Griffs finally hit home ice and defeat Barracuda

The Grand Rapids Griffins got a chance to play on home ice for the first time since May 8 (Game Four of the Central Division final against Chicago) and celebrated with a 4-2 win against the visiting San Jose Barracuda at the Van Andel Arena on Wednesday (May 24, 2017).

The Griffins used three unanswered third period tallies to turn a 2-1 deficit into the win, the final goal off the stick of Tomas Nosek into an empty San Jose goal with 59 seconds to play.

John McCarthy scored the first goal 5:09 into the contest for the Barracuda but defenseman Nathan Paetsch pulled that back with his first goal of the post season with 6:13 to play in the period. Ryan Carpenter’s ninth of the playoffs put the Barracuda in front again just 73 seconds later and that lead held up all the way to the final frame.

Matt Lorito tied the game with his fifth of the post season 6:40 into the third and Mitch Callahan also notched his fifth to put the Griffs in front for the first and only time with 3:40 to play.

Jared Coreau stopped 31 of 33 to pick up the win in goal for the Griffins and Troy Grosenick turned aside 38 in goal for the Barracuda.

Teams will get Thursday off before heading back into action at the Van Andel on Friday (May 26). Game five will be played the following night and if necessary, the series will shift back to the West Coast for games six and seven.

Winner of this series will advance to the AHL’s Calder Cup against either the Providence Bruins or the Syracuse Crunch.