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Griffins Take Down Admirals 4-2
Callahan and Pulkkinen each net 10th in feisty Griffins win...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
December 13th, 2013

Friday the thirteenth turned out to be unlucky for the visiting Milwaukee Admirals who got beat up on the scoreboard and on the ice to fall to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Grand Rapids rallied back from an early deficit by scoring three straight goals, and then held off Milwaukee late. Ryan Sproul (6), Mitch Callahan (10) and Teemu Pulkkinen scored for the home team. Thomas McCollum picked up the win, his 8th of the season, making 17 saves.

Grant and Liambas dropped the gloves for a short tussle in front of the Grand Rapids bench. Grant got the sweater over his opponent's head and then they went to the box. Salomaki and Rask two on one, McCollum moved across the crease and tied himself up leaving a big hole for Rask to score. A few minutes later Rask wanted a piece of Evans and Evans destroyed him in a one sided beating. Tootoo drew a penalty, putting the Griffins on the powerplay. Sproul didn't waste time cashing in, picking a corner and slapping the puck in over Darling. Great second effort by Callahan in close. He picked up his own rebound and roofed it for his 10th of the campaign. Grand Rapids added another when Pulkkinen back door picked up the rebound from Almquist's shot and banged it home. Shots on Goal: GR 16 - Mil 8.

Sissons pulled the Admirals within one when he had a couple of pops at the puck alone in front of McCollum and pushed it between his legs. Liambas tried to catch Grant with his head down, but took the worst of it when Grant just saw him and laid him out. Tousignant went after Grant, an ill advised venture, as the Griffins enforcer pummeled him before the officials stepped in. Ferraro took a late hit behind the play touching off a scrum after the whistle. Rousseau pushed Callahan in front after a scoring chance, setting off another scrum. Tootoo drew Watson into a penalty, putting Grand Rapids up a man, but they couldn't capitalize. Shots on Goal: GR 16 - Mil 5.

The Admirals had their only two powerplay of the game in the third leading to an uptick in shots, but McCollum and the penalty killers kept the score close. Darling went to the bench with 2 minutes left on the clock. Jarnkrok stole the puck and went in 2-on-1 with Callahan but shot and missed the net. Milwaukee used their time out in the closing seconds. Tootoo took a pass from Sheahan and started a breakout, hitting Ferraro for the empty netter. Griffins win 4-2. Shots on Goal: GR 9 - Mil 13. For the Game: GR 41 - Mil 19.

Lines:
Tootoo/Hoggan - McIntyre - Callahan
Hoggan - Jarnkrok - Pulkkinen
Grant - Nestrasil - Jurco
Ferraro/Tootoo - Sheahan - Jurco
Jurco - Janrkrok - Callahan

Pairings:
Evans - Sproul/Jensen
Ouellet - Marchenko/Jensen
Paetsch - Almquist

Starter: McCollum
Backup: Coreau

Scratches:
Emmerton
Fournier

PP:
Hoggan - Jarnkrok - Nestrasil
Sproul - Almquist

Jurco - Sheahan - Ferraro
Pulkkinen - Paetsch


PK:
Callahan - Sheahan
Paetsch - Almquist

Jarnkrok/Ferraro - McIntyre
Evans - Marchenko

Observations:

McCollum got the job done, but looked a little shaky, and his propensity for wandering away from the net probably had the cardiac crew on standby at the Arena.

Callahan was rewarded for his strong play as of late by seeing some time with both the captain and Jurco, and showed he didn't look out of place. He had several quality chances and was at his agitating best.

Brennan Evans did a great job of settling things down in his own end, something that was missing with his scratch on Wednesday. He also provided a physical element and answered the bell in a devastating fight.



Official Game Sheet