GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Behind a game-winning goal and two-point night from Dominik Shine, the Grand Rapids Griffins picked up a 5-2 victory over the Manitoba Moose on Friday in their home opener at Van Andel Arena, improving to 3-0 for the first time since their 2016-17 Calder Cup season.

Carter Mazur (1-1–2) and Tyler Angle (0-2–2) also had a pair of points each, Sheldon Dries contributed a shorthanded tally, and Sebastian Cossa logged 21 saves for his second win of the campaign.

After a big stop by Cossa, Austin Watson put the first goal on the board for Grand Rapids at the 7:14 mark of the opening period, finishing off a 2-on-1 by potting Angle’s centering pass from the right hashmarks. Forty-five seconds later, Manitoba’s Samuel Fagemo knotted the score with a shot from the top of the left circle that snuck through traffic.

Grand Rapids scored twice more to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. With the Griffins on the penalty kill, a Shine poke check sent Dries off on a partial break, and he tucked a backhand past Domenic DiVincentiis at 9:14. Shine extended the advantage with 6:06 showing on the clock, taking a feed from Mazur and ripping the disc into the top corner of the near-side post.

Early in the second, the Moose capitalized on a power play to cut the Griffins’ lead to one, as Danny Zhilkin shot a wrister past the glove of Cossa from the right side at 5:44.

It remained a 3-2 contest until the latter half of the third period. Alex Doucet cleaned up a rebound of Angle’s shot from the left post at 13:56, before Mazur finished off the night and a rush by sending a shot past DiVincentiis’ glove with 4:29 to go. 

By taking the win in the first game of their weekend series with the Moose, Grand Rapids moved to 8-2 in its last 10 home openers.

Note:

• The Griffins are 3-0 for the sixth time in franchise history, joining 2016-17 (second Calder Cup), 2007-08, 2005-06 (AHL regular-season title), 2004-05 (on the way to a franchise-record 5-0 start), and 2000-01 (IHL regular-season title).

Box Score

Manitoba 1 1 0 - 2

Grand Rapids 3 0 2 - 5

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Watson 2 (Angle, Lombardi), 7:14. 2, Manitoba, Fagemo 1 (Yager, Di Giuseppe), 7:59. 3, Grand Rapids, Dries 1 (Shine), 9:14 (SH). 4, Grand Rapids, Shine 2 (Mazur, Kannok Leipert), 13:54. Penalties-Mitchell Gr (high-sticking), 8:50.

2nd Period-5, Manitoba, Zhilkin 2 (Clague, Gustafsson), 5:44 (PP). Penalties-Becher Gr (tripping), 4:36; Di Giuseppe Mb (hooking), 9:02; Mitchell Gr (tripping), 19:26.

3rd Period-6, Grand Rapids, Doucet 1 (Angle), 13:56. 7, Grand Rapids, Mazur 4 (Tuomisto), 15:31. Penalties-Bauer Mb (roughing), 15:01; Lambert Mb (roughing), 15:01; Wallinder Gr (roughing, roughing), 15:01; Watson Gr (misconduct - abuse of officials), 15:01.

Shots on Goal-Manitoba 13-6-4-23. Grand Rapids 17-10-14-41.

Power Play Opportunities-Manitoba 1 / 3; Grand Rapids 0 / 1.

Goalies-Manitoba, DiVincentiis 1-2-0 (41 shots-36 saves). Grand Rapids, Cossa 2-0-0 (23 shots-21 saves).

A-9,511

Three Stars

1. GR Shine (game-winning goal, assist); 2. GR Dries (shorthanded goal); 3. GR Mazur (goal, assist)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 3-0-0-0 (6 pts.) / Sat., Oct. 18 vs. Manitoba 7 p.m. EDT

Manitoba: 1-2-0-0 (2 pts.) / Sat., Oct. 18 at Grand Rapids 6 p.m. CDT

Photos by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins