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Griffins Take Foot Off the Gas Allow Wolves to Rally back 4-3 in Overtime
Wolves overcome three goal first period to take 2-0 series lead...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
May 16, 2026
The Grand Rapids Griffins learned a brutal lesson in playoff hockey on Saturday: never take your foot off the gas. After roaring to a 3-1 first-period lead, a series of laissez-faire shifts, fatigue, and a catastrophic overtime breakdown allowed the Chicago Wolves to storm back for a 4-3 victory. With the loss, the Griffins now find themselves in a dangerous 2-0 hole in this best-of-five series.
First Period
The Griffins got off to a fast start in game two, notching the first goal of the game just over two and half minutes in. With the Wolves, Philp off for high-sticking, the Griffins powerplay connected in just 7 seconds. Brandsegg-Nygard put a shot on Primeau and then Dries in the slot sniped the rebound back into the net, stick-side for a 1-0 lead. Carter Mazur with speed cut in on net for a chance but couldn't get the shot off. Grand Rapids pressuring in the Wolves zone and John Leonard with a pass into the slot that Brandsegg-Nygard buries for a 2-0 lead. Dominik Shine with a big hit, smoked Robidas in front of the benches. The wolves had a 2-on-1 on Postava who made a huge stop. A Dominik shine cross-checking penalty put GR on the penalty kill. Bad break for the Griffins as Antti Tuomisto broke a stick, allowing a mismatch and the Wolves were able to get loose and Unger-Sorum lifted the puck over Postava to cut the lead to one. Jakub Rychlovsky roughed up in front of the Wolves net after a scoring chance and GR goes back to the powerplay. Tralmaks in front picked up the rebound of an MBN shot and buried it glove-side for a 3-1 lead. Mazur was checked in front of the bench and absorbed a nasty elbow to the head with no call. Postava made a huge save, which sparked a heated scrum in front of the net.. Anton Johansson was in the middle of it, and a second Wolves player engaged him, but somehow there were only offsetting minors assessed. Axel Sandin-Pelikka with a one-timer from the slot that went over the net. Slavin got knocked down on a big hit by Shine. Gabriel Seger with speed on the forecheck, beat the Wolves defender to the puck and created some pressure with the steal. Shots on goal: GR 12 - Chi 8.
Second Period
Tuomisto to the box for interference leaving the Griffins a man short. Incredible stop by Postava with a Wolves player laying on his legs. Shorthanded steal by Dries who walked out of the corner and fed Shine for a rip into Primeau's chest. Another good kill as the PK has been very effective in the postseason. Wolves had a partial break, but Postava came way out of the net and played the puck to Wojciech Stachowiak. Tralmaks with a nice play and the Griffins had a quick pair of chances. Ondrej Becher with a great look in front. Amadeus Lombardi won a battle in the corner then threaded the needle between a pair of defenders to cut in on net for a chance. This drew a penalty and the griffins went back to the powerplay. Despite converting on their first two powerplays, the third opportunity looked bad. The team couldn't get set up with possession and got no shots on goal. They were outshot by the Wolves who had a shorthanded chance by Robidas. Brandsegg-Nygard smoked Foote with a heavy hit along the end boards. Grand Rapids back on their heels, and unable to get the puck out of their own end for a long shift. As usually happens this led to a penalty, this time by Stachowiak for holding. They managed to kill it off, but shortly after the penalty expired, the Griffins all collapsed in on one side of the net and left Ryabkin wide open back door for an easy score to cut the lead to one. Rychlovsky fought through a check for a point-blank chance in the slot. Stachowiak was there for the rebound, but Primeau held it. Johansson with a big hit and a steal, firing a rocket on net, and then following it up, jamming at the loose puck until the whistle. Leonard in the middle of an altercation at the buzzer. Shots on goal: GR 11 - Chi 15.
Third Period
A penalty to Foote led to an early man-advantage opportunity. Nice play by Leonard on his stomach to hit Dries with a pass in front for a chance. The Griffins putting on a shooting gallery, cycling the puck and creating chances for long stretches. At the 11-minute mark shots are 11-1 in favor of Grand Rapids. You could feel the air sucked out of the arena when Cal Foote,s rising shot beat Postava high to knot the score at three. I am sure this one Postava would like back, as it didn't appear to be a screened shot, it just went by him. Postava came out of the net to play the puck and fell down but managed to scramble back to the net before any shots were directed his way. Shots on Goal: GR 13 - Chi 3.
