GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Rookie Jesse Kiiskinen recorded his first AHL hat trick and added an assist as the Grand Rapids Griffins rolled to a 5-1 win over the Chicago Wolves on Sunday at Van Andel Arena.
Kiiskinen scored twice in the first period and finished the natural hat trick at 1:20 of the second. He became the first Griffins rookie with a hat trick since Tyler Bertuzzi in the 2016 playoffs. Stiven Sardarian answered for Chicago to make it 3-1, then Dylan James and Dominik Shine scored in the third. Shine’s power-play goal was his 100th as a pro, and Michal Postava made 22 saves.
The game was a rematch of last season’s Central Division Finals, when the Wolves beat the Griffins 3-1 in the best-of-five series. Over the last five seasons Grand Rapids holds a 19-13-1-3 record against Chicago.
Grand Rapids came in off a 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday, while the Wolves arrived winless after being outscored 17-4 in their first three games. The Griffins finished 2-1-0-0 over a three-games-in-three-days weekend.
