Top Detroit Red Wings prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygård saved the Grand Rapids Griffins’ playoff hopes with a clutch goal.
Brandsegg-Nygård scored at 9:22 of overtime to lead the Griffins to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, on Tuesday, May 19, staving off elimination in the AHL playoffs.
The Griffins still trail the best-of-five series, 2-1, though. Game 4 is set for Thursday (8 p.m., Flohockey.tv) in Rosemont. If needed, Game 5 will be Saturday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
It has been quite a Central Division finals for the 20-year-old first-round pick from 2024, who had a goal and two assists in Game 2. Brandsegg-Nygård had six shots on net Tuesday in a game the Griffins needed to keep their Calder Cup hopes alive.
The goal gave Brandsegg-Nygård seven points in seven playoff games.
The Griffins, featuring a mostly overage roster that rotated its veterans through healthy scratches throughout the regular season, went into the playoffs with a 51-16-4-1 record, their 107 points second in the AHL behind the Providence Bruins (110 points).
After a first-round bye, the Griffins dropped their first game of the playoffs, then won three straight against the Manitoba Moose. These finals brought more early struggles, with Grand Rapids losing two games at home to the Wolves, the affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes.
And then MBN stepped up, solving Wolves goaltender Cayden Primeau, who nearly stole the game. Primeau, the son of former Red Wings star Keith Primeau, made 36 saves in Game 2’s overtime victory for Chicago. In Game 3 at home, he was the busiest Wolves player again, as the Griffins had a 16-8 edge in shots after 20 minutes and 24-14 after 40 minutes. The Griffins then outshot the Wolves, 15-2, in the first 15 minutes of the third period to own a 41-17 edge going into overtime. Final shots were 46-20.
Inside the box score for the Griffins
The Griffins tried to take command from the get-go.
Carter Mazur, a 2021 third-round pick out of the University of Denver who appeared in eight games (no points) with the Wings late this season, opened the scoring just past the opening minute with his fifth goal of the playoffs. Goaltender Michal Postava earned an assist on the play.
John Leonard, an AHL vet who also appeared for the Wings (two goals, two assists in 11 games) made it 2-0 at 4:30 of the first period, when he converted during a power play. But the Wolves replied a minute later with a goal from defenseman Domenick Fensore, and Justin Robidas, son of longtime NHL’er Stéphane Robidas, tied the score at 2-2 with a goal at 14:42.
Felix Unger Sörum put the Wolves ahead five minutes into the second period, but a goal from former Windsor Spitfires center Tyler Angle, a 2019 seventh-rounder, left it 3-3 after two periods.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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Next up: Game 4 vs. the Wolves!
Matchup: 1-seed Grand Rapids (1-2) at 2-seed Chicago (2-1); AHL playoffs Central Division finals, Game 4.
Faceoff: 8 p.m. Thursday, May 21; Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois.
TV/radio: Flohockey.tv (online only); no radio.
At stake: A Wolves win on Thursday would eliminate the Griffins and send Chicago to its first conference finals since winning the Calder Cup in 2022. A Griffins win would force Game 5 in Grand Rapids on May 23. The Griffins haven’t made the conference finals since 2017.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Detroit Red Wings prospect, scores huge goal
Reporting by Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
