GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Ilari Filppula notched his second goal of the third period with just 2:54 left to lift the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena. After the Marlies had scored twice in a span of 2:41 to knot the score late in regulation, Filppula ripped a shot past Ben Scrivens from the right faceoff dot less than a minute later to give Grand Rapids its fourth win in its last six home games. The Griffins , who moved into a tie with Lake Erie for fifth place in the North Division, will enjoy three days off for Christmas before hosting the Monsters on Sunday at 4 p.m. Grand Rapids also sits just three points behind second-place Toronto and Abbotsford in the division race. The teams swapped goals in the first period, with Jamie Tardif burying a Jakub Kindl pass from the left side during a power play at the 6:12 mark. The assist marked the 75th of Kindl’s Griffins career, tying him for ninth on the franchise’s all-time list with Tomas Kopecky and Ed Patterson. He added a second helper on Filppula’s game-winner to give him sole possession of ninth place in club annals. Justin Hodgman answered for the Marlies at 12:28, taking control of the puck along the right boards and darting toward the net before lifting a backhand past Joey MacDonald’s blocker. The netminder gained a measure of redemption with 2:22 left in the period, though, making a nice glove save to deny a penalty shot attempt by Christian Hanson. Grand Rapids again jumped on top 1:05 into the second frame. Joakim Andersson blasted a shot past Scrivens from the right hashmarks off a feed from Brendan Smith , putting the Griffins ahead 2-1. Filppula increased the home team’s advantage to two midway through the third, winning a one-on-one battle with his defender and slipping a shot past Scrivens from the right circle at the 9:07 mark. But a nifty play by Toronto’s Darryl Boyce made it a 3-2 contest, as he sped down the slot, took a pass off his skate and put the puck off the far post and in with 6:28 remaining. The Griffins called a timeout just after another potential Marlies goal was waived off, but Toronto (16-13-0-4) still netted the equalizer at 16:13. Danny Richmond threw a puck on net from the left corner that bounced off a scrum and landed behind MacDonald, with Jay Rosehill getting credit for the goal. However, Filppula ensured that the throng of 8,385 would go home happy by scoring his team-leading 12th goal of the season, and the Griffins withstood a final push by Toronto to secure the win. Comment@prohockeynews.com
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