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Admirals Torpedo griffins 3-1
Milwaukee defense stifles Grand Rapids...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
The Griffins put forth a better effort against the visiting Milwaukee Admirals, but it was not enough to overcome the ads stifling defense. Grand Rapids managed only 22 shots on goal, but probably had an equal number blocked before they reached the net. The Admirals offense was able to take advantage of several gifts to record the win. Super rookie Tomas Tatar scored the only goal for Grand Rapids while red hot Daniel larsson made 38 stops in the losing effort.
Grand Rapids didn't play too badly in the 1st but Milwaukee still had the edge in time of possession and quality chances. Give Milwaukee credit, their defense kept the Griffins from getting to the net or setting much up. At the end of the period a pair of Admirals players started to rough up Ritola in the corner drawing a crowd of players and offsetting penalties before order was restored. Shots on Goal: GR 6 - Mil 15.
Kindl took exception to something behind the play and smoked Santorelli, sending him to the ice. The Admirals finally got on the board about five minutes into the period on a very questionable goal. Larsson made the stop at the line and then Jessiman fell on him and pushed the puck into the net. Kolosov protested to no avail, and Larsson was so mad, he climbed out of the net and threw the puck in disgust. Two minutes later the Ads got another gift when Kolosov tried to corral a puck in the corner and had it bounce off the heal of his stick and right out in front of Larsson. Wacey Rabbit pounced on it and chipped it over Larsson for a 2-0 lead. Newbury dropped the gloves with Ford soon after and got the big defenseman's jersey over his head as he punched away. The downside was his Jersey was not tied down and came off, earning him a game misconduct in addition to an instigating minor. Shots on Goal: GR 9 - Mil 11.
The hitting and physical play started to pick up in the third. Janik and Yonkman squared off, a big mismatch, but Yonkman was merciful and only gave Janik a few shots and a stern look. Milwaukee was doing a great job of keeping Griffins shots from reaching the net. The Griffins finally got on the board midway through the third. Tomas Tatar drifted in and lifted a shot from the circle that rose and dropped in just under the bar, it was the rookie's 7th of the campaign. Grand Rapids really put on the pressure later in the period. Janik rang a point shot off the post through traffic, but that was the closest they would get. Olvecky took a shot in the face which stopped play for awhile slowing momentum. Larsson was called to bench for the extra attacker with about a minute left in the game, but it backfired when Kindl couldn't handle the puck at the point, and it bounced through for Thuresson who tapped it into the empty net. Shots on Goal: GR 7 - Mil 15. For the Game: GR 22 - Mil 41.
Lines:
Ritola - McGrath - Mursak
Tatar - Rismiller - Williams
Emmerton - Pare - Walsh
Vigilante - Newbury - Tardif
Pairings:
Kolosov - Janik
Kindl - Delmore
Crosty - Pyett
Starter: Larsson
Backup: McCollum
Scratches:
Axelsson
Ehrhardt
PP:
Ritola - Rissmiller - Tardif
Kindl - Williams
Tatar - McGrath - Pare
Williams - Delmore
PK:
Rissmiller - Mursak
Kolosov - Janik
McGrath - Pare
Kindl - Delmore
Three Stars:
3 Pickard - Mil
2 Larsson - GR
1 Spaling - Mil
Observations:
The guys played a better game tonight than yesterday, but unfortunately not good enough to beat a better team.
I can't say enough about the game to game improvement from Tatar. He had another very good night, taking the puck to the net. He created several turnovers with his strong work along the boards as well.
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