Griffins Swoop Down on Ricoh for 6-3 Win Against Marlies

Filppula, Raedeke, Mursak Score 2 Each as Griffins Double Marlies 6-3
Canadian Press
October 24, 2010
TORONTO - Iiari Filppula, Brent Raedeke and Jan Mursak each scored twice for the Grand Rapids Griffins in a 6-3 win over the Toronto Marlies in American Hockey League action Sunday.

Justin Hodgman had two goals and Darryl Boyce had the other for the Marlies (1-4), who were just 1-for-11 on the power play.

It was a great night for the Griffins special teams. They went 2-for-4 with the man advantage and added two short-handed goals.

Grand Rapids' Thomas McCollum made 25 saves for the win, while Jussi Rynnas looked shaky in goal for the Marlies, stopping just 19 of 25 shots for the Marlies. The Finnish netminder has lost all three of his starts this season.

The Griffins got off to a great start scoring the first four goals of the game.

The Griffins (4-2-1) got it going on the power play less than three minutes into the first period. Filppula took a cross-ice pass from Francis Pare and one-timed the puck past Rynnas before he could get over to make the save.

Filppula then got his second of the game at 6:24. He picked up the puck inside the Marlies' blue-line on a partial breakaway and slipped it through Rynnas' legs.The Griffins made it 3-0 at 11:30 with the teams playing 4-on-4. Raedeke screened Rynnas in front and tipped in a point shot from Derek Meech.Raedeke made it 4-0 with the Griffins shorthanded. He blocked a point shot, went in alone on Rynnas and deked him through his legs for his second of the night, bringing jeers from the sparse crowd of 2,294 at Ricoh Coliseum.

Hodgman finally got the Marlies (2-4-0) on the board with a power-play goal at 14:34, snapping a wrist shot up high past McCollum who was making his second straight start.The Griffins made it 5-1 at 5:07 of the second period. With Jay Rosehill off on a double minor for high sticking, Mursak took a pass from Filppula in the slot and beat Rynnas high glove side.Hodgman cut the lead to 5-2 at the end of a power play. Ryan Hamilton made a pass from the corner to Hodgman who drifted into the slot uncovered and backhanded the puck high over McCollum's right shoulder.Mursak got his second of the night shorthanded midway through the third period. Marlies coach Dallas Eakins pulled Rynnas to get a 6-on-4 power play, but the gamble didn't pay off as Mursak scored into the empty net.

Boyce got a short-handed marker for Toronto at 14:10 to make it a three-goal game.The Marlies next play in Hamilton on Friday where they won their only road game of the season. They then host Lake Erie on Saturday before embarking on a 10-game road trip Nov. 3 to 19.

Notes: Marlies' Matt Lashoff and brother Brian on the Griffins played against each other for the first time in their professional careers. . . Rosehill returned to the Marlies' lineup after missing three games to injury. . . Brayden Irwin and Nazem Kadri are ranked among the top five in AHL rookie scoring leaders with six and seven points respectively. . . The Marlies were 2-3-1 against the Griffins last season.