In their 2nd meeting of the season, the
Gryphons were seeking some redemption vs their neighboring Kitchener Rangers
having lost the 1st match up.
But it was the Rangers Schill who opened the scoring on the 1st shot of the game beating starting Guelph tender Kurt. Minutes later, Rangers Sharpe extended the lead 0-2 on the 2nd shot of the game for the Rangers. Those 2 quick goals, however, seemed to light a fire under the Gryphons and none more so than Griswold who, along with Coulson broke free from the Rangers Defense and it was Coulson getting the Gryphons on the board after a beauty feed from Griswold. 1-2 with 6:45 left in the 1st.
The Gryphons Continued to take advantage of the momentum change driving the play deep into the Ranger’s Zone and Mitchell feathered a nifty pass to Ramirez who beat the Rangers Goalie 45 seconds after getting on the board with their first. The Gryphons defense then took control of the game forcing the Rangers to the perimeter and making it difficult for them to get shot off. The 1st period ended with these two foes locked up at 2.
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Both team's defense and goaltending continued to be the story for the first half of the 2nd period seeing plenty of chances in both ends, but no scoring.
Marshall eventually drew the first penalty of the game with just under 7 minutes left in the 2nd. Unfortunately, in what seems to be a trend with our Gryphons, we only managed 1 offensive shot on goal during the power play and Kurt managed a beauty glove save on a short handed shot to preserve the tie.
The Gryphons took a tripping penalty with 1:25 left in the 2nd, but managed to stave off a Rangers power play and the 2nd period ended the same way the 1st did with both teams knotted at 2.
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Sheridan relieved Kurt in net to start the 3rd and was immediately tested, but answered the bell preserving the tie early in the 3rd. The Gryphons drew their 2nd power play of the game mid way through the 3rd and were looking to take advantage of a power play that, to date, has failed to get the job done. While there was no scoring on this power play, the Gryphon’s managed play effectively with the man advantage which saw them get 5 shots on goal which was encouraging.
With less than 10 minutes left to play, the Rangers and Gryphons remained tied at 2.
It was at this point when the Griswold show kicked into high gear as Hal drove home the go-ahead goal on a pass from May. The very next shift, Griswold found himself alone with the puck in front of the Ranger net and back handed in his 2nd goal of the game and Guelph’s 4th (4-2).
Sheridan continued to stand on his head in the 3rd turning away shot after shot before finally being beat on a turnover to Rangers Jacob who shaved the Gryphon lead to 1 goal (3-4). Seems that these 4-2 leads are extremely difficult for our Gryphons to maintain as, once again, the Ranger’s Schell managed to break through our D and blast home the game tying goal top shelf with 1 minute left in the 3rd.
This game was starting to feel like last time these two met and with 30 second left in the 3rd, the Rangers went on the attack, but Sheridan turned away all shots and preserved the 4-4 tie. It was Griswold who once again took ownership of the puck in the Gryphons end with less than 20 seconds left played for the win in lieu of the tie and beat ALL Kitchener Rangers that stood between he and the Rangers goalie bringing the Guelph fans to their feet as he scored his 3rd of the game and eventual game winner!
Lead by Griswold's 4 point night coupled with some timely saves and improved defense, Guelph Gryphons best the Rangers 5-4 and improve to 1 and 1 vs the Rangers in the season series.
Next up, the Gryphons visit Hamilton Devils on Dev 12th and look for their 3rd win of the season.