Thursday, April 9, 1998 | 6:56 a.m.
From Sports Report Service.
Grand Rapids Griffins 3, Cleveland Lumberjacks 0
CLEVELAND--The Grand Rapids Griffins stayed in the hunt for the fourth seed and home advantage in the first round of IHL Eastern Conference playoffs by shutting out the Cleveland Lumberjacks 3-0 Wednesday at Gund Arena. A crowd of 7,860 saw the Jacks (33-37-10) drop their second straight. Glen Metropolit netted the deciding goal just 2:10 into the game. Vashi Nedomansky and Kerry Huffman added power play goals in the second period, both assisted by Greg Bullock. Jason Weaver also had a pair of assists. Grand Rapids goalie Patrick Lalime stopped 33 Cleveland shots to post his second shutout of the year. Derek Wilkinson faced 30 shots and made 27 saves for the Jacks.
Michigan K-Wings 5, Quebec Rafales 2
QUEBEC CITY--The Michigan K-Wings (36-37-7) scored four unanswered goals on their way to a 5-2 win over the Quebec Rafales (25-48-7) Wednesday in front of 10,391 at Le Colisee. The K-Wings trailed by one when Marty Flichel started the scoring spurt at :18 of the second period. Jason Botterill put Michigan in the lead for good at the 6:54 mark, and Alex Galtcheniouk, Chris Tancill and Jeff Mitchell put the game out of reach with third-period tallies. The Rafales scored two power play goals, by Dave Paradise in the first period and Burke Murphy in the third. The Michigan defense held Quebec to only 18 shots, 16 of them stopped by goalie Larry Dyck. Pat Jablonski stopped 37 of 42 for the Rafales.
Milwaukee Admirals 3, Houston Aeros 2
MILWAUKEE--Mike Tomlak's goal 7:04 into the third period gave the Milwaukee Admirals (43-31-5) a 3-2 win over the Houston Aeros (49-22-9) Wednesday in front of 6,811 at the Bradley Center. Jarrett Deuling put Milwaukee on the board with a power play goal at 17:42 of the opening period. Houston's Jamie Hicks tied the score at 1-1 early in the second, but Kelly Fairchild put the Admirals back in the lead at 11:50, aided by Jeff Nelson's second assist of the game. Neil Brady rounded out the Houston scoring at 11:35 of the third. Winning goalie Danny Lorenz faced 26 shots and made 24 saves. Ryan Bach turned away 27 of 30 on the way to his ninth loss of the season.
Orlando Solar Bears 5, San Antonio Dragons 3
SAN ANTONIO--Shawn Wansborough and Grigori Panteleyev each scored twice as the Orlando Solar Bears rallied from two goals down to defeat the San Antonio Dragons 5-3 Wednesday in front of 4,006 at Freeman Coliseum. Orlando (41-20-10) has won four straight, while the Dragons (24-48-8) are on a three-game losing streak. The Solar Bears recovered from a sluggish first period to score three goals on 17 shots in the second. Wansborough started the comeback with his first goal of the season at 13:46. Reggie Savage tied the score at 15:42 and Grigori Panteleyev won the game at 17:19. Lonnie Loach and Andy Roach scored the Dragons' first two goals, and Kurt Malett netted his second of the year at 8:53 of the third period. Allan Bester posted the win in goal, with 24 saves on 27 San Antonio shots. Mike Torchia made 27 saves on 32 chances for the Dragons.
Chicago Wolves 3, Kansas City Blades 2 (SO)
KANSAS CITY--Steve Maltais and Steve Larouche scored in the shootout, and goalie Stephane Beauregard made four straight saves in the tiebreaker, to help the Chicago Wolves (52-24-3) defeat the Kansas City Blades 3-2 Wednesday before 3,241 at Kemper Arena. The Wolves have won a league-high 52 games, and lead the 40-28-12 Blades by 15 points at the top of the IHL Midwest Division. The teams exchanged goals in regulation, starting with Kansas City's Shawn Heins at 13:39 of the second period. Maltais tied the score on a power play 1:27 before the intermission. Mike Craig gave the Blades a 2-1 lead early in the third, and Tom Tilley scored in the final minute of the game to force the tiebreaker. Beauregard snagged 25 of 27 shots in regulation, while Kansas City's Pokey Reddick stopped 35 of 37.
Fort Wayne Komets 4, Cincinnati Cyclones 2
FORT WAYNE--Two third-period goals by Andrei Bashkirov pushed the Fort Wayne Komets (47-27-5) past the Cincinnati Cyclones 4-2 Wednesday at Memorial Coliseum. A crowd of 6,347 saw the Central Division-leading Komets win their fifth straight, and open up an 11-point lead over the second-place Cyclones (38-30-12). The game-winning goal was unassisted, at 11:47 of the final period, and the insurance tally came with less than a minute to play. Konstantin Shafranov scored the other two Komets' goals, and goalie Bruce Racine defused the Cyclones' 50-shot attack with 48 saves. Gilbert Dionne had a hand in both Cincinnati goals, scoring on a second-period power play after assisting on Don Biggs' game-opening tally. Cyclones netminder Parris Duffus faced 29 shots and made 26 saves.
Long Beach Ice Dogs 4, Utah Grizzlies 1
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah--The Long Beach Ice Dogs (51-20-9) won their first game of the season at the "E" Center Wednesday, beating the Utah Grizzlies 4-1 in front of 8,852. The Ice Dogs took control of the game with goals by Patrik Augusta and Kevin Todd within a 21-second span of the first period. Both of the goal scorers assisted on John Byce's second-period tally, and Doug Ast wrapped up the Utah scoring at 10:23 of the third. Dan Plante saved Utah (47-25-8) from the shutout with a power play goal 9:28 into the second period. Goalie Mike Buzak stopped the Grizzlies' other 16 shots. Mark McArthur faced 27 shots and made 23 saves in the Utah goal.
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