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Revenge is Sweet as Griffins Tame Wild 4-1
Callahan's 15th stands as the game-winner...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
January 11th, 2014

Thomas McCollum redeemed himself and the Griffins offense got untracked, as they garnered a measure of revenge by defeating the Iowa Wild 4-1. Grand Rapids rallied back from an early one goal deficit to score four unanswered goals and avenge yesterday's 3-2 loss. Mitch Callahan scored his team leading 15th of the season which ended up being the game winner, while the Griffins also got scores from Nestrasil (4), Jurco (13) and Brennan Evans (4). McCollum stopped 17 of 18 shots to record his 15th win of the season..

The Griffins were ready to start on time tonight, coming out with some jump. The Wild did a good job of clogging up the middle and despite the disparity in shots on goal, the first period was a very close affair. The Wild struck first, late in the period. Parkes dove in front of the shooter, but Medvec still lifted a shot form the circle past McCollum, glove side. Ferraro got crunched at the whistle, leading to a scrum along the boards. Shots on Goal: GR 13 - Iowa 4.

Netsrasil won a faceoff, then got the puck back in the circle, walked into the slot and snapped a shot past Curry for a powerplay goal. Callahan with a big drive from the slot, Jurco had a chance with the rebound and then McIntyre too. Jurco smoked Medvec in the corner and he stayed down for awhile trying to draw a call, but the official didn't bite. Shots on Goal: GR 12 - Iowa 10.

McCollum made a great stop, one-on-one with Mercier to preserve the tie. Grand Rapids doing a good job of pressuring the net, and Ouellet let a bullet go from the point that found its way through traffic and was tipped by Callahan in front to bulge the twine behind Curry. Later in the period, the Griffins made it 3-1 on a slick goal by Jurco. Emmerton and Jurco were on a two on one, Emmerton passed and Jurco made three moves to freeze Curry before sliding the puck behind him. Late in the period, Iowa summoned its goalie to the bench for the extra attacker, and Evans put the game out of reach with his 4th of the season, a long shot into the empty net. Shots on Goal: GR 9 - Iowa 4. For the Game: GR 34 - Iowa 18.

Lines:
Ferraro - Emmerton/Jarnkrok - Frk
Jurco - Jarnkrok/Emmerton - Pulkkinen
Callahan - McIntyre - Tootoo
Grant - Nestrasil - Parkes

Pairings:
Paetsch - Almquist
Jensen - Ouellet
Evans - Sproul

Starter: McCollum
Backup: Coreau

Scratches:
Hoggan
Fournier

PP:
Ferraro - Emmerton - Frk
Sproul - Paetsch

Jurco - Jarnkrok - Nestrasil
Pulkkinen - Almquist


PK:
Callahan - Jarnkrok
Evans/Jensen - Ouellet

Emmerton - Ferraro
Paetsch - Almquist

Observations:

Nice to see McCollum turn in a better outing after yesterday's debacle. I give him full marks for owning the poor performance yesterday with the media and for turning it around tonight.

Nestrasil is really turning into a player this season. His powerplay goal established a new career high in goals and he has just about doubled his career high in points. He uses his big body in front of the net well, and has become one of the teams better face-off artists.



Official Game Sheet