Jared Coreau made 25 saves in his first start of the 2018 postseason and Grand Rapids staved off elimination with a 3-0 win over Manitoba at Van Andel Arena on Thursday night.
With the Central Division semifinals tied at 2-2, the Griffins will host the Moose in the winner-take-all Game 5 on Monday.
Game 4 was scoreless until Matthew Ford broke through with 1:35 left in the second period.
Ben Street then netted his AHL-leading fourth goal of the postseason with less than 20 seconds remaining in the frame to give the Griffins a 2-0 lead.
Nobody was stopping that shot. 🚀@griffinshockey take a 2-0 lead late in the second! #GRvsMB pic.twitter.com/3rJBYlOuiE
— AHL (@TheAHL) April 27, 2018
Brian Lashoff‘s empty-net goal capped the scoring with 2:56 remaining in the third period.
Coreau (1-1), who stopped 11 of 12 shots in relief on Wednesday night in his first appearance of these playoffs, is now 18-7 in 25 career Calder Cup Playoff outings. He stopped eight shots in the first period, nine in the second and eight more in the third for his first career postseason shutout — and his third shutout of the Moose this season.
Eric Comrie (2-2) made 21 saves in the loss.
Central Division Semifinals – Series “F” (best-of-5)
C2-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. C3-Manitoba Moose
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 21 – MANITOBA 3, Grand Rapids 2 | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 22 – Grand Rapids 5, MANITOBA 1 | Recap
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 25 – Manitoba 6, GRAND RAPIDS 3 | Recap
Game 4 – Thu., Apr. 26 – GRAND RAPIDS 3, Manitoba 0
Game 5 – Mon., Apr. 30 – Manitoba at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
