HAMILTON, Ont – In game one at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, the Grand Rapids Griffins prevailed against the Hamilton Bulldogs by a score of 4-3. These teams are closely matched, evenly splitting their regular season meetings. At first, last night’s game continued in that fashion with the scored tied at two when the horn sounded at the end of the first period.
Darren McCarty, a four-time Stanley Cup winner, Darren McCarty, has been playing in Grand Rapids this season due to injury rehabilitation and his availability helped his club get going. McCarty opened the scoring at 5:01 of the period, assisted by Mattias Ritola. Just 58 seconds later, Hamilton’s J.T. Wyman tied the score, assisted by Kyle Chipchura and Ryan Russell. Grand Rapids rookie center Joakim Andersson gave the Griffins the lead back just 51 seconds later, with McCarty assisting. McCarty was later chosen as first star of the game, earning his second point of the night with the assist. Shawn Belle brought the Bulldogs back to tie with the Griffins at 9:47, assisted by David Desharnais and Brock Trotter. The offensive onslaught then stopped as quickly as it had started, with the final 10:13 of the period remaining deadlocked. Shots for the period were almost evenly matched at 13 for Grand Rapids and 10 for Hamilton, and no penalties were called. The second period remained scoreless as Grand Rapids outshot Hamilton again this time by a 14-10 margin. Three penalties were called in the second, as Brock Trotter was called for delay of game at 2:12, and Andrew Conboy sat for hooking at 9:25, while the only penalty assessed to the Griffins was called at 12:05 when Jamie Tardif, returning to the lineup for the first time since March 4, was called for holding. Justin Abdelkader broke the tie with a goal just nineteen seconds into the third period with the assistance of Ville Leino and Tom Galvin. Hamilton had a power play opportunity to tie the score when Sergei Kolosov was called for hooking at 10:11, but the Grand Rapids’ penalty kill was perfect. After that, no penalties were called for the remainder of the game. One more goal was scored by the visitors when Darren Haydar scored at 13:06, giving the Griffins a two-goal lead, with Abdelkader and Leino on the assist. Hamilton was able to pull within one goal at 18:08 when Dan Jancevski and Mike Glumac assisted Desharnais (with his first goal and second point of the game). The game ended with Grand Rapids once again leading in shots on goal with eight to Hamilton’s six,
Grand Rapids goaltender Jimmy Howard denied 23 of Hamilton’s 26 shots for the Griffins, while Marc Denis allowed four goals on 35 shots. McCarty was the game’s first star, while Abdelkader was named second star and Hamilton’s Shawn Belle was third star of the game. The teams return to the ice again tonight in Hamilton at 7 p.m. Games three and four are scheduled for Monday and Wednesday in Grand Rapids at VanAndel Arena.
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