GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Following the heartbreaking Game Three loss, the Grand Rapids Griffins found themselves on the brink. With two straight wins, the Milwaukee Admirals were on the precipice for a rematch with Coachella Valley in the Western Conference Finals. The stage was set for a Friday night showdown with a chance to clinch for the visitors.
The Griffins, however, have been a resilient team all season long. They’ve battled back from holes in the standings and in the scoreboard. After falling behind early, the Griffins stormed back with a flurry of goals for a 4-2 victory. Their win evened the Central Division Final up at 2-2 with one more game to decide who meets the Firebirds in the next round.
Opening With a Bang
The Griffins looked to establish a physical presence early on in this one. On the very first shift, Dominik Shine laid out Milwaukee’s leading scorer Zach L’Heureux behind the Griffins net.
“He’s a good player. I just wanted to send a message to our team that we’re not going to quit.”
Dominik Shine
L’Heureux’s been a thorn in the Griffins’ side all series long. He’s scored huge goals, given words to Sebastian Cossa and has been a pest all over the ice in Grand Rapids’ face. The Griffins made it a point to play him physically to open up. Jonatan Berggren put him into the boards and the two exchanged sticks and words. Next it was big Elmer Soderblom to put him into the ice.
L’Heureux came back with one of his own on Simon Edvinsson. The Griffin defender, coming off a two-game recovery from injury, responded with a cross check and an extra shot that cost him two minutes.
While the Griffins had the physical advantage early, it didn’t translate into success on the scoreboard. In fact, a defensive lapse behind Cossa’s net allowed Egor Afanasyev to sneak in front with no one near him and tap in the one time shot for a 1-0 Admirals lead 14 minutes in.
The physical play didn’t end there, though. Edvinsson found himself in the middle of it again, engaging with Fedor Svechkov after the whistle in the middle of a post-whistle melee. With the season on the line, Grand Rapids was fighting for every inch.
Penalty Trouble
The Griffins flirted with absolute disaster in the second period. Despite getting good pressure and chances on Yaroslav Askarov, the Griffins couldn’t break through. On the other side, a Jake Livingstone one-timer got deflected in front of Cossa by Joakim Kemell. The deflection got by the Grand Rapids netminder and doubled up Milwaukee’s lead at 2-0.
Berggren and Marco Kasper then found themselves in the box for 1:12 of 5-on-3 to kill off for Grand Rapids. Despite a flurry of chances, Cossa was incredible and the killers got the lanes clear for the goaltender to see and stop the puck.
Just minutes after both penalties were killed Joel L’Esperance and Matt Luff found themselves in the box next to give Milwaukee a full 2:00 two-man advantage. Again, the Admirals set up and attacked. Again, Sebastian Cossa and the penalty killing unit was up to task.
“Just battle. Our D did a great job killing it. Some big blocks and they made my life as easy as possible.”
Sebastian Cossa
What could’ve ended in disaster for Grand Rapids turned out to be a huge momentum swing.
Can’t Teach Clutch
Edvinsson got clipped by a Liam Foudy high stick and almost seven minutes into the third the Griffins had a glorious chance. Their maligned power play unit that had struggled mightily this postseason now had four minutes to work with. In a 2-0 hole with the season on the line, if there was ever a moment for the power play to wake up, this was it.
Boy, did it ever.
Carter Mazur hit Berggren at the left circle, and from his sweet spot the Griffins’ offensive leader put it past Askarov to put the Griffins on the board.
With another 2:00 of power play to work with, Luff and L’Esperance – the second duo that put the Griffins into severe penalty trouble – connected for the tying goal. Luff found L’Esperance in the slot and his spinning slap shot hit iron and in, sending Van Andel Arena into a frenzy for the tying goal.
“That’s playoff hockey. We have a relentless group here. We can be down two goals going into the third and we know we have a chance. We never give up and that’s what we did tonight.”
Joel L’Esperance
On the next shift, Askarov laid out to stop a 3-on-1 chance for the Griffins and was very slow to get up. Troy Groesnick got his helmet on, but after a breather Askarov returned to the net.
One shift later and Mazur picked up the rebound of a blocked shot and fed it across to a wide open Berggren. Askarov, still visibly fighting that ailment, couldn’t get over in time and in a span of 2:03 the Griffins went from down 2-0 to up 3-2.
Berggren and the Griffins weren’t done. On a 4-on-4 opportunity, the Admirals had some confusion on defensive assignments. From the top of the key, Berggren had all the time and space in the world to walk in and wire an absolute laser to the top corner for his hat trick goal.
Askarov, still visibly in pain, skated down to the tunnel and Groesnick would finish the game for Milwaukee. Stunned from the Griffins’ surge, the Admirals put what they could on Cossa’s net but the Griffins kept them out of the front of the crease and secured a 4-2 victory to force Game Five.
Takeaways
- If it felt bleak after two periods down 2-0, you haven’t been paying attention to this team. They never stop battling, no matter what the score or the situation was. With their season on the line, the Griffins came away with one of their best periods of hockey all season. It couldn’t have come at a better time.
- On a team full of gamers, Sebastian Cossa sticks out. He’s engaged and mentally focused even amidst the physical play. Those two massive kills in the second period saved the season for Grand Rapids and his heroics could only be outshined by another – what more is there to say about Jonatan Berggren? When the game is on the line, he wants the puck on his stick. When he’s playing with the kind of confidence he has now, he’s near impossible to stop.
- Milwaukee is going to respond on home ice – and the Griffins are expecting a physical battle. Do they see Groesnick in net for the deciding game? Can Askarov recover in time for Sunday’s pivotal deciding contest? The Admirals will certainly come out on fire despite which netminder it is. Still, Askarov’s been incredible in this series and losing him as an option is a huge blow to Milwaukee’s chances to get another shot at Coachella Valley.
- What’s the focus for Sunday’s Game Five? Cossa said a lot with just one word:
Win. Save it for nothing.
Sebastian Cossa
