Riley Barber scored a power play goal late in the third period to lift the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Admirals Friday at Van Andel Arena.
The Griffins started the game with just nine forwards and five defensemen after four players were scratched before the pregame warmup. Grand Rapids, in the second period, lost forward Jonatan Berggren to injury. Berggren returned for the third period.
Barber slammed a rebound of a Berggren shot into the goal at 12:52 of the final frame to give the Griffins the eventual game-winner.
The loss snapped Milwaukee’s two-game winning streak. Milwaukee finished December with a 7-3-1-0 record.
Grand Rapids had a 2-0 lead after the first period. Tyler Spezia scored on a rebound at 4:21 to give the Griffins a 1-0 lead. Defenseman Seth Barton scored his first professional goal at 15:01 with a shot from the right point that found its way through traffic in front of Ads goalie Connor Ingram.
Milwaukee’s Mitch McLain scored a pair of goals in the second period to tie the game for the Admirals. His first came at 1:04 when he picked up a loose puck and entered the Griffins zone on the left wing. His shot from the half wall beat Griffins net minder Brattstrom to make the score 2-1. It was McLain’s seventh goal of the season.
McLain’s eighth goal of the year came while the Admirals were on the penalty kill. The Ads had an offensive zone face-off. Cole Smith had possession in the right circle and spun a shot to the net which was deflected by McLain for his second shorthanded goal of the season at 3:16.
The Griffins reclaimed the lead at 19:05 of the second frame when Josh Dickinson deflected a shot into the goal for his first tally of the season.
Grand Rapids forward Dominik Shine scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 5:37 of there third period to give the home team a 4-2 advantage.
Milwaukee got back within a goal at 5:51. Tommy App slid a pass from the Griffins blue line to Cody Glass in the right circle. Glass’ shot slid into the net for his fifth goal of the season.
The Ads tied the game 4-4 on the power play at 7:41 of the third. Egor Afanasyev’s shot from the left circle deflected into the air and Cole Schneider swatted it out of midair into the net for his 12th goal of the season, and fourth on the power play.
The Admirals return home Sat., Jan. 1 to host the Griffins at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
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