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Bad Break Brings Griffins Sixth Straight Loss Grand Rapids Drops six straight... By Jason Kasiorek www.griffinscentral.com
If it weren't for bad luck lately, this team would have no luck at all. Looking to break a 5 game losing streak, the Griffins played well enough to win, but a questionable penalty shot called late in the game proved to tough to come back from. Defenseman Logan Pyett scored his 7th of the campaign, shorthanded, while sniper Jan Mursak notched his 18th late in the third. Rookie Thomas McCollum made 29 stops in a losing effort.
The Griffins had a hard time getting anything going offensively in the first. Rockford played a good game defensively, bottling up the Griffins. Klinkhammer came up with the puck to the right of McCollum midway through the period and lifted it over him for a 1-0 lead. Grand Rapids tied the score late in the period when Pyett fished the puck out of Fallon's pads and slammed it home with 4.7 seconds left on the clock. Shots on Goal: GR 8 - Roc 18.
Grand Rapids allowed Rockford unmolested access to the net and Aliu wristed a puck past McCollum stick side. McGrath had a chance to tie a bit later but missed a wide open net. The physical play started to pick up, and the Griffins began to show some life. Shots on Goal: GR 12 - Roc 11.
A scrum broke out behind the net, McGrath got smoked and Tardif came to his aid. McGrath got up and dropped the gloves. He pulled MacArthur's sweater over his head and unloaded on him. Delmore made a nice play to carry into the circle before hitting Mursak in front. Mursak redirected the puck backdoor past Fallon to tie the game at two. Late in the period Aliu was awarded a penalty shot and scored five-hole to regain the lead. The call was bogus as the defenseman was clearly trying to play the puck. McCollum went to the bench for the 6th skater with a minute left. Pyett sprinted the length of the ice to to bat away a sure goal into the empty net. As time ran out, Abdelkader attacked Petiot, they both eventually ended up on the ice, but little damage was done. Shots on Goal: GR 13 - Roc 3. For the Game: GR 33 - Roc 32.
Lines:
Vigilante - Newbury - Pare
Ritola - Abdelkader - Williams
Tatar - Rissmiller - Mursak
Emmerton - McGrath - Tardif
Pairings:
Kindl - Pyett
Kolosov - Janik
Ehrhardt - Delmore
Starter: McCollum
Backup: Larsson
Scratches:
Crosty - Scratch
PP:
Tatar - Rissmiller - Mursak
Janik - Delmore
Ritola - Abdelkader - Williams
Kindl - Pyett
PK:
Rissmiller - Mursak
Kolosov - Janik
Ritola - Abdelkader
Kindl - Pyett
Vigilante - Newbury
Emmerton - Tardif
Three Stars:
3 Klinkhammer - Roc
2 Mursak - GR
1 Aliu - Roc
Observations:
Tough break for the guys after a very good effort. If they play like they did tonight, they will win more than they lose. They had a great third period, playing as good a period as they have in at least a month.
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