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McCollum's Whitewash Cools Heat 3-0
Callahan 16th good enough for 6th in AHL...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
January 15th, 2014
Former Griffin Joey MacDonald received a rude welcome home as the undermanned Griffins turned in a dominant performance on home ice winning 3-0. David McIntyre scored the game winner late in the first, while the Griffins also got tallies from Landon Ferraro and Mitch Callahan whose 16th of the campaign moved him into a tie for 6th in the AHL in goals. Thomas McCollum was not called on to make a lot of tough saves, but was perfect between the pipes, stopping all 35 shots he faced for his 17th win and 2nd shutout.
Nice pregame ceremony with captain Jeff Hoggan presenting former Griffin and Calder Cup Champion Craig Billins with his championship ring. Callahan had a great chance right off the bat, speeding in off the wing and putting a shot on MacDonald that he seemed to have trouble with. Frk working hard had a great chance, splitting the defense and going in on MacDonald who made the save. Kremyr got behind the Griffins as a powerplay ended, and Sproul took a penalty to deny him a shot on McCollum. McIntyre scored late when he picked up his own rebound and lifted it in over MacDonald glove-side. Shots on Goal: GR 15 - Abb 11.
Great chance by McIntyre on a partial break and then Frk following up had a nice rip. Ferraro had a couple of quick pops at the loose puck in front of Allen before it was covered. McIntyre fired a big shot form the the line that Callahan got a stick on in the circle to redirect it past Allen with Tootoo screening in front. The goal was credited to Tootoo who it hit on the way through. Great shorthanded chance by Ferraro sent in alone by Emmerton , but he fired it into Allen's glove. Shots on Goal: GR 11 - Abb 14.
Midway through the period, Ferraro fired a shot from the circle that hit a Heat player's stick in the slot and redirected past a stunned MacDonald for a 3-0 lead. The heat tried to turn up the pressure late, but really couldn't get setup for a good chance. The Griffins penalty killers did a great job killing a late penalty to McIntyre to keep the goose egg, and the Griffins got the win and the shutout. Shots on Goal: GR 6 - Abb 10. For the Game: GR 32 - Abb 35.
Lines:
Blashill dressed his 11 available forwards and 7 defenseman tonight
Tootoo/Callahan - Jarnkrok - Pulkkinen
Ferraro - Nestrasil - Callahan
Grant - Aubry - Parkes
Callahan/Tootoo - McIntyre - Frk
Pairings:
Paetsch - Almquist/Jensen
Marchenko - Ouellet
Evans - Sproul/Jensen
Starter: McCollum
Backup: Coreau
Scratches:
Hoggan
Fournier
PP:
Ferraro - Nestrasil - Frk
Ouellet - Almquist
Callahan - Jarnkrok - Pulkkinen
Sproul - Paetsch
PK:
Callahan - Jarnkrok/Nestrasil
Evans - Marchenko
Ferraro - Nestrasil/McIntyre/Jarnkrok
Paetsch - Almquist
Observations:
After faltering in a couple of games earlier in the month, McCollum has strung together three very strong performances. While the shot total for Abbotsford was deceiving, he was very confident and made the saves he had to.
Martin Frk was originally awarded his first AHL point, an assist on McIntyre's goal, but a scoring change took it away. He has played much better and had a couple of dangerous opportunities. It should be only a matter of time before some of them start going in for the rookie winger.
Tootoo also played a much more disciplined game which in turn made him more effective. He drew a penalty and wasn't out of position looking for the hit.
It is a good thing for the Griffins that David McIntyre is starting to heat up offensively. The gritty center has 4 points in his last three games and has been a catalyst for Jordan Tootoo and Mitch Callahan among others.
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