The Grand Rapids wrapped up the first half of the 2013-14 AHL season tonight when they won their second straight game against the Iowa Wild, 4-1.
Grand Rapids celebrate their their 25th win of the season after beating Iowa 4-1 Saturday night. (Photo provided by the Grand Rapids Griffins)
After losing Friday night to Iowa, the Griffins were down 1-0 for the first 26 minutes of Saturday night’s game. Iowa’s Kyle Medvec slapped the puck over Griffins goalie Tom McCollum’s glove at the 18:49 mark to take their lone lead of the game.
Just under seven minutes into the second, the Griffins netted their first goal when Andrej Nestrasil wristed an unassisted shot just inside the left post. Seven minutes into the third, Grand Rapids took the lead when Xavier Oullet rocketed the puck to Mitch Callahan, who sent it past Wild goalie John Curry’s blocker.
Four minutes later, Tomas Jurco gave the Griffins some breathing room by taking a pass from Corey Emmerton and putting it in the net. Brennan Evans earned the fourth goal of the night after banking the puck off the boards and sending it the length of the ice into an empty net.
Despite being down early, the Griffins out shot the Wild 29-17 by the time they took the lead. They had the shot advantage on the night, 34-18.
Despite the low number of saves he had to make, McCollum reached a career milestone Saturday night when he earned his 60th victory as a Grand Rapids Griffin. He joins the ranks of Jimmy Howard (90) and Joey MacDonald (109).
As a whole, the Griffins finished the first half of the 2013-14 season with a 25-10-1-2 record. The Calder Cup Championship squad from last season had a 22-12-2-2 by this point in the season.
The Griffins now lead the Midwest Division by 10-points over Chicago and lead the Western Conference at 53 points. They are one point behind AHL co-leaders Manchester and Springfield.
The Griffins will host Chicago on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in game three of their six-game home stretch.
Griffins fall to Wild, 3-2
The Iowa Wild earned their first win in four tries when they took down the Grand Rapids Griffins in a 3-2 performance Friday night at the Van Andel Arena.
Corey Emmerton tallied the first goal of the game after he sent the puck high above the net and Wild goalie John Gustafsson. Emmerton recovered and put it in the net, much to the surprise of Gustafsson.
The Wild evened things up when McCollum gloved a shot and placed it in his crease. Raphael Bussieres swept in and sunk the puck past the left post. Carson McMillan would later score again to give the Wild the lead off a sharp-angled shot, slipping between McCollum and the post.
Jurco set up the tying goal at the 7:57 mark after Gustafsson stopped his shot but allowed it to ricochet away, Teemu Pulkkinen came in and sunk it passed the line.
With just over four minutes in the game, Iowa tallied the game winner when a fortunate bounce allowed Jake Dowell to tap it in.
