[dropcap]A[/dropcap]n early deficit doomed the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday night as they surrendered a 5-2 decision to the Lake Erie Monsters in the first of two neutral-site preseason games between the two teams.
The Monsters gained momentum early after Andreas Athanasiou was called for interference just 19 seconds into the opening frame. At 1:48, Monsters left wing Michael Schumacher fed the puck to center Joey Hishon as he entered the Griffins’ zone. Hishon landed a backhanded shot over Tom McCollum’s shoulder for an early power play goal.
After falling short a man due to a hooking call on Cody Corbett, Lake Erie’s Markus Lauridsen earned possession of the puck inside his own blue line. He rifled a clearing shot towards the Grand Rapids net at 7:58, slipping the puck past McCollum’s pads for the 2-0 lead.
Grand Rapids would respond at the 13:06 mark of the same period when Athanasiou took a pass from Colin Campbell and found his way around Sami Aittokallio of Lake Erie to half the deficit. The Monster’s would respond over four minutes later when Mike Sgarbossa beat McCollum with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Sgarbossa would tally his second goal at 10:47 in the second period for put the Monsters up 4-1.
Midway through the period, Lake Erie swapped Aittokallio in favor of goaltender Roman Will, who remained perfect in the net until 6:45 of the third period when Jerome Verrier lifted an unassisted rebound above Will’s shoulder to halve the deficit again, 4-2.
Stefan Elliot would seal the deal for Lake Erie however at the 13:35 mark. Elliot’s shot found the skate of a Grffins defender and deflected past McCollum for the final.
McCollum finished the contest stopping 32-0f-37 shots. Aittokallo blocked 10-of-11 while Will turned away 19-of-20.
The Griffins and Monsters will play again tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. Grand Rapids will open their 19th season Friday when Lake Erie visits Van Andel Arena. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
