Coreau and Lorito lead Griffins to AHL West Conference title
A 39-save effort from Jared Coreau and a couple of goals from Matt Lorito helped clinch a berth in the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup Championship for the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday (May 27, 2017) at the Van Andel Arena.
While Coreau weathered the storm, in particular through a final 20 minutes that saw the home team outshot 17-7, Lorito notched both the game winning and game clinching goals for the Griffs who doubled the visiting San Jose Baracudas 4-2 to earn a 4-1 win in the Best of Seven AHL Western Conference championship series.
Defenseman Brian Lashoff picked a good time to notch his first goal of the players, getting things rolling for the Griffins just 24 seconds into the contest. Matthew Ford fired another with 3:49 to play in the frame as the hosts carried a 2-0 cushion into the middle period.
Timo Meier got the Cudas on the board 62 seconds into the middle frame, but Lorito restored the two-goal margin just past the halfway mark of the period.
Lorito’s second in the fifth minute of the third padded the lead but Daniel O’Regan gave his team a shot with his goal 4:31 from the horn.
Coreau was nothing short of stellar in goal for the Griffins and Troy Grosenick turned aside 22 shots in goal for the Barracudas.
The Eastern Conference championship was won on the same night, Syracuse Crunch grabbing a 3-1 win against the visiting Providence Bruins to wrap up a 4-1 edge in that series as well.
The Griffins will take on the Crunch to decide the league championship, beginning Friday (June 2) at the Van Andel Arena.
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jimmerdenhollander@gmail.com
Born and raised in Ontario, Canada and moved to the state of Wisconsin in my late 30's. I worked at various newspapers and magazines in various sports positions for 25 years before changing careers five years ago. Now I am streamlining my focus on hockey only and in particular, all levels of hockey in the American Midwest.