Andreas Athanasiou scored with 1:55 left in regulation to cap a season-saving comeback and give Grand Rapids a 5-4 win over Lake Erie in Game 4 of the Central Division Finals at Van Andel Arena on Tuesday night.
Game 5 is Saturday back in Cleveland, with the Monsters still holding a 3-1 series lead.
Lake Erie had a 4-1 lead with less than a minute remaining in the second period and appeared on their way to a second consecutive series sweep and a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
But Anthony Mantha gave the Griffins a jolt with a power-play goal at 19:05 of the second, and Louis-Marc Aubry and Robbie Russo scored 1:28 apart early in the third to tie things up.
Tyler Bertuzzi added a goal and an assist for the Griffins and Jared Coreau stopped all 16 shots he faced in relief in his first appearance of this postseason.
Lukas Sedlak had a goal and an assist, Sonny Milano‘s highlight-reel goal (watch) gave the Monsters a lead late in the first period and Michael Chaput and Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored for Lake Erie, which had won its first six games of the postseason.
Joonas Korpisalo (6-1) made 30 saves in the loss.
Central Division Finals – Series “K” (best-of-7)
C2-Lake Erie Monsters vs. C4-Grand Rapids Griffins
Game 1 – Thu., May 5 – LAKE ERIE 3, Grand Rapids 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Sat., May 7 – LAKE ERIE 4, Grand Rapids 3
Game 3 – Sun., May 8 – Lake Erie 2, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Game 4 – Tue., May 10 – GRAND RAPIDS 5, Lake Erie 4
Game 5 – Sat., May 14 – Grand Rapids at Lake Erie, 7:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 16 – Lake Erie at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 7 – Tue., May 17 – Grand Rapids at Lake Erie, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Andreas Athanasiou for the win, sending the series to Game 5 #LEvsGR pic.twitter.com/pCNwTZ8lpL
— AHL (@TheAHL) May 11, 2016
