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Griffins Rally Late For 4-3 OT Win
Miele provides overtime heroics ...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
February 28th, 2016
Despite scoring the first goal of the game (Callahan 16), Grand Rapids found itself in quite a hole heading into the third down by a pair. Tomas Nosek (10) started the rally and Robbie Russo (4) tied the game in the closing minutes setting the stage for Andy Miele's heroics. Miele was injured by a high-stick and returned to the game with under a minute left to score the winner and give the Griffins their fifth straight win. Jared Coreau turned aside 18 shots for his 26th victory of the campaign.
Great scoring chance by Tyler Bertuzzi early. Nosek following up fell over Pennington and drew the ire of a couple of Wolves. Bertuzzi again with speed tried to split the defense and was taken down leading to a Griffins power play. Unfortunately it was an awful power play with no shots and very low time of possession in the offensive zone. Sproul with a big shot from the line, broke his stick and then tried to kick the puck out of danger. He stayed with the play to keep it from being a 3-on-1 and helped take away the scoring chance. Callahan snuck in back door and converted a great pass from Zengerle to give Grand Rapids a one goal lead. Chicago evened things up on a fluky play when Blain's shot hit Ouellet's skate and redirected past Coreau for a power play goal. Zengerle found open ice and broke in alone on Binnington and fired a rising shot just wide. Another Griffins penalty and another Wolves power play goal. Benoit fires a shot from the circle past Coreau with Caron screening in front. GR needs to stay out of the box. Shots on goal: GR 9 - CHI 7.
Bertuzzi with a great chance and taken down to the side of the net giving the Griffins another chance to tie things up. Anthony Mantha with a shot from the slot and Callahan picked up the rebound, firing it just wide. Chicago made it 3-1 when Nightingale's point shot hit Aubry in the slot and changed direction beating Coreau. The Griffins are battling, but Chicago has more jump in the second period. Ouellet hit Nosek with speed and he broke in alone on Binnington, but couldn't get the puck past him. Shots on goal: GR 13 - CHI 10.
Great play at the line by Sproul to hold the puck in and fire it to Nosek in front who chipped it over Binnington to cut the lead to 1. Great stop by Coreau on a quick shot from the slot. Kristo got a piece of Jensen on a rush and headed to the box for kneeing, setting up another Griffins powerplay. Clark hit Tangradi after the whistle and he responded with a slash and a trip to the box, negating the the last half of the powerplay. Zengerle in front of a wide open net, blew a shot through the crease and out the other side. Callahan hurt behind the play, doubled over on his way to the bench. Petrecki trying to goad Aubry into a fight at the end of a shift, but Aubry wouldn't bite. Russo with a bomb from the right point tied the score with 2:42 left on the clock. Kristo hit Campbell from behind late in the period, giving the Griffins a powerplay that would carryover into overtime. Shots on goal: GR 14 - Iowa 4.
Miele high sticked along the boards and cut bad, delayed penalty, but Grand Rapids controlling. Chicago given a 4 minute penalty which would carry through the rest of the overtime session. Grand Rapids seemed to be content passing the puck around and taking perimeter shots. A haggard looking Miele came out with less than a minute left in the overtime, nose packed with gauze and his face a mess. He curled in at the line and wired a shot past Binnington to complete the comeback on a 4-3 overtime win. Shots on goal: GR 13 - Iowa 11. For the game: GR 42 - 29.
Lines:
Bertuzzi - Nosek - Frk
Tangradi - Miele - Mantha
Callahan - Zengerle - Campbell
Hoggan - Aubry - Rechlicz/Campbell
Pairings:
Ouellet - Russo
Lashoff - Jensen
Paetsch - Sproul
Starter: Coreau
Backup: McCollum
Scratches:
#11 Cleary
#13 Andersson
#23 Grant - Injury
#32 Hirschfeld - Seizure
#49 Chouinard
PP:
Callahan - Miele - Mantha
Frk - Sproul
Tangradi - Zengerle - Bertuzzi
Paetsch - Ouellet/Russo
PK:
Aubry - Nosek
Lashoff - Jensen
Miele - Campbell
Paetsch - Ouellet
Observations:
What an exciting win and a great capper to the weekend. The crowd exploded when Russo tied the game, and it was pandemonium when Miele returned from the room to score the winner. Great resiliency from this group!
The 1st powerplay unit featured Frk and Sproul on the points, and despite not scoring a goal, they provided an interesting dynamic with both of them boasting high velocity, heavy shots that hurt when they hit you. The Wolves defense had their hands full defending those two blazing away.
Russo has taken his game to a whole new level the last week, notching 2 goals and 5 assists in the last 4 games and really becoming an impact player. He leads the defense in scoring and the AHL in plus/minus.
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