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Griffins Offense Awol in 3-0 Loss to Rampage
Griffins suffer 5th straight home loss...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
February 14th, 2014
After romping through the AHL with the number one offense for most of the season, the Griffins have fallen on hard times as of late. For the second straight game the San Antonio Rampage shut them down, running away with a 3-0 win, and outplaying the Griffins badly on home ice. Grand Rapids suffered its second shutout in five games and managed just a single tally in two games this weekend. Petr mrazek got little help, stopping 22 of 25 shots for the loss.
The first period was a continuation of yesterday's game, neither team generating much, and a lot of back and forth play in the neutral zone. Ferraro had the best chance of the period for the Griffins when he gloved down a puck, made a nice move to walk around the defenseman and put a shot on Markstrom from the slot. McIntyre and Howden came together in front of the Rampage net for some extra words before being sent to the box. Shots on Goal: GR 7 - San 5.
San Antonio opened the scoring early in the second on a goal by Gilroy. Mrazek made the first stop but allowed a juicy rebound that Gilroy buried for a 1-0 lead. The Rampage really controlling play through most of the second and the Griffins are having a hard time matching their level of play. Wilson took a nice pass from Butler in the slot and stroked it past Mrazek to extend the lead to 2. Grand Rapids showing some life on a late powerplay, accounting for most of their shots in the period. Great work by Callahan and Nestrasil to create pressure in front and generate several quality scoring chances. Shots on Goal: GR 14 - San 12.
The Rampage put the nail in the coffin less than four minutes into the third. Ouellet didn't tie up Butler in the corner and allowed a centering pass to Shore in the slot for a 3-0 lead. The Griffins spent a lot of time running around in disarray, unable to get the puck out of their end. It looked like the Rampage were on the powerplay as they controlled play for large stretches. Grand Rapids did kill off both Rampage powerplays in the third, the one area of the game that worked for the home team. Shots on Goal: GR 7 - San 8. For the Game: GR 28 - San 25.
Dressed 11 F and 7 D, which meant a lot of different line combinations and defensive pairings.
Lines:
Nestrasil/Frk - Sheahan/Nestrasil - Callahan
Aubry - Jarnkrok - Pulkkinen
Hoggan - Emmerton - Ferraro
Frk/Hoggan - McIntyre - Pulkkinen/Aubry/Jarnkrok
Frk - Nestrasil - Aubry
Pairings:
Evans - Sproul/Jensen
Paetsch - Marchenko
Ouellet - Almquist
Starter: Mrazek
Backup: McCollum
Scratches:
Jurco - Olympics (Announced as a scratch)
Grant - upper body injury
Tootoo - lower body injury
Parkes
Fournier
PP:
Callahan - Jarnkrok - Nestrasil
Pulkkinen - Almquist
Emmerton - Sheahan - Ferraro
Sproul - Paetsch
PK:
Callahan - Jarnkrok
Evans - Ouellet/Almquist
Ferraro/Emmerton - Sheahan
Paetsch - Marchenko
Observations:
After watching the team sleepwalk through a loss on Friday night, a stronger effort was expected on Saturday, but that did not happen. The team is mired in its worst stretch of the season, which is fueled in part by a lineup that changes every night, injuries, and the all-star break. Coach Blashill has his work cut out for him to right the ship, but its not quite time to panic yet.
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