A fast paced Friday night contest between the Briercrest Clippers and Grant MacEwan Griffins saw the visiting Griffins get their first win in Caronport since February of 2013. 

The guests got off to a solid start, scoring twice in the first five minutes to take the early lead. Briercrest, as has been the case throughout the first quarter of this season, showed good composure and responded by asserting themselves fearlessly. The defensive corps welcomed back Erik Robitaille from injury, and both he and Mark Mackinnon were an imposing physical presence throughout the game. Second year defenseman Matt Landers also put a clean check late in the period on a Griffin forward, who landed awkwardly and unfortunately had to leave the game. The Clippers' new line of Manny Schellenberg, Jacob Baribeau, and Dirk de Waal showed some great chemistry, and the Clippers carried the momentum heading into the first break.

Briercrest took the opening minutes of the second period by storm. Micah Abbott fed Aaron Armstrong with a neutral zone pass, and he willed his way through two defenders, scoring on a backhand to cut the lead in half. An excellent forecheck by Luke Syrenne drew a penalty, and less than two minutes later it was Armstrong and Taylor Epp combining to set up Stephen Langford, who beat the Griffins' netminder to tie the game at two and ignite the home crowd. Standout forward Shawn Proulx would find the back of the net twice to restore the Griffins' two goal lead. If not for a huge save by Connor Dobberthein on a two on one, as well as a great defensive play by Josh Dufresne to break up another threatening rush, the score could easily have been worse than 4-2 at the second intermission.

Briercrest came out flying in the third. Some quick, crisp passing by Robitaille and Joachim Hanberg put the puck on the stick of Josh Anderson, who fired it past Chris Wray to narrow the score to 4-3. Briercrest outshot Grant MacEwan overall and had several good scoring chances, but it was quick turnovers in the defensive zone that led to two more goals for the guests and put the game out of reach. Dirk de Waal set up Brennan Gasmo for a late chance, but Wray was equal to the task and the game ended 6-3 for the Griffins.

Players of the game were Aaron Armstrong for the Clippers and Shawn Proulx for the Griffins. Tomorrow's rematch is at 2:00pm.

If you can’t make it to the Barkman Arena for tomorrow’s game be sure to watch online at acac.tv.

For up to date information on the Briercrest Hockey team, “like” the Briercrest Hockey facebook page.