Griffins down Wolves 4-2 to grab series lead

The Grand Rapids Griffins grabbed control early with a three-goal first period and then got some insurance from Joe Hicketts in the final period on its way to a 4-2 win at the Van Andel Arena and a 2-1 edge in its Central Division final series against the Chicago Wolves Saturday (May 6, 2017).

The Griffins held a 40-29 shots edge overall and 16 of those shots came in the opening 20-minutes where the home team took control of the contest.

Matthew Ford opened the scoring with his fourth of the post season 5:09 in and Ben Street added another at the 10-minute mark with Tyler Bertuzzi padding the lead just 30 seconds later. Ville Husso was lifted at that point by the Wolves having been beat six times on nine shots.

That lead carried all the way to the final period but Chris Butler cut into it 4:10 in with his first goal of the playoffs and Mackenzie MacEachern made it a one-goal contest just over two minutes later.

Hicketts halted the Wolves’ momentum with his goal, 16-seconds later and the Griffins carried that lead to the final buzzer to grab control of the series.

Jared Coreau picked up the win in goal for the Griffins with 27 saves. After replacing Husso, Jordan Binnington finished the game for the Wolves and stopped 30 of 31.

Game Four of this series will also be played in Grand Rapids on Monday (May 8).