Late Surge of Energy Not Enough for Grand Rapids
Dominik Shine of the Grand Rapids Griffins high fives his teammates after scoring against the Milwaukee Admirals on May 221, 2024. (Photo Credit: Milwaukee Admirals)
Grand Rapids Griffins (2) at Milwaukee Admirals (5)
Attendance: 4,612
Officials
Referees : Cody Beach (45), Brody Sutter (71)
Linesperson: Justin Johnson (57), Dan Kovachik (72)
Griffins Lines
Mazur - Czarnik - Berggren
Aston-Reese - Kasper - Shine
Hirose - Danielson - Soderblom
Gettinger - Lombardi - L’Esperance
Griffins Pairings
Johansson - Didiier
Simek - Rafferty
Wallinder - Tuomisto
Admirals Lines
Wiesblatt - Svechkov - Tomasino
L’Heureux - Parssinen - Foudy
Afanasyev - O’Reilly - Kemell
Schaefer - Weatherby
Admirals Pairings
Gravel - McKeown
Del Gaizo - Ufko
Wilsby - Gross
Stastney
Goal Recap
Egor Afanasyev and Fedor Svechkov lit the lamp for the Milwaukee Admirals in the first period. Both goals came from the faceoff circle to the right of Grand Rapids Griffins netminder Sebastian Cossa and flew through his five-hole. In both plays, Cossa’s line of vision was blocked by the Griffins' defense, causing him to react slowly to the play.
Zach L’Heureux scored the lone goal in the second for the Admirals to make it 3-0 over the Griffins. It was a beautiful shorthanded breakaway goal, which was marred by the fact that L’Heureux promptly took an Unsportsmanlike Conduct minor for antagonizing Cossa shortly after scoring.
A little over three minutes into the third period, Marc Del Gaizo launched a rocket from above the faceoff circle to the right of Cossa into the back of the net. This time Afanasyev was screening Cossa instead of the Griffins. However, when Griffins defender Albert Johansson moved to the top of the crease to push Afanasyev out of the way, he prevented Cossa from being able to fully extend his glove to stop the shot from flying into the net.
During the final five minutes of play, a spark ignited inside Grand Rapids, allowing them to score two goals in the span of 1:16, effectively spoiling Yaroslav Askarov’s shutout.
After receiving a pass from Austin Czarnik, Carter Mazur knelt on the ice and fired a shot from the slot into the net,4-1. Good news! Mazur scored on the power play, giving Grand Rapids power play goals in back-to-back games.
A little over a minute later, Dominik Shine cut Milwaukee’s lead in half, 4-2, with a goal from the bottom of the right faceoff circle. Zach Aston-Reese kicked the play in motion with a pass from the bottom of the faceoff circle to Taro Hirose at the top of the slot. Hirose quickly bumped the puck to Shine, who was slowly gliding past the faceoff dot.
Unfortunately for Grand Rapids, it was too little too late. Jasper Weatherby sealed the deal for Milwaukee, 5-2, with an empty net goal in the final minute of play.
But Wait!! There’s More!
Quick Thoughts
Nate Danielson made his professional debut for the Grand Rapids Griffins, centering Taro Hirose and Elmer Soderblom. As to be expected for a young guy coming straight from Juniors, Danielson was a bit shaky and timid at times. Danielson needs a bit more patience with the puck, as well. Once the kinks are worked out, he should be a lovely addition to the team.
Simon Edvinsson was out with a minor day-to-day injury. It was glaringly obvious he was missing from the lineup, as Grand Rapids could have used the combination of a big body and skill when Milwaukee started to get hot.
The power play was worse than it was in game one.
For some reason, the Griffins play a more complete game when they ice a lineup of 11-7 than 12-6. I’m not sure if it’s because Josiah Didier can be a free-range defender or if the forwards do better with different line combos throughout the game.
Three of the Admirals’ five goals came from in or above the faceoff circle to the right of Sebastian Cossa.
Milwaukee threw a lot of all-night ragers on Sebastian Cossa’s doorstep throughout the game. There were way too many bodies in and around the crease. With his view constantly blocked, I honestly have no clue how Cossa was able to stop as many shots as he did last night.
The refs did a good job of keeping things in check tonight. Calls weren’t lopsided, and they were unafraid to dole out misconducts and unsportsmanlike penalties when players started to act foolish.
Zach L’Heureux is a good player, but his less-than-savory actions harm the Milwaukee Admirals as much as they help them.
Grand Rapids came alive in the final five minutes of the game, scoring two goals in 1:16 to spoil Askarov’s shutout bid. If they can emulate that same energy for 60 minutes, the Griffins will have no problem beating the Admirals.
Lil Tidbits
With this win, Milwaukee splits the series, 1-1, with Grand Rapids. This will be the first time in four playoff meetings between the two squads that the series doesn’t end in a traditional sweep.
Grand Rapids’ loss broke their seven-game postseason winning streak against Milwaukee, which started eight years ago and included four straight wins in Milwaukee.
3 Stars
1st - Yaroslav Askarov (Milwaukee, 29 shots faced, 27 saves, TOI: 59:28)
2nd - Egor Afanasyev (Milwaukee, 1g, 1a)
3rd - Kevin Gravel (Milwaukee, 0g, 1a)
What’s Next
Game three of the Central Division Finals will take place on Wednesday, May 22 at 7 pm in Grand Rapids, Michigan at Van Andel Arena.
