GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Griffins got 36 saves from goalie Trey Augustine on Friday, but it wasn’t enough, as they fell 3-2 in a shootout loss to the Cleveland Monsters at Van Andel Arena.
Cleveland snapped Grand Rapids’ four-game winning streak, and the Griffins (6-1-1-1) now are tied with the Laval Rocket atop the AHL standings with 14 points.
The Monsters took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Steven Lorentz, but less than a minute later, Sheldon Dries tipped a no-look pass from John Leonard on the power play to tie the game for Grand Rapids.
Jesse Kiiskinen gave the Griffins an early 2-1 lead in the second period, but another power play goal, this time a one-timer blast from Luca Marrelli, tied the game at 2.
Luca Pinelli scored the lone shootout goal, giving the Monsters the win.
Dries returns from Detroit
After playing the first two games of the season for the Griffins — where he scored three goals and added two assists — the Detroit Red Wings called Dries up on an emergency basis. He played six NHL games, recording no points, and was reassigned to Grand Rapids on Thursday.
The Griffins had no issues scoring without Dries, but they are certainly happy to have one of their top scoring threats back in the lineup.
“It means everything,” Dries said of his opportunity to play in the NHL. “Everyone in this room wants to play in the NHL. So, any time you get that chance, get that call, put your best foot forward and take advantage of it.”
Dries is no stranger to the NHL, with 133 career games across three teams. He hasn’t registered a point with Detroit, but he has 16 goals and 10 assists over five seasons with the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks.
A 10-year veteran, Dries scored 23 goals and added 22 assists in 57 games for the Griffins last season.
“He’s a leader, he’s a big force in the faceoff circle,” Griffins coach Dan Watson said. “He leads by example every shift he’s out there, and in the room here. He does it all.
“He scored a big goal for us again in that net front where he gets probably 90% of the goals and great on the kill.”
Dries almost had a second goal off a 2-on-0 in the second period, but Monsters goalie Pheonix Copley made an incredible diving save to keep Grand Rapids’ lead at 2-1.
Augustine keeps game close
The Griffins could have easily lost by three or four goals without Augustine's heroics. The Griffins were outshot 38-23 on Friday, including 7-0 in overtime, where Augustine made a couple of point-blank saves to keep the game tied.
“He battled hard,” Watson said. “And it’s too bad because those are goalie performances you’ve got to take advantage of, and we didn’t. So, good for him. He looks confident.”
The former Michigan State Spartan earned his first AHL win last Saturday and picked up another on Wednesday. In five games played this season, he has a 2.92 GAA and a .901 save percentage.
With Michal Postava joining the Red Wings on their Canadian road trip, the Griffins might have to lean on Augustine for some extra starts depending on how long Postava stays in the NHL. Though I imagine Carter Gylander will get the start for Saturday’s game, also against the Monsters.
Penalty kill falters for Griffins
Coming into Friday’s game, the Griffins had given up just one power play goal in 34 shorthanded opportunities. That was all the way back on October 4 against the Monsters. On Friday, both Monsters goals came with the extra man.
Grand Rapids still leads the league in penalty kill percentage at 92.5%, but they are tied with Laval for the most penalized team with 40 penalties.
They were called for six infractions on Friday — some of which were questionable at best — but those two power play goals ended up being the difference.
“The first goal, we missed the coverage,” Watson said. “That’s all it was. Very simple. That’s easily fixed. Great down-up one-timer from them, and we missed it.”
Though Watson also questioned some of the penalties called, he admitted the team needs to be more disciplined, noting too many penalties shorten the bench and force key players to sit longer.
“There’s a couple of (penalties) I didn’t like that were unnecessary that weren’t involved in the play,” he said. “We can’t have that. We’ve got to be way more disciplined.”
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