Griffins Rally in Third Period to Down Monsters 5-2 in Cleveland

Carter Mazur scored twice to erase a pair of Cleveland leads, and the Grand Rapids Griffins turned a 2-2 tie into a convincing 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Monsters on Thursday night at Rocket Arena, outscoring their hosts 3-0 in the third period to pull away.

The first period produced nothing on the scoreboard, but the second was a back-and-forth battle that set the stage for Grand Rapids' closing surge. Luca Pinelli broke the stalemate 1:46 into the middle frame, collecting a pass from Mikael Pyyhtiä and Caleb MacDonald to put Cleveland on top. Mazur answered quickly, tying it 1-1 at the 4:16 mark. The Monsters regained the lead at 18:31 when Luca Marrelli converted a power play, with Jack Williams and Luca Del Bel Belluz drawing the assists. But Mazur refused to let Grand Rapids trail going into the intermission, scoring again at 19:59, with just one second remaining on the clock in the period, to knot it at 2-2.

The third period belonged entirely to the Griffins. Eduards Tralmaks put Grand Rapids in front for good just two minutes in, and Wojciech Stachowiak extended the lead to 4-2 only 2:23 later. Shai Buium iced it at 14:48 with the fifth goal, completing a dominant final frame that was never seriously threatened.

Carter Gylander anchored the win between the pipes, stopping 28 shots for the Grand Rapids victory. On the other end, Ivan Fedotov made 19 saves in the loss for Cleveland.

The win reinforced Grand Rapids' standing as the AHL's top team in the Central Division. The Griffins improved to 45-13-4-1, the best record in the division, while the Monsters dropped to 33-23-6-1, sitting fourth in the North Division.

Both teams return to action Saturday, March 28. Cleveland hosts Utica while Grand Rapids travels to face Chicago, both games scheduled for 6 p.m. CST.