Grand Rapids Takes Game 1 of Central Division Finals
Photo Credit: Grand Rapids Griffins/Nicolas Carrillo
Grand Rapids Griffins (4) at Milwaukee Admirals (2)
Attendance: 3266
Officials
Referees : Stephen Hiff (46), Mike Sullivan (47)
Linesperson: Ryan Jackson (84), Shawn Oliver (56)
Griffins Lines
Mazur - Czarnik - Berggren
Aston-Reese - Kasper - Shine
Hirose - L’Esperance - Gettinger
Soderblom - Lombardi
Griffins Pairings
Edvinsson - Johansson
Simek - Tuomisto
Wallinder - Rafferty
Didier
Admirals Lines
Wiesblatt - Svechhikov - Tomasino
L’Heureux - Parssinen - Afanaysev
Schaefer - O’Reilly - Kemell
Mutter - Weatherby - Foudy
Admirals Pairings
Gravel - Stastney
Del Gaizo - Ufko
Wilsby - Gross
Goal Recap
After 10 days off, the Grand Rapids Griffins were back at it to take on the Milwaukee Admirals in Game 1 of the Central Division Finals. It was a bit of a slow start to the game and felt as though both teams were trying to conserve energy. It was almost like they were feeling each other out and waiting for their moment to capitalize on a mistake.
A little under five minutes into the game, the Griffins took the 1-0 lead over the Admirals. Carter Mazur was left alone next to the open half of the net allowing him to knock in Austin Czarnik’s shot. A huge save by goaltender Sebastian Cossa on the other end of the ice set Grand Rapid’s first goal of the night into motion.
With 4:25 to play in the opening period, the Admirals’ Juuso Parssinen sent a beautiful, smooth pass through the neutral zone to Zach L’Hereux, who took off down the ice and tied the game for Milwaukee.
Grand Rapids scored 3:50 into the second period to take the 2-1 lead over Milwaukee. Marco Kasper and Zach Aston-Reese took off down the opposite side of the ice while three members of the Admirals trailed close behind. From one face-off circle to the other, Kasper passed the puck just out of reach of Milwaukee’s Jordan Gross to Aston-Reese. Upon receiving the puck, Aston-Reese knelt to the ground and swept it into the net for the goal.
Yet again, Milwaukee was able to score an equalizer in the waning minutes of the period. With 3:42 left in the second, Phil Tomasino scooped up a rebound on the doorstep and backhanded it into the net for the 2-2 tie.
Halfway through the third period, Brogan Rafferty passed the puck to Kasper, who was making a move towards the net. Kasper smoothly chipped the puck off the corner and into the net to give the Griffins the 3-2 lead.
Joel L’Esperance sealed the deal with an empty net power play goal with 33.5 seconds left in the game.
But Wait!! There’s More!
Quick Thoughts
Multiple times the Griffins left Admirals forward Zach L’Heureux without a babysitter in the neutral zone, allowing him to have multiple breakaways. The Griffins need to find a way to keep an eye on L’Heureux at all times without playing man-to-man hockey.
Grand Rapids Captain Josiah Didier continued to throw his body in front of pucks as if he was Kevin Costner protecting Whitney Houston in the 1992 box office hit, The Bodyguard. It’s times like these when I wish the AHL had a shots blocked stat readily available to the masses.
Griffins Head Coach Dan Watson opted to roll with an 11-7 lineup again. By crafting the lineup this way, Grand Rapids has more veteran presence on ice without sacrificing the growth of the youth.
The power play drought is broken!!! After 11 power plays without a goal, Joel L’Esperance broke the Griffins' power play scoreless streak by scoring an empty net power play goal with 34 seconds to play in the game. There are naysayers and Debbie Downers who will say it doesn’t count as a power play goal. But, the stat sheet says that it is. So, I say that it is. Therefore, the drought is over!
Speaking of the power play, the Griffins need to go back to putting big bodies on the doorstep and drawing up more plays that take place down low. They look the best when deploying that tactic.
Jonatan Berggren is a menace to society but in all the right ways. Instead of incessantly jawing the refs when he’s upset with how the game is playing out, Berggren has turned his ire towards the opposition by knocking sticks out of their hands, chatting them up in the corners, and pushing them into placement on the faceoff.
3 Stars
1st - Marco Kasper (1g, 2a)
2nd - Phil Tomasino (1g, 0a)
3rd - Sebastian Cossa (27 shots faced, 25 saves, TOI 60:00)
What’s Next
The Griffins and Admirals meet for game two of the Central Division Finals in Milwaukee on Monday, May 20th at 7:00 pm CDT/ 8:00 pm EDT.
