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Marlies Maul Griffins 5-1
Griffins miss key opportunity to move up in standings...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
March, 23rd, 2011
The Griffins had another opportunity to beat a division rival and move up the standings, but like on Friday against Lake Erie, they came up short again. The Marlies scored early and often and got great goaltending from Ben Scrivens to net the win and move into a tie for third place with Grand Rapids. Meech had the lone goal for the Griffins despite 42 shots on goal. Jordan Pearce, vying for his 20th win, was pulled after giving up 3 goals on 12 shots in the first period.
Pearce gave up a big rebound that went right to the stick of Hamilton who fired it over a diving goalie and into the net to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. The griffins followed that up with a sloppy powerplay, with the Marlies establishing better pressure while shorthanded. Ehrhardt stole the puck at the line and walked in alone on Scrivens, but just couldn't get the shot off. The Marlies Voroshilovgrad had a breakaway but was pulled down, setting up a penalty shot. Pearce tried to poke the puck away but Voroshilovgrad slid it under him for a goal. The Griffins had a good chance late when they jammed the net with the puck laying in the crease, but were unable to get it in. Toronto came back down the ice and crashed the net, knocking Pearce and the puck into make it 3-0. Shots on goal: GR 16 - Tor 11.
Brown started the period between the pipes for Grand Rapids. Keefe tried to go with Voros, but the officials broke it up before anything happened. Five-on-three powerplay for the Griffins. Meech tools pass from Pare and drifted up the middle, snapping a shot past Scrivens. A third straight penalty to the Marlies set up another Griffins 5-on-3, but it was negated by a Meech holding penalty on a bad play at the line by Pare. Brown made a huge save to keep the Griffins momentum. brutal non-call on Tardif getting interfered with and knocked down. GR with a couple of point blank chances in front, but Scrivens came up huge. Kolosov cranked a Marlies player along the boards, drawing some attention, but the officials kept order. Shots on goal: GR 17 - Tor 6.
The Marlies ran the score up in the third getting a pair of goals from rookie Tyler Brenner, making his AHL debut. The second one looked like it should have been waived off as it entered the net while their was a crowd of players in the crease interfering with Brown. Shots on Goal: GR 9 - Tor 12. For the Game: GR 42 - Tor 29.
Lines:
Tatar - Filppula - Tardif
Minard - Emmerton - Pare
#5 Hedden - Andersson - Keefe
Straub - Raedeke - Ehrhardt
Pairings:
Janik - Pyett
Kolosov - Lashoff
Meech - Amadio
Starter: Pearce
Backup: #34 Brown
Scratches:
Smith - Knee
Owens - broken arm
Johnson - suspension
PP:
Minard - Emmerton - Andersson
Janik - Pyett
Tatar - Filppula - Tardif
Pare - Meech
PK:
Emmerton - Pare
Kolosov - Meech
Andersson - Tardif
Janik - Pyett
Observations:
The Griffins got soundly beaten by the Marlies tonight. They were outplayed most of the game, and for whatever reason had a hard time using their speed to get away from the big bodies of the Marlies. This is two games in the last four against division rivals that we have not showed up for. As badly as they were outplayed, they didn't look like they were ready from the opening face-off either.
Pearce looked bad on the first goal but shouldn't get much blame for the other two, despite being pulled.
Ehrhardt had a very good game up front for the Griffins. He went to the net, and played a very aggressive game. He even had a couple of good scoring chances.
The fourth line with Raedeke, Straub and Ehrhardt was the teams best for long stretches of the game.
Pare had a rough night defensively, but had several very good chances. He got no luck from the hockey gods tonight and just couldn't get a good bounce.
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