GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 2 at San Antonio Rampage 3

Nov. 2, 2012

SAN ANTONIO – A late goal by Eric Selleck boosted the San Antonio Rampage over the Grand Rapids Griffins, who opened up their weekend three-in-three with a 3-2 loss on Friday at the AT&T Center.

After the Griffins took an early two-goal lead, the Rampage scored three unanswered goals to take the 3-2 victory, the seventh one-goal game for Grand Rapids in its eighth contest of the season.

Brent Raedeke put the Griffins on the board first at 6:20 of the first period. On a delayed penalty, the Griffins worked the puck into San Antonio’s zone and a long shot by Gustav Nyquist was redirected to Raedeke at the right side of the net. Raedeke tucked the puck under the crossbar, scoring his first goal of the season and extending Nyquist’s team-best point streak to five games.

Grand Rapids’ aggressive forecheck caused San Antonio to commit a turnover, and Trevor Parkes walked into the slot and fired a shot over Jacob Markstrom’s glove to double the Griffins’ lead at 9:38 of the first period.

The Rampage cut the Griffins lead in half at 15:57 of the first period. Drew Shore set up Jon Rheault inside the right wing circle off of a pass from the corner. Rheault snapped his shot past Tom McCollum for his first goal of the season.

Rheault equalized the score in the second period, scoring his second goal of the game at 4:35. After intercepting a pass at center ice, Rheault scored a breakaway shorthanded goal on a backhand past McCollum. It was San Antonio’s first shorthanded goal of the season, making the score 2-2.

McCollum kept the score even with three and a half minutes left in the second period, as Jared Gomes tried to net a backhand shot alone in front of the net. The Griffins goaltender made a huge glove save to keep the score tied at two.

Eric Selleck eventually put the Rampage up for good at 16:48 of the third period. Michael Caruso kept the puck inside the Griffins end and Scott Timmins found Selleck from behind the net. Selleck’s shot found the top corner over McCollum for the game-winning goal.

McCollum recorded 19 saves while Markstrom earned the win with 24 saves.

The Griffins fall to 2-4-1-1 through eight games and the Rampage improve to 3-4-0-1.

The Griffins stay in Texas for their next two contests, playing the Texas Stars Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. EDT at the Cedar Park Center and Houston on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. EST.

Three Stars: 1. SA Eric Selleck (game-winning goal); 2. SA Jon Rheault (two goals); 3. GR Brent Raedeke (goal)