Griffins, Marlies Split Weekend Series

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins split their weekend series with the Toronto Marlies, winning 5-4 on Friday and falling 3-2 on Saturday. Both games ended in a thrilling overtime.

The Griffins ability to be able to bounce back from goal deficits was on display this weekend. Friday’s win featured four unanswered goals by Grand Rapids, including the game-winner 1:08 into extra time. Saturday’s game may have been a loss, but the Griffins battled back from a one-goal deficit with 10 seconds left in the third period to push the game into overtime.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve always been a team that comes back and wins big games. So, it doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Grand Rapids forward Givani Smith. 

Hanas Shines Bright

Rookie Cross Hanas made quite a bit of noise for the Griffins this weekend. On Friday night, he was the overtime hero, scoring the game winning goal 1:04 into extra time. Leading up to overtime, Hanas played a pivotal role on both of Pontus Andreasson’s goals in the third period — one of which happened because Hanas forced a turnover in the neutral zone. The next night, when everyone sat with bated breath watching the clock slowly tick down to zero, Hanas ignited new life in the team, scoring with 10 seconds left in the third period to push the game into overtime. Once the puck hit the back of the net, Van Andel Arena went crazy.

Even Griffins goaltender Victor Brattstrom was openly excited about the last second goal.

“I think my adrenaline exploded. It was amazing,” he said.  “Happy to see the fans react the way they did.”

Playing Rough Has Its Drawbacks

The Griffins pride themselves on being able to balance skill with their rough and tough style of play. Coach Ben Simon wants his team “to play hard and play physical”. He went on to explain that “there’s a game within the game” and there are a few players who “have the potential to play that role”. 

However, sometimes, you have to remind yourself to not cross the line and leave your team shorthanded to deal with precarious situations. On Saturday, the Griffins gave up a point because their rough and tough nature crossed the line and put them on a two-man disadvantage in overtime.

“We took a cross checking penalty or tripping penalty because we weren’t in a great spot, and then we go and take a penalty for punching a guy in the face. That’s just dumb,” said Simon. 

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Penalty Kill Numbers Are Slightly Misleading 

Heading into this weekend, the Marlies had the number one power play in the league. They then proceeded to go 2-for-5 and 1-for-6 against the Griffins on Friday and Saturday.

Despite allowing Toronto’s power play to score three goals this weekend, Grand Rapids’ penalty kill made it very difficult for them to have success on the man-advantage. Both of Toronto’s power play goals on Friday were scored with 18 or less seconds left on the man advantage. Saturday’s power play goal happened during a 5-on-3 in overtime off of, as Coach Simon called it, a “fluky bounce”. 

Other than giving up three goals, Coach Simon was fairly pleased with how the penalty kill played this weekend, especially on Saturday. 

“All in all I thought we did a really good job,” said Simon of the Griffins’ PK. He expanded more by saying, “I thought all-in-all, we didn’t give up too many grade-A chances on the power play. And, when we had an opportunity to block shots, we did that; and when we needed a key save tonight, we got it.” 

Brattstrom was another bright spot for the Grand Rapids’ penalty kill on Saturday night.

“At the end of the day, your best penalty killer is your goaltender. and I thought tonight Victor was very good. Made some key stops,” said Simon.

For me, the highlight of the Griffins kill was watching Seth Barton try to steal the puck from Marlies goaltender Dryden McKay while he was attempting to clear it. McKay didn’t even realize Barton was behind the net. Knowing that McKay was more focused on clearing the puck than his surroundings, Barton took the chance and the puck slowly wobbled towards the neutral zone instead of being smoothly cleared into the Griffins defensive zone. 

Next up for the Griffins (6-6-1-0) is hosting a mid-day game against the Rockford IceHogs (5-5-0-1) on Wednesday, November 16 at 11am EST.

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