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Evgeny Svechnikov skates during his pro debut with the Griffins in Saturday's Game 5 against Lake Erie in the Central Division Finals.

(Mark Newman | Griffins)

Evgeny Svechnikov made his professional debut earlier than originally expected, and the No. 1 pick fared well Saturday for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The sturdy 6-foot-3, 205-pound left winger picked up an assist and drew a favorable review from coach Todd Nelson in the Griffins' 6-1 rout of Lake Erie to tighten the Central Division Finals series 3-2.

"I kept my eye on him and I liked what I saw," Nelson said of Svechnikov, inserted as a replacement for the injured Eric Tangradi (upper body). "In the first period I thought there was a bit of nerves. But as the game went on, I thought he got better and better and played a really strong third period for us."

Svechnikov, the 19th overall pick in last year's NHL draft, was told Thursday of the decision so he had time to prepare. That didn't lessen the nerves, he said.

"It was exciting; first game as a pro and good win for the team and I thought personally I played well," said Svechnikov, who was on Tomas Nosek's line with Mitch Callahan and saw time on the power play. "It took a couple periods as I got more time with the puck to get comfortable."

He had the second assist on defenseman Nathan Paetsch's power play goal to make it 5-1 in the third.

"I started to get more comfortable and was shooting better and better and I thought the third period was good for me," Svechnikov said.

He had two shots and a minus-1 rating.

The 19-year-old Svechnikov had 32 goals and 79 points this with season Cape Breton in the QMJHL. He has been practicing with the Griffins since April 25.



With the Griffins already missing hard-shooting Martin Frk, the absence of leading-scoring Tangradi necessitated an earlier debut for Svechnikov.

"What I've liked is that he has a big body and a nice skill set," Nelson said of the prospect, who will likely be an integral part of the Griffins next season. "He protects the puck well, a heady player with a creative mind and we saw a bit of that tonight. All those things put together made him look like a pretty valuable prospect for us going forward."

The Griffins return to Van Andel Arena for Game 6 at 7 p.m. Monday. Nelson was non-committal on the health of Frk and Tangradi, saying "it's possible" they could return and likely put Svechnikov on the bench.

Here's Svechnikov talking about expectations after his first practice with the Griffins: