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Barons: 2 Grand Rapids: 0

BARONS "D" LEADS TO "W"

Cleveland, OH — Barons goaltender Dimitri Patzold found out he would be making his AHL debut against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday. Two days later he not only recorded his first win, but also his first shutout, stopping all 19 shots he faced, while leading the Barons to a 2-0 victory. As quick as he was to stop all the of the Griffins shots, he was even quicker to give the credit to his defense.

"We played solid defense," Patzold said. "It was pretty easy, they helped me a lot."

Head coach Roy Sommer couldn't agree more.

"To keep a team like that under 12 shots after two periods, you're doing something right defensively," said Somner.

Cleveland would take a 1-0 lead in the second period when Tomas Plihal took a centering feed from Craig Valette and went top shelf for his first AHL goal in his first AHL game.

The Barons dominated a team that last year led the Western conference with 106 points by out-shooting the Griffins 29-19. More importantly they killed all five of Grand Rapids' power plays.

Faced with opening against the top two teams from the regular season last season, the Barons have showed that they can play with the best. After a heartbreaking loss to Hamilton in the home opener, the Barons showed their mettle tonight.

"We very well could be 2-0," said Sommer. "You learn from your mistakes (against Hamilton)."

Todd Harvey added an empty net goal with one second remaining to put the icing on the cake.

BARONS BITS

Not only was Patzold's shutout his first, but it was the 8th in team history, the last one coming when Seamus Kotyk shutout the Utah Grizzlies 4-0 on March 7th at Gund Arena. Patzold is only the fifth goalkeeper to start for the Barons. His victory brings the quintet's record to 4-0-1 in their first appearance as a Baron.

by Todd Krepop