Small Mistakes Lead to Griffins’ Demise

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins fell to the Iowa Wild by a score of 5-2 on Wednesday night. Normally you can judge a game by the score. However, the score was not indicative to how Grand Rapids played. They looked solid throughout much of Wednesday night’s game. Almost all of their 34 registered shots on goal were high quality shots, the defense was strong, special teams looked good, and for the bulk of the game, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic looked quick and confident.

Despite Iowa scoring twice, the Griffins controlled the first period. The bulk of play took place in Grand Rapids’ offensive zone, and they laid multiple hits to knock the Wild off of the puck. Unfortunately, missed connections led to turnovers and the inability to win battles along the boards led to momentum shifts. 

In the first half of the second, the Griffins had two strong power plays where they did everything but score. In both of their man advantages Grand Rapids came out guns blazing hitting anything that moved — pucks and opponents. They won every board battle and drew up plays which should have ended in the back of the net. Wild netminder Zane McIntyre was not quite ready to let up a goal and ended up being the Iowa’s best penalty killer of the night. 

With 5:24 to play in the second, Griffins forward Kyle Criscuolo cut Iowa’s lead in half, 2-1, with a goal from the doorstep. Initially Criscuolo, who came from behind the net, was going to pass the puck off to his linemate Cross Hanas on the other side of the crease. However, McIntyre moved from the left to the right in an attempt to prevent Hanas from having a wide open net to shoot on. This move opened up just enough of the left side to allow Criscuolo to sweep the puck into the net. By the time McIntyre realized the play had changed, the goal had been scored.

Kyle Criscuolo catches Zane McIntyre looking right and scores on his left.

Grand Rapids Griffins cut the Iowa Wild's lead in half, 2-1.#10WAGROWN #IAvsGR #GoGRG @FPC_AHL pic.twitter.com/tRfqLGPIvb

— Elaine Shircliff (@imaraindancer) January 12, 2023

Criscuolo explained going behind the net can give the forward a better vantage point of what the goaltender might do next, as well as how things are playing out across the ice.

“You can kind of lose your defender, as well, when you get behind the net,” said Criscuolo. “I think the biggest thing of that play was I think Sodes (Elmer Soderblom) was high. So, it brought one of the other defenders there.”

With one Wild defender tied up, there was one defender left to try and prevent Hanas and Criscuolo from scoring. As we now know, it didn’t work out so well for Iowa’s defense. 

The biggest part of that play came from Criscuolo capitalizing on McIntyre’s inability to know what was going down behind the net at that time.

“That’s the toughest thing for the goalie if he has to switch posts and isn’t sure what’s on the back side. He’s thinking about that as well,” Criscuolo said about what made his goal work. “I think we could do more of that, switching sides behind the net.”

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With 1:50 to play in the second period, Chase Pearson tied the game at two for the Griffins with a shorthanded goal. The fact it was assisted by Nedeljkovic, who launched the puck during a line change, made it even sweeter. 

“It was a great play by him. When I saw him come out of his net, I just kind of waited a second and then figured out where the puck was going to be,” said Pearson. “It went in the o-zone and fortunately I was able to get on it first.”

GOALIE ASSIST ALERT!

Alex Nedeljkovic leaves the net unattended to clear the puck.

Chase Pearson rushed to pick it up. Did some fancy schmancy puck work and deposited it into the back of the net to tie the game at two.#10WAGROWN #IAvsGR #GoGRG @FPC_AHL #LGRW pic.twitter.com/WW0StPhyrt

— Elaine Shircliff (@imaraindancer) January 12, 2023

Even though they allowed Iowa to score a last-second goal, Grand Rapids looked the best during the second. With 5:30 left in the period, the shot count was in favor of the Griffins, 10-1. Normally allowing your opponent to register one shot on goal is looked at as a pure defensive or goaltending stat. However, in this situation it was a testament to how the offense was playing. And it all started the moment the puck dropped.

“I think we were winning a lot of faceoffs in the second period, which helped us play with the puck a lot,” explained Criscuolo.

Once the faceoff was won, the Griffins kept the puck in the offensive zone for as long as possible, preventing the Wild defense from having fresh legs.

“I think the defending team, the Wild, were tired by the time they got the puck,” said Criscuolo. “So, all they could do was chip it out, and our d was doing a good job of transitioning quickly and getting it back into the offensive zone.”

Pearson expanded upon the offensive power, “Probably cliché, I felt like we got pucks behind their defensemen  and got on the body and caused them to turnover. When you do that consistently, a lot of time you create space in the offensive zone.”

The third period lay way to a successful Wild penalty shot, with Patrick Curry crashing the net to score the goal leading to the Griffins 5-2 demise. 

So, where was the breakdown? For starters, the Griffins didn’t play a full 60 minutes of hockey. There were small mistakes and lackadaisical moments throughout the game which allowed the Wild to take control of small chunks of each period. Iowa took their chances and ran wild with them.

Criscuolo noted another breakdown was the lack of rushing the net from the Griffins. “I think we played on the perimeter too much in the o-zone,” he said. “ I think we could have taken more pucks to the net.”

If the Griffins can rush the net and not cling to perimeter play so much, they will likely be able to skate away with a win when the two teams play again on Friday night.