Chicago clawed back from an early 3-0 deficit to keep Grand Rapids winless at home with a 6-5 overtime victory Friday night. Photo/Grand Rapids Griffins
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he division rivalry is back for another season between the Chicago Wolves and the Grand Rapids Griffins. And the Wolves strike first with a 6-5 overtime win at Van Andel Arena over the Griffins Friday night.
Sebastian Wannstrom secured the winning tally during a power play just under two minutes into the overtime period when he crashed the net and stuck the puck past Grand Rapids goalie Tom McCollum.
Wannstrom’s goal destroyed Grand Rapids’ hopes of netting their first home victory of the season in four tries.
“It’s always been like that with Chicago,” Landon Ferraro said following the game. “We’ve had so much history with them and it doesn’t matter if you’ve been here for five years or new this year – you always come and play against them.”
The Griffins jumped out to a huge 3-0 lead over the Wolves, hitting the mark on their first three shots against Chicago netminder Matt Climie. Andy Miele scored twice within the opening six minutes of the game, giving the Griffins their first two-goal lead on home ice this season. Miele’s first goal came off a pass from Teemu Pulkkinen that he redirected past Climie just 1:22 into the opening frame.
The second goal came minutes later with a backhand to the top-shelf before Miele collided with Climie.
Andreas Athanasiou maintained momentum – and Grand Rapids’ perfect shooting percentage – after taking a pass from Ryan Sproul at the Griffins’ blue line, speeding behind the defense and rocketing a wrist shot from the top of the left circle inside the far post.
Chicago would get on the board at the 16:51 mark of the opening frame with a goal similar to Miele’s first. Shane Harper deflected Terry Broadhurst’s feed past Petr Mrzaek from close range.
Closing out the first period, a pair of Wolves penalties set the Griffins up with a two-minute 5-on-3 advantage that carried over 1:33 into the second frame. Despite the advantage and fresh ice, however, the Griffins could only muster two shots.
“If we get one thing going then it’s another thing that’s hurting us a little bit,” Grand Rapids coach Jeff Blashill said post-game. “We’ve got guys who just have better games in them.”
The failure to convert would ultimately give the game to Chicago, which scored three goals in less than five minutes for a 4-3 lead and to chase Mrazek from the goal in favor of McCollum.
Phillip McRae knocked in a rebound of Christ Butler’s shot, Ty Rattie connected on a long shot from the left boards for the equalizer and then Jeremy Welsh scored from the slot at 7:30 for the lead.
“It was a tough physical game and I kind of got the sense that we were just scrambling around,” McCollum said. “In a situation like that, you just have to try to come in and help the guys settle things down.
Grand Rapids tied things up when Climie wandered out to the right of the net to play the puck, but his pass was deflected by Athanasiou who in turn quickly through it to a waiting Martin Frk who tapped it in from the crease.
The Griffins sprinted out to an early 3-0 advantage by lighting the lamp on their first three shots against Matt Climie, but the Wolves clawed back to take a 4-3 lead and, eventually, the win in the first meeting of the season between these Midwest Division rivals.
McRae would earn his second tally of the night on a redirection at the 17:16 mark of the second frame. The goal came on a power play, being the first that Grand Rapids has given up all season in 27 of 28 attempts by opponents.
Ferraro would net the equalizer that would eventually send the game into overtime at the 8:14 mark of the third period. Chicago gave up a turnover deep in it’s own zone and with some help from Jeff Hoggan and Alexey Marchenko, Ferraro notched the goal.
With one second remaining in regulation, Mitch Callahan was called for an offensive-zone boarding penalty, giving Chicago a 4-on-3 power play advantage into what would be Grand Rapids’ first foray into the new AHL seven-minute overtime period.
The penalty would set the stage for Wannstrom’s game-winning goal.
Ferraro said that you can’t think about the atmosphere surrounding a game like this and that it comes with the game.
“We’re having bigger issues right now,” Ferraro said. “We have to get moving and be able to play a full 60. We had a really good first 10 and started to slowly back off. And like I said, they are big and skilled and can make plays. They showed us that tonight.”
Blashill spoke on one of those issues, saying that Grand Rapids needs to eliminate easy chances at the net.
“We’re spending too much time in our zone and we’ve got to do much better in our (defensive) zone,” Blashill said. “We’ve got lots of work to do.”
Chicago improves to 4-1-2-0 on the season while Grand Rapids falls to 3-3-1-0. Despite only allowing two goals on 22 shots, McCollum took the loss for Grand Rapids. Mrazek turned aside 15 of 19 shots. Climie escaped with the victory and a tally of 21-of-26 shots stopped.
The division rivals will meet again Wednesday as the Griffins look for their first home win of the year while the Wolves will want to continue building momentum. The rematch is slated for an 11 a.m. start at Van Andel Arena.
WOLVES 6, GRIFFINS 5 (OT)
Chicago 1 4 0 1 — 6
Grand Rapids 3 1 1 0 — 5
First Period—1, Grand Rapids, Miele 2 (Pulkkinen, Callahan), 1:22; 2, Grand Rapids, Miele 3 (Hoggan, Pulkkinen), 5:53; 3, Grand Rapids, Athanasiou 1 (Sproul, Jensen), 13:57; 4, Chicago, Harper 2 (Broadhurst, Cannone), 16:51. Penalties—Bruton, Grand Rapids (roughing), 3:15; Beach, Chicago (fighting), 6:15; Bruton, Grand Rapids (fighting), 6:15; Frk, Grand Rapids (interference), 7:58; Beach, Chicago (fighting), 16:25; Beach, Chicago (game misconduct), 16:25; McCarthy, Chicago (roughing), 16:25; Jensen, Grand Rapids (fighting), 16:25; Pulkkinen, Grand Rapids (goaltender interference), 16:25; Bordson, Chicago (interference), 17:12; Cannone, Chicago (hooking), 19:33; Sopel, Chicago (high-sticking), 19:33; Sopel, Chicago (fighting), 19:33; Ferraro, Grand Rapids (fighting), 19:33.
Second Period—5, Chicago, McRae 2 (Butler, McCarthy), 2:51; 6, Chicago, Rattie 4 (unassisted), 6:33; 7, Chicago, Welsh 3 (Bordson, Wannstrom), 7:30; 8, Grand Rapids, Frk 1 (Athanasiou), 10:52; 9, Chicago, McRae 3 (Butler, Sopel), 17:16 pp. Penalties—Harper, Chicago (boarding), 11:48; Bruton, Grand Rapids (unsportsmanlike conduct), 11:48; Ouellet, Grand Rapids (hooking), 15:27.
Third Period—10, Grand Rapids, Ferraro 1 (Hoggan, Marchenko), 8:14. Penalties—Welsh, Chicago (high-sticking), 0:40; Ferraro, Grand Rapids (goaltender interference), 2:46; Hoggan, Grand Rapids (interference), 10:45; Callahan, Grand Rapids (boarding), 19:59.
Overtime—11, Chicago, Wannstrom 2 (Bordson, Fraser), 1:56 pp. Penalties—None.
Shots on goal—Chicago: 12-14-11-4—41; Grand Rapids: 9-7-10-0—26. Power plays— Chicago 2-6; Grand Rapids 0-4. Goalies—Chicago, Climie (21-26); Grand Rapids, Mrazek (15-19), replaced by McCollum (20-22) at 27:14. A—4,244. Referee—Jon McIsaac. Linesmen—Kevin Hall and Jesse Pletsch.
