The Grand Rapids Griffins were down 2-0 with three minutes left when they started a late push. They scored with 39 seconds remaining to tie it up, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. Fans celebrated by throwing pucks onto the ice, likely foam ones, but still enough to cause problems. The public address announcer warned about a delay of game penalty, and the Griffins ended up penalized going into overtime because of it.
That penalty immediately put them on the penalty kill in overtime. With only three skaters defending, one got caught holding a stick, another blocked a shot and couldn’t get up, and that opened a lane for the Cleveland Monsters to score easily. They didn’t stick around to enjoy it, likely trying to avoid more pucks being thrown. The Griffins lost a momentum-filled game in their own building, undone by their own fans’ decision to celebrate in a way that broke the rules. What could have been a comeback win turned into a self-inflicted loss.