ABBOTSFORD, B. Sean Taylor Jersey .C. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins are back atop the Western Conference thanks to a gritty come-from-behind win Saturday night. The Griffins scored five unanswered goals to defeat the Abbotsford Heat 5-2 in American Hockey League action. With his club down 2-0 after 20 minutes of action, head coach Jeff Blashill made a goaltending change that seemed to spark his club. Tom McCollum allowed two goals on 10 shots, but Petr Mrazek came in and stopped all 13 shots he faced. "It wasnt Tommys fault for the goals, but it was one of those things where you want to change it up to change the momentum," said Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan. "Petr came in and did well. It was huge for us." David McIntyre gave the Griffins the lead for the first time in the game at 8:39 of the third when he redirected Nick Jensens point shot from the side of the net. "The play was started by Jordan Tootoo, getting the puck into the zone," said McIntyre. "It was a great pass from Nick Jensen. It was right on the tape, it was real easy for me." Andrj Nestrasil, Teemu Pulkkinen, Hoggan and Tootoo also scored for Grand Rapids (35-17-5), which has won five consecutive games and moved past Texas - whos game Saturday was suspended - for first in the Western Conference. "Weve been up and down since the All-Star break," said Hoggan. "We were flat in the first but stuck with it. It was a big win for us (because) thats a good team over there." Max Reinhart had two first-period goals for Abbotsford (33-18-6), which is winless in four games. Joey MacDonald made 37 saves in the loss. "They do a great job in the offensive zone of forechecking, and in the neutral zone - theyre sound system-wise," said Heat captain Dean Arsene. "We just had too many turnovers, and a skilled team like that in transition, they just ate us up." Reinhart got the Heat on the board early, deflecting Arsenes point shot past McCollum at the 1:23 mark. The North Vancouver, B.C., native scored his second of the night with just 12 seconds to go in the first period when he finished off a give-and-go with Corey Locke, beating McCollum short side, top corner. Thats when Grand Rapids changed goaltenders. "I would have probably done the same," said Abbotsford head coach Troy Ward of his counterparts decision. "He needed a change, a spark. We got to McCollum. We (previously) beat him (in Grand Rapids), so (Blashill) probably felt it was time for that change. They did a good job of keeping the game 2-0. We had a couple of looks to go up 3-0 but we didnt make those things happen, even when Mrazek was in net." Nestrasil got Grand Rapids on the board at 13:20 of the second period. After a pair of Abbotsford players failed to clear the puck it bounced right to the Czech Republic native, who quickly beat MacDonald glove side for his seventh of the season. The Griffins tied the game at 4:34 of the third period. From behind the net, Hoggan quickly stuffed the puck between the post and MacDonalds skate. It was just the second goal the captain scored since Christmas. "We racked up a lot of shots, we just kept getting pucks to the net," said Hoggan. "Joey Mac played the puck behind the net but I ended up having some space to walk out front." McIntyre scored to put the visitors up four minutes later. "It was a good pass from Jensen, backdoor," said Hoggan. "We were struggling to score goals, so it was nice to get five tonight." Tootoo scored an insurance marker with 4:09 to go in the game, picking the corner with a wrist shot from the face-off dot. "Obviously (Tootoo) is a grizzled veteran," said McIntyre. "Hes played a lot of big games so he knows what it takes to win. That was a great shot." Pulkkinen added an empty netter with less than two minutes to play, giving him five goals in three games. Akeem Jordan Jersey . Gretzky was asked if he believes Montreal Canadiens defenceman PK Subban should be on Canadas blueline in February at the Sochi Olympics. "Im not going to get in the middle of that controversy because Stevie Yzerman obviously knows what hes doing, he won a gold medal in 2010," said Gretzky. Logan Paulsen Jersey . For Kyle Lowry, its become an accepted reality. He will be traded. The question is, when and where? The Raptors point guard is widely believed to be next on general manager Masai Ujiris chopping block after the first domino - Rudy Gay, Lowrys best friend - fell last week. DETROIT -- Its October in Detroit, so the unofficial state flower -- the construction barrel -- is still in full bloom. It was definitely true on Belle Isle, where workers were pouring and smoothing asphalt on Tuesday -- a beautiful sight for a group of IndyCar drivers. "This is great," said new series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. "Im really excited to see the way this place is getting fixed." In June, the IndyCar series returned to Belle Isle, only to have the Detroit Grand Prix shortened when the track began to fall apart. Even after a two-hour red flag to fill holes and replace long strips of synthetic rubber, the drivers were only able to complete 60 of the scheduled 90 laps. For many races, that would have been the end of their affiliation with the series, but when it is Roger Penskes baby, things are different. Not only will the tour come back to Belle Isle in June, it will do so for a doubleheader -- a 70-lap race on Saturday and 70 more laps on Sunday. "This is a huge event for the city of Detroit," said Grand Prix Chairman Bud Denker. "Not only are we going to have a better track, thanks to millions of dollars in repairs and upgrades, were going to have a bigger track with the expansion from 2.1 miles to 2.35 miles. And to celebrate that, were going to be the host of the first IndyCar doubleheader -- what were calling the Dual in Detroit." The track is going to return to a configuration used in 2000-01, adding a half-mile straightaway through the tree-lined centre of the island. "I dont know for sure what effect it will have, but it will definitely give us another place to pass," said series veteran Tony Kanaan. "Thats a good thing on this track, and it should make things more exciting for the fans." After a short press conference, the drivers jumped behind the wheels of Chevy Tahoes to drive parts of the track and check out the construction that is still going on along the riverfront. "Were way ahead of schedule," Denker told them. "This will all be done in three weeks, because we need to be finished before the snow gets here." Even before getting out of their trucks, the drivers were impressed by what they saw. "Theres a lot more space here, and were not driving over seams all the time like we were last time," said Oriol Servia, who finished fifth in June. DeSean Jackson Jersey. "Its going to be a lot faster and a lot smoother." The drivers watched and chatted with construction workers as a complete rebuild continued on a road that is used 51 weeks a year as the public route around the scenic island. "Thats the reason this was such an expensive project -- weve done engineering studies far beyond anything that has been done for this track or this island before," Denker said. "Weve even done core samples from around the track and videotaped the sewer lines to make sure we could improve the drainage. We always have to remember that we arent only building a racing surface, were building something that has to survive as a public road during a Michigan winter." Judging from Tuesdays reactions, they are well on their way to accomplishing that goal. "This looks fantastic," said Marco Andretti. "I love racing in Detroit, and this is going to change everything." The reaction of the drivers was crucial, since they will be asked to drive two full-distance, full-point races here next summer. "I hurt already," Servia joked. "When you race this track on a Sunday, you wake up Monday and you are sore. Now were going to wake up feeling like that on Sunday, then have to do it all over again." Andretti agreed, saying that the most important part of equipment that weekend will be the teams massage table, but other drives focused on the implications of having a pair of races in two days. "Most of the time, when you have two races in the same weekend, they are both half-distance for half points," said Will Power, who finished behind Hunter-Reay in the 2012 standings. "These are two full races for full points, so the entire championship race could change for people that have good weekends and people that have bad ones." It has been less than a month since the season ended, and even though the drivers were shuttling media members in their trucks, they found it impossible to completely hold back their instincts. Andretti charged past Servia heading onto pit lane at the end of the tour, while Hunter-Reay stayed out on the main track and claimed victory. "I cant wait to get back here," he said. cheap jerseys from china ' ' '
