SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The outside game time temperature was forty degrees and gradually dropping as the game went on. One could argue the visiting hockey team brought this cold weather with them from Southwest Michigan. But the Grand Rapids Griffins brought more than unseasonably cold temperatures to San Antonio. They brought a solid team who had it all going their way as they defeated the San Antonio Rampage 5-2 at the AT&T Center Thursday night before a crowd of 3,709.
The Griffins, in the middle of a season-high six-game road trip in which they dropped the first two at Milwaukee and Rockford, controlled most of the game and when it got close, they found a way to put some distance between them and the home team. San Antonio had the game’s initial six shots and some glorious chances before Grand Rapids turned the lights on the scoreboard with their first shot on goal six minutes into the game.
Adam Keefe notched his first of two in the game off a scramble in front of Rampage goaltender Matt Climie. It was his first of the season in just his fourth game off a feed from Derek Meech and a strong puck-carrying effort from Evan Rankin. With two minutes left in the period and San Antonio’s Jamie Bates off for holding, Jamie Tardiff centered the puck from the left side of the goal and it was tipped in by Chris Minard, a power play goal and his fourth of the season to make it 2-0 Griffins. Shots in the period favored San Antonio 9-8, but Grand Rapids goaltender Jordan Pearce remained strong leaving the Rampage stymied in the opening stanza.
The second period opened with San Antonio coming out flying drawing a tripping penalty to Logan Pyett just one minute in, Grand Rapids quickly shut down the power play and went to work on their own attack soon after. The Griffins stepped up the tempo, closed off the passing lanes and then finally capitalized on a penalty. With Maxim Goncharov off for Tripping, Griffins winger Tomas Tatar made it 3-0 on a disputed goal as a scramble in front led to a nifty doorstep goal with the net dislodged as the puck crossed the goal line. With a 3-0 lead and turning back every effort against their goal, it seemed like Grand Rapids might have delivered a knockout blow to the Rampage.
Finally, with just less than six minutes to go in the period and on their nineteenth shot, San Antonio got on the board with a beautiful tic-tac-toe play as the offensive unit entered the Rampage zone with speed and strength. Fighting off a backchecker, Brett MacLean fed the puck up ice and across the blue line to Andrew Ebbett who after drawing the San Antonio goalie out of the goalmouth, threaded a nifty pass across the crease to Jamie Bates for a wide-open net as his goal, his first of the season, cut the lead to 3-1.
Just three minutes later and on the tail end of a 5-3 penalty kill, Logan Pyett intercepted a pass near his blue line and saw Adam Keefe exit the penalty box. Pyett quickly flung the puck up ice hitting Keefe with a pass sending him in all alone on the Rampage goaltender. Keefe made no mistake and roofed the puck into the net for his second goal of the game making it a 4-1 Grand Rapids lead with just a few minutes to go in the period. Shots remained tied after two at 21, but clearly the Griffins took advantage of a weak San Antonio attack and some clever playmaking of their own.
Entering the final period, San Antonio bombarded the Griffins’ net, but Pearce turned every chance aside until eight minutes left in the game. With Greg Amadio off for Cross-Checking, defenseman Maxim Goncharov sent a wrister toward the net from 50 feet out from high in the slot. The shot made it through a maze of players eventually hit the underside of the cross bar, ringing the metal and then tickling the twine signaling a goal for the home team and closing the deficit to 4-2.
But the San Antonio effort and the new-found momentum wouldn’t last long. Just thirty-nine seconds later, Francis Pare caught the Rampage netminder napping and took a loose puck from behind the goal and jammed it just inside the left post before Climie could close off the short side. That seemed to break the spirit of the home team and despite outshooting the Griffins 23 to 4 in the third period, San Antonio could not get any closer.
Grand Rapids finished the game with 25 shots to San Antonio’s 44 shots. The game was never really close at any point. You would never know by the way the Griffins played that they are in fifth place in the Western Conference’s North Division and ten points from the first place Hamilton Bulldogs with 39 points. The Detroit Red Wings top affiliate looked strong.
Meanwhile, entering the night, San Antonio was challenging for first place in the Western Conference’s West Division, just two points back of first place Peoria and one point back from second place Milwaukee. The good news is the Rivermen lost at home to Oklahoma City 7-2 and the Admirals were shutout on the road to Manitoba so the standings remain the same as they were before today’s games. Still, San Antonio missed a golden opportunity to leap ahead to first place.
The Griffins look to tighten up their position in the Division with two games in Houston over the weekend and a game in Austin against the Texas Stars before heading back home for a pair against Chicago. The Rampage close out their home stand with Oklahoma City on Saturday night at 7:00 PM before heading on a five-game road trip.
Contact Dennis.Morrell@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.