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Howard Perfect in 1-0 Whitewash
Veteran netminder stops 43 shots and all 5 in shootout...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
Jimmy Howard turned in a dominant performance in net, outdueling impressive opponent Matt Keetley for the win. Howard stopped a personal best 43 shots during the game, becoming the all time saves leader in franchise history on the way to his third shutout of the season. He saved some of his best work however for the shootout, stopping all five Quad City shooters to let Cry Emmerton's tally stand up for the win. The Griffins played without three of their top offensive players in D Jonathan Ericsson, C Darren Helm and C Frankie Pare.
Mursak and Chucko had a wrestling match at the first whistle after a great scoring chance in front. Palin tried to get Justin Abdelkader to go but abby just pushed him away and skated back to the bench. Quad City is wearing the Griffins down physically, hitting them at every opportunity, especially after the whistle. Grand Rapids gets their first powerplay of the game, but Haydar quickly negates it with a slashing penalty. Shots on Goal: GR 9 - QC 17.
Chucko tied up Kindl and got several good shots on him before it was broken up. All Kindl could do was cover up and try to protect himself. The exchange leaves Grand Rapids on the powerplay, but it was abysmal and Quad City had better chances shorthanded then GR did with the advantage. McGrath came out of the box as his penalty expired and picked up the puck for a breakaway. He crashed into the post and the endboards after being bumped by the chasing defender. Leino had a breakaway late in the period, but was robbed by Keetley to keep the game scoreless. Shots on Goal: GR 14 - QC 16.
Grand Rapids started the third in trouble, and unable to get the puck out of their end of the ice. Neither team seemed to be able to make much happen offensively. Downey took a bad penalty late in the third to leave GR shorthanded for the last 2 minutes of the game, but the penalty killers came up big. Jason Jozsa made the play of the game when he knocked the shooter away from the empty side of the net just as the puck went through. Shots on Goal: GR 8 - QC 9.
The GRiffins had a powerplay in OT and had a couple of good chances, but time ran out and it was on to the shootout. Mattias Ritola was hurt towards the end of the extra session, but remained on the bench for the rest of the game. Shots on Goal: GR 3 - QC 1.
The Shootout:
The first shooter for QC was Greentree, and Larsson made an easy pad save. Leino tried to wait out Keetley, but ended up ripping it off his pad. Germyn was the second shooter for the flames but he was stopped by Larsson's stick. Haydar took Ritola's normal place in the shootout and fired a shot off Keetley's pads. Ericsson put a shot into Howard's pads followed by McGrath who missed the net. Seitsonen started round four and didn't get a shot off as the puck rolled off his stick. Emmerton rifled a shot over Keetley's glove for what turned out to be the winner. Lundmark had a chance to tie things up for Quad City but Howard flashed his leg pads and kept the puck out for the win. Shots on Goal: GR 1 - QC 0. For the Game: GR 35 - QC 43.
Lines:
Ritola - Abdelkader - Mursak
Leino - Oulahen - Tardif
Haydar - Emmerton - McGrath
Lemieux - Gagnon - Downey
Pairings:
Stafford - Jozsa
Kolosov - Pyett
Galvin - Kindl
Starter: Howard
Backup: Larsson
Scratches:
Pare
Helm - Charley Horse
Ericsson - Knee, Wrist, Shoulder
PP:
Leino - Oulahen - Tardif
Galvin - Kindl
Ritola - Abdelkader - Mursak
Haydar - Stafford
PK:
Oulahen - Gagnon
Galvin - Kindl
Ritola - Abdelkader
Kolosov - Stafford
Leino - Oulahen
Observations:
A near repeat of yesterday night. Quad City outplayed GR for most of the game, and the Griffins hung on long enough to eke out a shootout win.
Jimmy Howard was very good in net. He looked very confidant and on top of his game. You could tell that Quad City was getting frustrated late in the game as he calmly stopped everything they threw at him. Well deserved shutout, great performance.
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