Griffins muzzle the Moose at Van Andel Arena, 5-1

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins came within less than 10 seconds of posting a shutout Friday night against the Manitoba Moose, but were happy to walk off the home ice with a 5-1 victory.

It was Grand Rapids' second straight conquest at home.

Wearing the Detroit Red Wings-style home jerseys, the Griffins scored just 2:10 into the opening period on a nifty tic-tac-toe goal by Tyler Spezia from in close on the left side of the Moose's goal crease. That gave Grand Rapids a quick 1-0 lead.

It was Spezia's third goal of the season. Assists came from Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson. Manitoba goalie Collin Delia had no chance to block the puck.

After the goal, fans littered the ice with hundreds of stuffed animals on Teddy Bear Toss Night. After a five-minute delay for cleanup of the ice, public address announcer Eric Zane reminded fans not to toss anything onto the ice after the one-toss promotion.

The first penalty of the game came with 7:51 left in the opening period, when Griffins' captain Josiah Didier was called for a two-minute tripping penalty. Dominik Shine had a shorthanded breakaway attempt :50 seconds later but was stoned by Delia on his net-front shot. The saving grace was that the Griffins killed off the Moose power play - and outshot Manitoba 3-to-1 while shorthanded. At that point, both teams had nine shots on goal.

Moments later, Moose left wing Jeffrey Viel was called for a two-minute minor for holding William Wallinder's stick, with 5 minutes left in the opening stanza. Jonatan Berggren applied some heat with a couple of shots on goal from short range, but Delia was equal to the task and the Griffins' power play expired.

The opening period ended with the Griffins leading, 1-0, and with an 11-9 advantage in shots on goal.

The 2nd period began, with Griffins' defenseman William Wallinder being called for a tripping penalty 3:42 in. Mysteriously, the Moose's Tyrell Bauer got away with a slash at the ankles of Tyler Spezia, knocking him to the ice in the process. The Griffins did manage to kill off the Moose power play, though.

With 12:43 to go in the second period, Manitoba left wing Nikita Chibrikov was called for a penalty after tripping Didier to the ice. The Griffins did not score, though. The Griffins led in shots on goal at that point, 15-14. The Moose's Artemia Kniazev was then called for interference with 9:50 to go in the 2nd period. Once again, the Griffins failed to capitalize on the power-play opportunity.

With 6:45 to go in the period, the Griffins' Joel L'Esperance tallied his first goal of the season with a quick deke on Delia. That gave the Griffins a 2-0 lead. Cross Hanas and Marco Kasper got the assists.

With 3:46 to go, the Griffins got a 3-on-1 chance but Dominik Shine hit the crossbar over Delia's left shoulder. Grand Rapids led in shots on goal, 20-17.

A delayed penalty with 2:42 to go against L'Esperance gave the Moose a power-play advantage. But Grand Rapids killed it off and the period ended with Grand Rapids leading, 2-0, and with a 22-20 shots-on-goal edge. Both of the goals through two periods were scored at even strength. The Griffins scored the only goal of the first period and the only goal of the second period.

The Griffins had six consecutive shots to start the third period, as Moose goalie Collin Delia made some good saves to keep Manitoba in the game.

But just 2:13 in, Kniazev was whistled for a two-minute tripping penalty and this time Jonatan Berggren made no mistake, whistling in a shot from the point with 15:15 left in the final frame. That made it 3-0 Griffins. Simon Edvinsson and Taro Hirose with some nice stick handling to get the puck to Berggren. It was Edvinsson's second assist of the game.

With 8:10 to go, Austin Czarnik had a breakaway, but Delia turned the shot aside. The puck came back into the Griffins' zone, Jeffrey Viel (vee-ELL') then knocked Edvinsson to the ice and then came over and punched him in the face while he was still on the ice. The crowd booed like crazy and the Griffins made the Moose pay for it, as the refs called him for a 2-minute roughing penalty and Grand Rapids capitalized big-time a moment later.

Czarnik set up Taro Hirose for a power play goal (his 5th of the season) at the12:26 mark, giving Grand Rapids a 4-0 lead. At that point, the Griffins led in shots on goal, 30-25. Berggren also got an assist on the goal by Czarnik, who may've played his best game of the season.

The Griffins weren't done scoring, though. Joel L'Esperance scored on a rebound goal with 2:32 left in the game to make it 5-0 Grand Rapids. It was his second of the game (and the season), assisted by Marco Kasper (his 2nd helper) and Brogan Rafferty.

The Moose resorted to several cheap shots late in the game. Ashton Sautner was called for a 10-minute unsportsmanlike penalty and cross-checking with about a minute left. They ruined Griffins' goalie Michael Hutchinson's shutout attempt, though, with a tally with 9.7 seconds left in the game by Jeff Malott. It ricocheted off Edvinsson's stick. Hutchinson finished with 29 saves.

However, the Griffins walked away with the 5-1 win.

Grand Rapids is now 4-2-1 at home on the season, but 1-5-1 on the road.

A moment of silence was held before the game for DK Security Manager Duncan MacLaren, who died in July.

The Griffins have a rare Saturday off and will host the Moose again Sunday at 5 p.m.