The Manitoba Moose saved their season the first two times they faced elimination in the Calder Cup Playoffs, but they could not do it a third time.
The Grand Rapids Griffins scored three power play goals in a 5-2 Game 4 win over Manitoba on Friday at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The Griffins won the best-of-five series three games to one to advance to the Central Division final.
Grand Rapids had one-goal leads after both the first two periods and then added a pair in the first half of the third frame. The Moose scored just as they pulled the goalie to draw within two goals, but an empty-netter with three minutes left sealed their fate.
“Just stinks,” said Moose forward Parker Ford who had one assist in the loss. “It ends so suddenly and it just sucks all around. I think it’s very emotional seeing everyone in the locker room after that loss and the thing with pro hockey is you never know what the team is going to look like next year.”
Dylan Anhorn and Phillip Di Giuseppe notched the markers in the loss as Manitoba scored just five goals during the entire four-game series.
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“Hard pill to swallow right now,” said Moose defenceman Ashton Sautner. “We had a lot of belief in our group, and we had a lot of momentum I felt like coming off that Milwaukee series. It’s just who our group is. We just scratched and clawed all year, and we came into a matchup, that we as a group in that dressing room, felt like we could win.”
The Moose had just six shots on goal in each of the first two periods and were outshot by the Griffins 26-21 overall.
The Griffins won three straight games after the Moose won the series opener.
“It’s always an empty feeling when you’re with a group of guys for the whole season and it ends so abruptly,” said Moose head coach Mark Morrison. “It’s always hard. It’s hard for everybody but I’m proud of them. I’m very proud of this group. We’ve had a lot of different groups that have bended at different times, but this group – there was no quit in them.”
The Griffins were 3-for-4 on the power play in the clincher.
Thomas Milic made 21 saves in goal for Manitoba in his first start since the first game of the playoffs.
Carter Mazur scored twice in the win, while Eduards Tralmaks, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård also beat Milic.
Dawson Barteaux and Tyson Empey both played their first game of the series for the Moose as Lucas Wahlin missed Game 4 with a lower-body injury and Kale Clague was attending the birth of his baby.
The Griffins will now meet the Chicago Wolves in the Central Division final.
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