Pinelli wins shootout as Monsters beat Griffins 3-2

Luca Pinelli converted in the first shootout round Friday to give the Cleveland Monsters a 3-2 road win over the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena. Pheonix Copley denied all three Grand Rapids attempts after a scoreless overtime.

Steven Lorentz gave Cleveland a power-play lead at 15:17 of the first period. Sheldon Dries answered with a power-play goal at 16:09 in his return to Grand Rapids following six games with Detroit.

Jesse Kiiskinen put the Griffins ahead at 1:36 of the second period, but Luca Marrelli brought Cleveland level with a power-play goal at 3:17. Neither team scored again before the shootout.

Copley finished with 21 saves, while Trey Augustine stopped 36 shots for Grand Rapids. Cleveland scored twice on six power plays; the Griffins went 1-for-3.

The result extended Grand Rapids’ point streak to five games, with four wins and a shootout loss during that stretch. The Griffins are 6-1-1-1 with 14 points.