Grand Rapids Defense, Penalty Kill Gives Griffins 2-1 Series Lead In Central Division Semifinals

Grand Rapids Griffins/Detroit Red Wings defenseman Erik Gustafsson (56) skates with the puck in a game against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. (Source: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images)

The Grand Rapids Griffins beat the Manitoba Moose in Game Three to go up 2-1 in the Central Division Semifinals.

Grand Rapids outshot Manitoba 11-6 in the first period and took advantage of the shot volume, coming away with the game-opening goal at the 11:57 mark by forward Jakub Rychlovsky.

The Moose got the opening two shots of the second frame, but then Grand Rapids shut them out in shots for the next 11:41 minutes where the Griffins put up five of their own including their second goal by defenseman Erik Gustafsson. At exactly the 17:00 mark, Griffins forward Carter Mazur shot a loose puck that found him in the slot to hammer in Grand Rapids' third goal. But Manitoba would try to mount a comeback as captain Mason Shaw deflected the puck into the goal off a Dylan Anhorn shot from the slot 38 seconds before second intermission, putting the score at 3-1 at the beginning of the third period.

The Griffins kept the shooting barrage up outshooting the Moose 12-3 in the opening 15:30 of the third frame. After offsetting penalties that opened the ice for 4v4 hockey, Manitoba forward Samuel Fagemo took advantage of the open ice and scored for the Moose to cut the deficit 3-2.  After an empty-netter, Grand Rapids would have this game win and series lead 2-1 for themselves.