Grands Rapids Advance To Central Division Finals

Detroit Red Wings forward Carter Mazur (34) who won the Player of the Game Award. (Source: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)

The Grand Rapids Griffins beat the Manitoba Moose 5-2 to advance to the Central Division Finals.

Grand Rapids had a dream start and that too in quick fashion, putting up the first five unanswered shots in the top 3:28 minutes of the period. After drawing a penalty 36 seconds later, the Griffins would cash in with a power play goal from forward Eduards Tralmaks eight seconds into the man-advantage. After that, even though Manitoba would outshoot Grand Rapids 4-2 in a shockingly low-shooting remainder of the frame that lasted 15:02 minutes, the Moose could not find the equalizer before the first intermission.

Manitoba would get off to a better start in the second period and eventually cap off with the equalizer after Colby Barlow passed the puck away from a crowd behind the net to defenseman Dylan Anhorn who scored from the slot. However, after a Moose power play would end with Manitoba only putting up one unsuccessful shot, Grand Rapids would find themselves on the power play again and two seconds before it's expiration, the Griffins would cash in with a man-advantage goal for the second time in the game, this time off the stick of defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka for the 2-1 lead into the second break.

Just 97 seconds into the third period, Grand Rapids forwards Amadeus Lombardi and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard would double-team Anhorn in a 2-on-1 where Lombardi passed the puck to Brandsegg-Nygard who sniped it into the net for the insurance goal and the 3-1 lead.