-0-0 (36 shots-33 saves). Lehigh Valley, Makiniemi 0-0-1 (33 shots-30 saves).
A-5,269

Three Stars 

1. GR Lombardi (shootout-winner, assist); 2. LV Gendron (goal, assist); 3. LV Jacob Gaucher (two assists) 

Record/Next Game 

Grand Rapids: 6-1-0-0 (12 pts.) / Wed., Oct. 30 at Hartford 7 p.m. 

Lehigh Valley: 1-3-1-1 (4 pts.) / Wed., Oct. 30 at Hershey 7 p.m. 

Photo by Lehigh Valley Phantoms