Overtime
The Wolves gave the Griffins a great chance to start the overtime as Legault went off for high-sticking giving the powerplay a chance to shine. Unfortunately, the powerplay looked abysmal and unable to produce anything other than a low percentage chance by Shine. Postava had to come up huge on a tic-tac-toe passing play by the Wolves and the puck going cross-crease for a redirection. The wheels fell off a few minutes later as a bad pass from Sandin-Pelikka ended up in William Lagesson's skates. No one went to his aid, and by the time he found the puck he had run out of time and just fired it up the boards. His defense partner continued to move away from the play and into the corner like he was expecting a pass, and this allowed Unger-Sorum to walk in all alone and score the game winner. A brutal ending to the game for the Griffins. Shots on Goal: GR 3 - Chi 3. For the Game: GR 39 - Chi 29.
Starting Lines:
#43 Mazur - #93 Lombardi - #65 Shine
#81 Rychlovsky - #49 Stachowiak - #34 Tralmaks
#19 Leonard - #15 Dries - #28 Brandsegg-Nygard
#25 Becher - #11 Seger - #26 James
Pairs:
#22 Wallinder - #23 Johansson
#56 Gustafsson - #4 Tuomisto
#37 Lagesson - #44 Sandin-Pelikka
Goaltenders:
Starter: #35 Postava
Backup: #33 Cossa
Scratches:
#8 Buium
#29 Danielson (Injured)
#30 Augustine
#41 Kannok Leipert
#47 Doucet
#51 Watson
#55 Genborg (injured)
#77 Angle
Power Play:
#43 Mazur - #93 Lombardi - #49 Stachowiak
#56 Gustafsson - #34 Tralmaks
#28 Brandsegg-Nygard - #15 Dries - #65 Shine
#44 Sandin-Pelikka - #19 Leonard
Penalty Kill:
#15 Dries - #65 Leonard/Shine
#37 Lagesson - #4 Tuomisto
#19 Leonard - #11 Seger
#22 Wallinder - #23 Johansson
Observations:
Splitting up the first line seemed to help energize Sheldon Dries, but Leonard still wasn't a catalyst, and Shine was a non-factor. Moving MBN seemed to help the first line, but Shine was not an adequate replacement and hindered Mazur and Lombardi who were forced to do more individual efforts.
The team is going to have to figure out how to give a full 60-minute effort if it wants to stave off elimination on Tuesday. They were playing their game in the beginning and then backed off and let Chicago take over. Tough to blame Postava for the loss, it was not his best game, but his team did him a disservice.
I thought Ondrej Becher looked very good on the fourth line, rotating in for Doucet. He made some good plays and was noticeable in traffic in front. Dylan James was effective in very little playing time in a physical role, but if he is only going to play a few minutes a game, perhaps a different player should be dressed to have more of an impact.
The Griffins looked tired in the latter stages of the game, and the Wolves appeared to get stronger as things went on. Not sure why GR would be out of gas at this point, but it was concerning. Is Chicago playing a heavier game that is wearing GR down, or is GR,s short bench (not playing the fourth line as a unit for large periods of time) catching up to them?
Finally on the game winner - Lagesson really got let down by his teammates - no forwards came into the Griffins zone to help when he was trying to track down the puck in his skates. There was no support for the lone defender with the puck (a common sight in the latter stages of this game). It was a tough thing to recover from (not sure why he wasn't tracking the puck as he was the last man back in the defensive zone), but there didn't appear to be any verbal warning where the puck was or communication about where to go for the outlet. His partner inexplicably decided to take himself out of the play and not provide support - and it cost them this time.
What Must Change for Game 3
1. Maintain a Full 60-Minute Effort
● The Trend: The team routinely backed off after building a lead, showing severe signs of fatigue in the latter stages of the game while Chicago grew stronger.
● The Fix: Implement disciplined shift lengths to conserve energy and maintain high-pressure pacing through all three periods.
2. Restore Top-two line balance
● The Trend: Moving Brandsegg-Nygard to the top line helped (a little), but it came at the expense of the effectiveness of the second line.
● The Fix: move Dominik Shine out of the top six, and find another player who can take his place either with Dries/Leonard or Lombardi/Mazur. This team needs both of these lines going to force a game four.
3. Improve Defensive Communication and Support
● The Trend: The Griffins repeatedly collapsed to one side of the ice, left opponents wide open on the backdoor, and completely abandoned defensive partners in their own zone.
● The Fix: Low forwards must actively skate back into the defensive zone to provide outlet passing options, and defensemen must communicate verbally to avoid costly turnovers.
4. Fix the Power Play Setup
● The Trend: While the power play converted early, it completely stalled on later opportunities-failing to establish possession, register shots, or generate high-percentage chances in overtime.
● The Fix: Simplify the man-advantage entries and prioritize clean puck recovery along the boards to set up the cycle effectively.
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