The San Antonio Rampage began their annual Rodeo Road Trip with a loss, but a trip to Michigan seems to have turned the tide.
Rocco Grimaldi tallied this fourth game-winning goal of the season as the Rampage (28-16-4-0) defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins (25-17-5-1) 5-4 in overtime in front of 7,168 fans inside Van Andel Arena on Friday evening.
Grand Rapids lit the lamp first after a San Antonio turnover led to Teemu Pulkkinen’s 28th goal of the season at the 15:52 mark of the opening period, giving the Griffins a 1-0 lead going into the second period.
San Antonio would tie the game in the middle frame as Brett Olson let a shot go from the right circle, beating Grand Rapids goaltender Tom McCollum at 4:08. The Silver and Black took the lead when Bobby Butler put home his 21st goal of the season. Vincent Trocheck added another goal 48 seconds later to give the Rampage a two-goal lead. Grand Rapids cut into the San Antonio lead with Andreas Athanasiou’s goal, but Garrett Wilson scored at 18:48 to put the Silver and Black up 4-2 going into the third period.
The Griffins outshot the Rampage 14-3 in the final period as Pulkkinen and Mark Zengerle lit the lamp to tie the game at four and force overtime.
In the extra frame, Grimaldi took a pass from Mark Mancari to beat McCollum, sealing the 5-4 win for San Antonio.
Grand Rapids outshot the Silver and Black 40-22 as the Griffins finished the game 1-for-6 on the power play. San Antonio was 0-for-3 on the man advantage.
Ellis made 36-of-40 saves on the night, while McCollum stopped 17 of the 22 shots he faced.
The Rampage will stay in Grand Rapids to close out the two-game series with the Griffins tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. inside Van Andel Arena.
* Rampage 1-1-0-0 (2 points) on Rodeo Road Trip
