Grand Rapids Rallies to Defeat Eagles 3-2 in Season Opener
Oct 13, 2023
GRAND RAPIDS, MI. – Grand Rapids forward Taro Hirose scored a pair of third-period goals, while goaltender Michael Hutchinson stopped 40 of the 42 shots he faced, as the Griffins erased a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Colorado Eagles 3-2 on Friday. Eagles forward Peter Holland and defenseman Jack Ahcan both found the back of the net, as goaltender Trent Miner suffered the loss in net, allowing three goals on 25 shots.
Despite being outshot 18-4 in the first period of play, Grand Rapids would net the first goal of the game when forward Austin Czarnik tracked down a bouncing puck in the left-wing circle and snapped it past Miner to give Grand Rapids a 1-0 lead at the 13:18 mark of the opening frame.
Colorado would tie things up just 3:12 later when Holland took a feed at the bottom of the right-wing circle and buried a wrister, squaring the game at 1-1. Fellow forward Ivan Ivan earned his first professional point with the lone assist on the tally.
With the contest still deadlocked 1-1 as the puck dropped on the second period, the Eagles would claim their first lead of the night when a power play set up Oskar Olausson to dish a cross-slot feed to the tape of Ahcan who would light the lamp, giving Colorado a 2-1 lead at the 11:07 mark of the middle frame.
The Eagles would go on to outshoot the Griffins 14-9 in the period and carried their 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
Grand Rapids would knot the score just seven seconds into the third period, as Hirose collected a pass at the Colorado blue line, sending him into the zone where he would bury a shot from the slot to tie the game, 2-2.
A Griffins power play later in the period would then set up Hirose to settle a rebound in the right-wing circle before hammering the puck into the back of the net, putting Grand Rapids on top, 3-2 at the 11:35 mark of the final frame.
Colorado would pull Miner in favor of the extra attacker with 3:19 remaining, but would come no closer, as the Griffins held on for the 3-2 win.
The Eagles outshot Grand Rapids by a final count of 42-25, as the Eagles finished night 1-for-4 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Eagles will be back in action when they take on the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday, October 14th at 5:00pm MT at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Colorado will make its home debut when the team plays host to Grand Rapids on Friday, October 20th at 7:05pm.
