Griffins advance to second round of AHL playoffs with 5-3 win Friday night
By Pat Evans –
GRAND RAPIDS – With a 4-3 win against the Abbotsford Heat at Van Andel Arena, the Grand Rapids Griffins will advance to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs in their journey to defend the cup.
Grand Rapids captain Jeff Hoggan scored twice in front of 7,641 fans, the ninth largest crowd in Griffins playoff history. Wednesday’s loss at Van Andel Arena was the 10th largest crowd. The game was Hoggan’s first two-goal playoff game as a Griffin.
The Heat took an early lead on a power-play goal from defenseman Shane O’Brien atop the right circle that flew past Griffins goalie Petr Mrazek at 14:21 of the first period.
Down 1-0, the Griffins knew the first period wasn’t their best. Following a regrouping in the locker room, Grand Rapids came out ready to play in the second, Hoggan said.
“We just said we had to pick it up,” Hoggan said. “We knew it wasn’t our best period and we got a lot of poise in here and have been in these situations. Just quietly said lets go. Coach came in, we addressed a few things and got back to work.”
The Griffins came back with a goal from forward Teemu Pulkkinen at 7:26 of the second period with a power-play slapshot from the left of the net that beat Abbotsford goalie Joni Ortio.
About two minutes later, Griffins forward David McIntyre lost control of the puck in front of an open net and passed it to his right as Ortio righted himself. The puck found Hoggan who tipped the puck into the open net to take a 2-1 lead.
At 13:16 of the second, Abbotsford forward Max Reinhart passed the puck across the ice and found defenseman Kane Lafranchise who weaved his way around Mrazek and backhanded the puck in to tie it up.
Hoggan struck again with 33 seconds left in the second as Griffins forward Cory Emmerton passed from the corner boards and the puck bounced around until it hit Hoggan and found its way into the net.
The late second-period goal told Abbotsford head coach Troy Ward that the rest of the game would be an uphill battle.
“It was tied 2-2 near the end of the second and we made a boo-boo,” he said. “We go into the locker rooms 2-2, they’re even with us and they’re nervous because we win a lot of road games. But 3-2 and they carry a different posture.
“That was the turning point in the game.”
Sheahan added a fourth goal for the Griffins 4:51 into the third as he collected a rebound and netted the puck past a recovering Ortio.
A minute later, a penalty on Griffin Ryan Sproul gave Abbotsford its fourth power play of the night and forward Markus Granlund found the top corner of the net just seconds into the man-advantage to bring the Heat to within one.
Abbotsford had a few chances late in the game, but failed to capitalize. One chance included Granlund on a shorthanded breakaway.
“We had two basically open nets tonight and they didn’t find the back of the net,” Ward said. “We just didn’t find the way to the back of the net. That’s kind of the way the whole series has gone.
“It’s close most games and our looks didn’t turn into goals and some of their looks turned into goals.”
Griffins forward Landon Ferraro added an empty-netter with 13.4 seconds left in the game.
The game was the last for Abbotsford franchise, as the parent club Calgary Flames announced intentions to move the team in the off-season. Although disappointed, Ward said the season still was a success as they were one of the best road teams in the AHL this season.
“It was a good year of development for our franchise,” Ward said. “Do you want to finish tonight? No. But at the same time you have to develop hockey players and we’re glad we did that.”
Meanwhile, the Griffins will wait to see who they play in the next round on their way to defend the Calder Cup.