Of Red Wings prospect-related note on Friday:
In Europe, in the Finnish Liiga, Jesse Kiiskinen’s regular team, HPK Hameenlinna, won 2-1 over KalPa;
In the DEL, Kevin Bicker’s injured, but the Frankfurt Lowen won 3-2 over the Eisbaren Berlin;
In North America, in the OHL, Landon Miller stopped 34 of 39 shots in the Soo Greyhounds’ 5-4 loss to Guelph;
In the ECHL, Griffins-contracted goaltender Jan Bednar pitched a 25-save shutout as the Toledo Walleye won a 4-0 decision over the Wheeling Nailers;
And in the AHL, Ville Husso and the Grand Rapids Griffins had a rough game, losing 6-1 at home to the Milwaukee Admirals. The Griffins’ website posted a recap…
In their return home from a season-high six-game road trip, the Grand Rapids Griffins suffered a 6-1 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals behind a hat trick from Vinnie Hinostroza on Friday at Van Andel Arena.
Joe Snively secured the lone tally for the Griffins, scoring his 10th goal of the season, while William Wallinder and Dominik Shine were credited with the assists. Following his stint with the Detroit Red Wings, Ville Husso returned to the crease for Grand Rapids. Despite the loss, Husso sports a 4-1-0 record with the Griffins this year.
Midway through the first frame, Kieffer Bellows tallied a power-play goal at 10:36 to give the Admirals an early lead. The Griffins gained an 8-6 shot advantage but failed to score through the first 20 minutes.
Grand Rapids earned a power play of its own at 4:08 in the second period but a turnover allowed Ozzy Wiesblatt to score short handed at 5:41. Milwaukee extended its lead to three when Hinostroza found the back of the net with 8:09 left in the second. Shine attempted to put the Griffins on the board with a breakaway chance at 15:20, but his shot hit the post, as Grand Rapids exited the frame down 3-0.
Hinostroza secured his second goal of the night just 26 seconds into the final period and completed his hat trick at 6:56, giving the Admirals a 5-0 lead. Milwaukee continued scoring, as Jake Lucchini cashed in at 7:54. The Griffins prevented the Admiral shutout with 6:55 remaining, as Snively lit the lamp on a power play. A shot from Wallinder deflected off the netminder and Snively buried the chance. However, Grand Rapids failed to cut further into the deficit and fell 6-1.
As well as a photo gallery, a highlight clip and an interview clip…
And MLive’s Tyler Kuehl spoke to Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Watson about the Griffins’ struggles:
“That’s not who we are,” Watson said. “That’s kind of a one-off. That’s what a long day, 12 hours of travel, getting in late…two games on the road looks like. There’s no excuses, still. Still have to show up, still have to play hard. We just weren’t there. We looked a little tired, a little weak in our battles…playing a team that was here in Grand Rapids waiting a day and a half, waiting for us. Again, it’s a hard pill to swallow.”
Grand Rapids had a fairly decent start to the game, keeping up with the Admirals, even though the Griffins were trailing at the end of the first period. However, GR started to lose control in the second period. The tide started to turn in favor of Milwaukee just over five minutes into the frame, as Ozzy Wiesblatt scored a shorthanded goal to put the visitors up by two.
The Griffins were heavily outshot in the middle stanza, 10-4. The Ads began to put some distance between them and GR as Vinnie Hinostroza posted a natural hat trick. While Joe Snively notched a power-play goal late in regulation for the Griffins, it was far too little, far too late, as the Admirals went on to beat Grand Rapids for the first time this season.
The six goals are by far the most the Grand Rapids has allowed this season. Previously, they had only given up five goals twice this year.
Watson admitted that the team’s trip to Colorado and Texas was tough for his group, but he knows that his team is capable of bringing more to the table than they did on Friday.
“You try to mentally grind through it. As much as you talk about it–being mentally tough–there’s still reality, you got to go out there and generate some energy as much as you can. We didn’t have any.”
