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Ferraro's Shootout Goal Ices Icehogs 5-4
Coetzee notches first 2-goal game...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
December 14th, 2011

Landon Ferraro scored a huge goal in the 7th round of the shootout to give the Griffins a 5-4 victory over the Rockford IceHogs. Grand Rapids twice rallied to tie the game and force an extra session before Smith and Ferraro provided the margin of victory. Willie Coetzee scored a pair of goals including a brilliant solo effort, rookie Trevor Parkes scored his first AHL goal, and sniper Frankie Pare showed signs he is breaking out of his season long slump, tallying his fourth of the year. Joey MacDonald hung on to record the win, making 29 regulation stops and closing the door on 6 of 7 in the shootout.

The Griffins got on the board early when Estoclet snared Hutton's clearing attempt and put a shot right back at him that was redirected by Coetzee. The lead was short lived however as Rockford got it back a few minutes later when Shaw skated around MacDonald who was down and deposited the puck into the empty side of the net. Lavin gave the IceHogs the lead later in the period when he snuck a puck between MacDonald and the net. Shaw ran through the crease and bowled over Joey, with no penalty called on them. Grand Rapids killed off a huge 5-on-3 powerplay to keep the score close. Pare came out of the box, followed Tatar in and blistered his pass into the net from the circle. Shots on Goal: GR 6 - Rock 12.

The second period quickly got ugly with lots of scrumming after the whistle. MacDonald made a save and was out of position when Pyett took a knee in the crease and blocked a sure goal (and the crowd rejoiced). The Griffins were in penalty trouble most of the period, but were saved by an especially aggressive penalty killing scheme. Shots on Goal: GR 9 - Rock 7.

Coetzee stole the puck at the line and made an absolutely sick move to drag around a sliding defenseman, freeze Hutton and roof it for his second of the game. Rockford got it right back when Shaw snapped the puck in over MacDonald who was on his knees and unable to get back up. Segal made it 4-3 for Rockford when he tipped a long blast from Lalonde behind MacDonald. Trevor Parkes saved his first AHL goal for a good time, notching the game tying goal on a scrambly play in front. Raedeke and Parkes crashed the net and Parkes poked the loose puck under Hutton's pads. Johnson took a puck to the head along the board and left the game for the trainer's room. Grand Rapids threw everything they had at the IceHogs net late in the period, but could not get the go ahead goal. Shots on goal: GR 11 - Rock 12.

OT
After a quick opening flurry, the Griffins were in trouble. The IceHogs kept pressure up in the GR end and the Griffins could not clear the puck. Coach Fraser used his timeout to get his team regrouped, and when play resumed they started attacking the Rockford net again. Tatar had a breakaway but was interfered with and then just missed the shot. The Griffins had a 4-on-3 powerplay for 19.9 seconds, but couldn't get the puck past Hutton. Shots on goal: GR 2 - Rock 2. For the Game: GR 29 - Rock 33.

The Shootout
Fraser and the Rockford bench were really angry with each other as both coaches stood on the bench and yelled and pointed at each other. Olesz was the first shooter for Rockford, but Joey flashed the glove and snared the puck. Nyquist went first for GR and made a little move before trying to go five-hole but was denied. Pirri went side to side and got MacDonald's feet moving before slipping the puck between his pads for a goal. Smith shot down the side of the ice, cut in and snapped a shot under Hutton to tie the shootout at one. Connelly was next for the IceHogs and put a shot on net that MacDonald flicked up and over the cage. Coetzee for GR made a nice deke but hit Hutton's pad. Shaw smoked a shot right into Joey's chest, followed by Raedeke who went wide, cut in and fired the puck over the net. MacDonald made a pad save on McLean and Estoclet flew down the ice and shot the puck over the net. Round six featured Ben Smith ringing a shot off Joey's chest protector and Aubry firing the puck wide of the net. Segal had a nice chance, but Joey made a huge save to set the stage for Ferraro who wristed a high shot in over Hutton for the win.

Lines:
Tatar - Johnson - Nyquist
Parkes - Raedeke - Callahan
Estoclet - Andersson - Coetzee
Pare - Ferraro - Aubry

Pairings:
Smith - Janik/Lashoff
Janik/Lashoff - Pyett
Exelby - Amadio

Starter: MacDonald
Backup: Pearce

Scratches:
Ehrhardt - Shoulder (back soon)
Brunnstrom - Ankle
Piche

PP:
Tatar - Johnson - Nyquist
Janik - Smith


PK:
Andersson - Pare
Janik - Smith

Ferraro - Tatar
Exelby - Pyett

Raedeke - Callahan

Observations:

Another game where the team battled back for the win. Even more impressive if you know that a lot of them weren't feeling well and had to battle through that.

Logan Pyett is a frequent target of the boo birds both at the rink and on this site, but I will give credit where it was due, and he played a pretty strong game tonight.

Willie Coetzee looked really comfortable tonight and showed off some of the jaw-dropping moves he entertained us with in TC. If he can get his confidence up and play like that more often, he will score a lot of goals. He could have easily had three or four with the chances he had.

Andersson was very noticeable on the PK and was extremely aggressive, picking off puck and either clearing the zone or starting a rush. His game has really picked up one he was removed from being the primary offensive center on this team.

Trevor Parkes played like someone who did not want to go back to the ECHL tonight. He was much more involved then he was earlier in the season during his last stint. He was very physical early in the game, banging bodies along the boards, and went to the high traffic areas, willing to pay a price for a scoring chance. He was rewarded with his first goal after scoring 4 in 4 games in Toledo.

MacDonald looked tired for most of this one and while he made some great saves, he looked to be having a hard time getting back in position much of the night. He was awesome in the shootout and got his team a win.



Official Game Sheet